For the past 12 years, Obert Parsons has met with a group of men he hadn’t seen since 1953.

“They were my Army buddies during the Korean War. We fought side-by-side in the trenches for 9 months,” Parsons says.

“They come from all over – Oregon, Florida, Wisconsin. We’ve met every year for the past 12 years. We’re going to meet in Williamsburg next year. My two daughters and I are going to host it in 2011, in Gatlinburg, Tennessee,” he explains.

Men like Lee Perry, from Oregon, and Bill Hughes, from Florida, have become special to Parsons. “We’re a big family,” he says.

This year, the group of Korean War veterans met in North Carolina, where they reminisce about times past.

“We discuss things that happened back then. Many people have forgotten things that happened. We renew memories; of course, I remember it like it was yesterday,” he says with a smile.

“What was it like?” he says, “Me and one of my buddies, we spent 45 days and nights in the same foxhole. He was a friend of mine from Indiana, Lloyd Hawn.

According to Parsons, spending large amounts of time in confined spaces brought a sense of comeraderie to the 45th Infantry Division.

“The bunker itself was about 3-feet high. The bunker had bunk beds with sleeping bags on them. The quarters were so close one of us had to sit on one end and the other person had to sit on the other end. It was built out of logs and sandbags,” Parsons describes.

“When people learn that I served in the Korean War, they ask me to talk about my experience. One of the questions I’ve been asked is how we kept the sleeping bags clean. We didn’t. There was no way to clean them. They gave me one in Japan, and I dropped it off 9 months later for somebody else,” he says with a grin.

Parsons, who was deployed to Korea as a Rifeleman, says he and Hawn took turns standing guard duty every two hours.

“We were afraid to sleep. People don’t know. They don’t know,” he says.

“About a quarter of the men were on patrol each night. One night, they sent 150 men out and this is the sad part, in two hours time, eight men were killed and 42 were wounded. They wiped out one-third of the company,” Parsons recalls.

“The date was July 10, 1952. I’ll never forget it,” Parsons says with unshed tears.

“We assaulted this hill and we went into North Korean territory and they were waiting on us. It was a manslaughter. We lost all those people trying to catch one prisoner for information. It wasn’t worth it,” he says.

“One of the boys caught him, but we had so many wounded that day that he had to turn him loose to help with the injured. There were so many injuries,” he recalls.

Parsons, who was drafted into the Army on Oct. 23, 1951, did not have long to wait to see action in the Korean War.

“Thirty days from the day I left, I was in the trenches 30 days later. I was there a total of nine months,” he explains.

“It took a while to get back to normal life again. It took at least 12 months. Everything is in the back of your mind and you just have to deal with it until you can rid of it with your memories,” he says.

Another memory Parsons carries of the war in Korea is a night when he spotted a light in enemy territory and was ordered to check it out.

“When I called it into the company commander, he gave me an order to go out and see what it was and I went and the light eventually went out. But when they gave you an order, you obeyed it, or you could be court-martialed for disobeying an order,” he said.

That incident, though uneventful, does not stray too far from Parson’s memories of his time in Korea.

Upon return from the frontlines, Parsons visited the Indiana homestead of Lloyd Hawn, who perished the night of July 10, 1952.

“ His mother accepted the fact that he was gone, but his dad didn’t until I went to talk to him. His mom met me at the front door.

“She was a very strong woman. She could talk for two hours and never shed a tear,” Parson recalls.

They lived on a farm and he and I went down to feed the livestock and that is when I told him the story and he accepted it,” Parsons remembers.

Then, I met Hawn’s fiancée and told her. I lost contact with her for 47 years, [but they’ve since been in contact]. We’re special friends to this day,” Parsons says.

When asked if he ever felt bitter about being drafted into the war, Parsons responded, “No; because there were seven brothers in our family and we all served, but one. I lost a brother in World War II, and he went out defending his country. And I felt I needed to do the same thing. Thirty days from the day I left for war, I was in the trenches 30 days later.

“One thing I’ve noticed lately, as we go to these reunions in places, is that we have this young generation that comes up and shakes your hand and thanks us. And, it didn’t used to be that way,” he says.

When asked how it used to be, Parsons replies, “They didn’t seem to care.”

When asked if his infantry division ever captured the North Korean prisoner the night of July 10, 1952, Parsons replied, “One of the boys caught him, but we had so many wounded that day that he had to turn him loose to help with the injured. There were so many injuries,” he said.

A lot of soldiers who return from war have difficulties talking about their experiences.

“I know; especially the Vietnam War. The worst thing you can do is keep that bottled up inside you,” Parsons says.

“I had a friend who was a World War II veteran. He was a prisoner of war, and he kept that bottled up inside him until I went to these schools and encouraged him to share his experiences. It changed his life.

“They bottle those memories up in the back of their mind and don’t talk to anybody,” he says.

“Talking about it is one of the best medicines in the world. The only real problem I had when I came back from the war, was that I was looking for tripwires for landmines everywhere.

“I would be out on the job, in the oil and gas fields, and I was looking for trip wires in the gas fields. I had to talk to myself, but it took me a year to really block that out – looking for a wire that would trip a landmine. I told myself, I was going to have to stop it,” Parsons says.

According to Parsons, there was a lesson learned from his time spent in Korea.

“The lesson I brought home from the war was that people in the United States don’t know how fortunate they are. If they haven’t seen a war-torn country, they don’t know how lucky they are.”

Parsons also has strong opinions on U.S.- North Korea relations.

“The North Koreans still hate us. To me, our troops that are overseas now are not sage anywhere; that’s definitely the way I see it,” he says.

The reason for this hate, he says, is that although many of the North Koreans who fought in the Korean war have passed away, their grudge towards the U.S. has been transferred and carried down to a new generation of North Koreans.

When asked if he believe the day will ever come that there will be an end to the conflict in North Korea, Parsons replied, “No; and I’ll tell you why I think they hate us. It’s because we helped rebuild South Korea and they’re a prosperous nation. North Korea was not helped financially and they hold that against us. South Korea right now is a very prosperous nation,”Parsons said.

The Coal Valley News asked Parsons how he wanted to be honored this Veterans Day. To which Parsons responded, “Just remembered as a defender of our nation, that’s all. I didn’t do it for glory.”

Parsons is now retired from Cabbott Oil and Gas. “Since I’m disabled, now, I spend about half of my time helping my fellow man in any way that I can,” Parsons says.

“I was raised a farm boy and I have acquired all of my knowledge through experience and now I pass it along to other farmers. I’m always ready to share my knowledge. Knowledge not shared is wasted,” Parsons says with a grin.

Today, Parsons is active with the WVU Extension Office in assisting local farmers with their agricultural concerns.

The Coal Valley News asked Parsons if he had anything to share with this generation of men and women in the armed services.

“I appreciate all they’re doing today,” he said.

Parsons still recalls the bitter winter weather, colder than West Virginia, that swept the Korean landscape, and the muggy humidity during summertime.

Each year, these and other memories are recalled and put in perspective from the brave men who lived the events, as Parsons gathers with his group of war buddies - a group he lovingly calls family.

“There are so many special men from the group of guys. There’s Lee Perry, from Oregon, and Bill Hughes, from Florida, But really, they’re all special. We’re a big family,” Parsons says.

If you are interested in learning more about Parsons, a Boone County native, patrons of the Madison Public Library can check out a copy of his autobiography, titled, The Common Man.

“I grew up in hard times, during the depression and I got where I am now, where I have a little bit and it didn’t change me. I don’t change for nobody. So, the common man is what I am,” Parsons says.