Posted on 03/22/2004 8:25:17 PM PST by chance33_98
Message Uncovered On Wall At VA Medical Center
Note From Man Leaving For Korean War
POSTED: 1:02 pm CST March 19, 2004 UPDATED: 5:29 pm CST March 22, 2004
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- An electrician got quite a shock when he uncovered writing on the wall in an unlikely cramped space at Kansas City's Veterans Medical Center, KMBC's Natalie Moultrie reported.
It was a handwritten note from an 18-year-old man leaving for the Korean War.
"On this day, Feb. 14, 1951, I leave this job, setting out on a new career, a career which many young men such as myself are setting out in these dark days of World War III. When we return let no one say that we were fighting in vain, or that those who fail to return died in vain, for we are doing our duty as Americans and fighting so that you will have a better tomorrow."
"I served in Korea and also found it astounding. I knew what the guy went through," said Clark VanCil, of the VA Medical Center.
Though the man drew a self-portrait, he only signed the letter with his initial and last name, which made it hard for the VA staff to track him down until Tony Barnett did a simple Internet search.
"I just typed in his initial and last name to see if anything pulled up," Barnett said.
The first name to pop up was James Merys in Antioch, Calif. Contacted by phone, Merys said that he does not really know why he wrote that message as a young electrician about to go to war.
"Maybe someday, somebody will uncover this and wonder who that guy was," Merys said.
The memory of his message gets the Navy veteran emotional. He thinks about friends and family killed in war and about the young soldiers now in Iraq.
"At 18, no one thinks you're not coming back. But an awful, awful lot didn't and an awful lot probably won't return. That's what bothers me more than anything," Merys said.
Officials at the VA Medical Center said they will keep Merys' note right where it is for future generations to see. Merys grew up in Kansas City and worked on the original construction of the VA Medical Center. He left Kansas City after the Ruskin Heights tornado.
Oops, When I read this I thought they had contacted the wrong person. I have to learn to read closer. Thanks.
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