Purple Heart in the Korean War from 7th Infantry Division Infantryman Joseph Mills Wise

Combat Story

Ryan Fugit

History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2023

⏱️ 96 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode is brought to you by 4Patriots Survival Food Kits.The kits are compact, sturdy, water-resistant, and stack easily. They have different delicious breakfasts, lunches, dinners. You can make these meals in less than 20 minutes. Just add boiling water, simmer, and serve.
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Today we hear our first combat story from a Korean War veteran, Joseph Mills Wise. Joe was injured while in the front lines in 1951 as an infantryman engaged in fighting that, to this day (and understandably), has not left him.

When Joe was medevaced out of the combat zone he also had frostbite in both feet. He was able to recover only to be sent back to Korea.

While this fighting took place 70 years ago, it’s amazing how so many parts of the veteran experience don’t change from getting letters from your wife, to sneaking off base in the trunk of a car, to freezing outside in the cold, to humping a massive radio and weapon, and so much more.

Joe is part of the silent generation of warriors who, for the majority of his life, did not share these moments of horror with his family and, instead, kept the bottled inside.

At 94 years old, he agreed to sit down and share these with us. His wife, Joice, was in the room for our interview and experienced Joe’s war through letters and telegrams and then, like many military spouses, was the one who supported Joe through the years of nightmares and pain that come with seeing combat firsthand.

This was an honor for me and reminder of this war that came so close on the heels of WWII but with a very different experience for those who fought in it (the war was not even recognized as a war for years).
With that, please enjoy this bit of history from someone who lived it.

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Show Notes:
00:00 - Intro
00:55 - Guest Introduction (Joseph Mills Wise)
02:33 - Interview begins
02:49 - Surviving Pearl Harbor
11:19 - Joining the Military
14:52 - WWII
16:12 - Being drafted
19:19 - Not dodging the Draft
19:51 - 4Patriots
21:11 - Atmosphere around the Korean War
24:30 - Sneaking out
27:24 - Getting from the States to Korea
34:56 - Being in Korea
36:30 - Meeting the unit for the first time
39:09 - On the front lines
47:10 - Contact with the enemy
48:33 - Passing time
50:18 - Moving in formation
52:35 - A tough operation
58:56 - Wounded in battle
01:04:01 - Letters to Joice
01:10:38 - Food on the battlefield
01:13:19 - Courageous act
01:15:07 - Hardest personal challenge
01:16:13 - Korean War Memorial
01:18:04 - "The Forgotten War"
01:19:08 - 9/11
01:20:43 - Sentimental items
01:23:15 - Joe and Joice

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I felt that he saved our company as a North Korean, and he got up out of the snow in front of me with his hands on it.
0:09.0	And a poor guy had no hand, no gloves, were in tennis shoes.
0:14.0	They were very poorly equipped, you know. He told us that they were planning on hitting us at one o'clock in the morning.
0:23.0	This was at night on the 700, and so we got entirely all zeroed in in front of us.
0:32.0	Did they attack?
0:33.0	Yeah, so you never know what's going to happen day and day, you know.
0:37.0	Welcome to Combat Story. I'm Ryan Fugit, and I serve Warzone Tourers as an Army Attack helicopter pilot and CIA officer over a 15-year career.
0:45.0	I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite in combat.
0:49.0	On this show, I interview some of the best to understand what combat felt like on their front lines.
0:54.0	This is Combat Story.
0:56.0	Today we hear our first combat story from a Korean War veteran, Joseph Mills Wise.
1:01.0	Joe is injured while in the front lines in 1951 as an infantryman engaged in fighting that to this day and understandably has not left him.
1:09.0	When Joe is metovacked out of the combat zone, he also had frostbite on both feet.
1:14.0	He was able to recover only to be sent back to Korea.
1:17.0	While this fighting took place 70 years ago, it's amazing how so many parts of the veteran experience don't change from getting letters from your wife to sneaking off base in the trunk of a car, freezing outside in the cold, up in a massive radio and weapon, and so much more.
1:31.0	Joe is part of a silent generation of warriors who, for the majority of his life, did not share these moments of horror with his family and instead kept them inside.
1:39.0	At 94 years old, he agreed to sit down and share his stories with us.
1:43.0	His wife Joyce was in the room for our interview and experienced Joe's war through letters and telegrams.
1:48.0	And then, like many military spouses, was the one who supported Joe through the years of nightmares and pain that came with seeing combat firsthand.
1:56.0	This is an honor for me and a reminder of this war that came so close on the heels of War 2, but with a very different experience for those who fought in it.
2:04.0	The war was not even recognized as a war for many years.
2:07.0	Please stay tuned at the end of this combat story to hear Joe and Joyce talk about their experiences together in this war.
	...

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