By Jordan Thomas Hall
As years go by it is important to preserve our history while first hand accounts can remain our best resource. Let this serve as an attempt to do just that.
In the summer of 1946, Clark “Teaberry” Gayheart, my grandfather (affectionately called “Poppa” (Pop-aw) by the family), was your typical 18-year-old living in rural eastern Kentucky. Each morning he would go into the field and bring back the cow for his mother to milk. He would repeat this each evening. Aside from helping to feed the livestock he also helped his mother and father with chores and watched over his younger siblings.
He was a senior at Hindman High School and played power forward on the basketball team. Outside of his schoolwork Poppa spent hours practicing basketball each day. Then a notice came that changed things quickly.
Between 1940 and 1947, 11 million men were drafted into the US Army; Poppa was among them. Word of his draft notice came at a bad time, as Poppa was still in school. However, he had one thing on his side- his uncle Sid was chairman of the draft board locally. It wasn’t long before Poppa’s service time was pushed back in order for him to finish high school.
On August 23, 1946, Poppa, a high school graduate, enlisted for service at Hazard. Soon he found himself leaving home for shooting training at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. Next it was Fort Knox for cavalry training and maneuvers. After his training he went by train to San Francisco where the large Camp Stoneman, a military staging point, represented his last continental checkpoint.
From there Poppa boarded what was then one of the largest carrier ships of the Army for what would be a 28-day trip to Korea. While on the ship the soldiers had specific duties in the “housekeeping” of the vessel. Poppa was on KP (kitchen patrol) duty and washed dishes, one of his main chores while still at home. The sleeping arrangements were quite different however, as
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