One of the questions that I like to ask authors is, why do you write?
George Strejcek, author of 91 Bravo Medic: A Memoir of the Second Korean War explained:
I wanted to finally put the experience behind me and allow my grandchildren to understand part of my life.
I think a personal memoir is a great reason to self-publish a book. With print-on-demand technology, the only significant upfront cost is your time.
From the epilogue to Strejcek's 91 Bravo Medic:
In 2001, my wife and I attended a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery to honor those men who had lost their lives along the DMZ between 1966 and 1969. I was honored to be one of the former soldiers to read the names. It was a moving experience to meet some of the mothers and relatives of the dead. Now, at age seventy, the memories are there and will remain vivid to the end of my days.
I enjoyed George's rapid-fire stories and anecdotes about his time with 91 Bravo tremendously. I thought it would be interesting to ask him about writing a memoir. More stories, pictures, and memoir talk with George below.
Excerpt from Chapter 1, 91 Bravo Medic:
There was a formation called in the small hospital movie theatre one day to explain some new protocol which I can no longer remember. I was late in arriving. Figuring I would announce my arrival with a flourish, I yelled "Ten-Hut!" which was normally used to announce the arrival of the company commander. One hundred and ten men jumped to rigid attention. I sauntered up to the front of the theatre and sat down with a smile on my face. Big mistake! I paid dearly for that effrontery. From that day on I was a marked man. My name began to appear on the Extra Duty Roster with alarming frequency. Also my pass card mysteriously disappeared from the wall cabinet. I asked about it and a smirking clerk in the orderly room said, "We'll make a new one."
Q: What's your background outside the story you tell in Korea?
George: My grandparents were immigrants from The Austro-Hungarian Empire(Czechoslovakia). My Father died at the age of 52 when I was 9. I grew up poor (on my Father's Social Security). My mother worked at a newspaper taking ads.
I was a Chemistry Major in College but flunked out in my Junior Year. My Draft board classified me as 1A. Upon completion of my military obligation, I was accepted as a probationary student at the University of Illinois and attended on the GI Bill. After receiving my BA in 1971, I taught Science for 33 years.
Q: Why did you choose the memoir format?
George: I had experimented with others. I really liked Catch-22 but I am not a writer. The memoir format seemed the most honest method to approach the subject. I kept a loose-leaf diary overseas plus letters I wrote home to my mother. My memories were frequently relived in dreams.
Excerpt from Chapter 3, 91 Bravo Medic:
Captain Sideburns could not be mollified, nor could the Army. No matter how much we trimmed, combed and pomaded it was never good enough. I am not surprised that forty years later all the hair was gone. Our heroes now paraded down Main Street as clean as newly laid eggs. It never occurred to the Colonels in the 'five-sided puzzle palace' in Washington that the U.S. Army fought the most bitter and costly battles in history from 1861 to 1865. The opposing armies had hair that stretched to their shoulders and beards that stretched to their navels.
Q: Who was the audience you were thinking about?
George: Mostly fellow veterans, friends, my grandchildren and anyone who might be interested in military history. The Army was such an important part of my life and my experience had a lasting effect on me.
Q: How long did it take you to write?
George: The first draft took six months. When I finally got going, it all seemed to flow. The corrections and rewrites took much longer. It seemed like every rereading found more mistakes. I had no intention of having the book published until it was peer reviewed by a fellow Army Vet who had served along the Korean DMZ in 1968. He gave me a few suggestions and encouraged me to publish.
Q: What did you learn from the experience of writing a memoir?
George: "A life unexamined, is an incomplete story". I learned that reflection is beneficial to one's world view. Also, it seemed that I was always remembering something that I had forgotten. I probably could have written more. But I felt it was done.
Q: Would you recommend writing a memoir to others?
George: Yes. Family histories are unique but incomplete and can help one reach across generations. What was interesting was thinking about my relatives who had served in the military, their experiences are lost. My Grandfather had kept a detailed diary which was given to his daughter, but she lost it over time. It would have been fascinating to read, especially about his trip to this country.
As the saying goes: "Every man's life is an unwritten book." My late Father-in-law served in the 1st Marine Division in WWII. When he initially spoke of his experiences as a 19 yr old Artilleryman on Peleliu, he trembled. Virtually every veteran who served overseas in WWI, WWII, Korea, or Vietnam (and now Iraq) has memories that cannot be erased by the passage of time. This is what precipitates PTSD.
Q: What is one thing I forgot that I probably should have included?
George: The occasion when one soldier, wounded at the DMZ, was brought in and a Surgeon infused the wrong blood type, killing him. Another Physician was so upset, he got into a physical altercation and a nurse had to separate them.
Excerpt from Chapter 3, 91 Bravo Medic:
One night in the emergency room, a young black man walked into the hospital holding his right hand. A blood trail was visible behind him like the pebbles in a Hansel and Gretel story. I asked him to open his hand. I immediately felt the urge to throw up. The young man had gotten into some sort of fracas with another GI. Words were exchanged. A knife was pulled and the attacker's blade was grabbed by the intended victim. His attempts to disarm his assailant must have been successful, no other wounds were visible. He paid dearly for his self-defense. The emergency room clerk awakened the sleeping plastic surgeon who arrived on the scene in a semi-awake condition. The sight that greeted him snapped him to wakefulness. He appeared to turn green. The wounded GI was attended to but, was gone within three days. Reconstruction surgeries were beyond the scope of our Evac hospital. Many years later my wife and I went to the local theatre to see the film "Rob Roy." At one point in the movie, Liam Neeson grabs the sword blade of the actor, Tim Roth, who is about to kill him. I got up and left the theatre. The image proved to be too powerful.
Wrap
My grandfather drove a tank in the Second World War. He landed at Normandy and drove it across France into Germany as part of the Allied ground invasion. Years later he'd wake up screaming about some experience or other he was reliving. When we asked him about the war, however, he always refused to discuss it.
I wish he'd have put together a memoir for us like George did for his family and friends with 91 Bravo Medic.
If there's anything you'd like to ask or comment on, George will be online. You may see responses from his wife, Liz, who blogs here as Temmoku.
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