William Gilbert

William was a quiet soft-spoken man. He lived at the end of a road in Palm. One of his biggest thrills in life was feeding the many deer that came into his yard. He made pets of deer, raccoons, and many other animals. He seemed more comfortable with animals than he did people. He was the kind of man you quickly liked and respected.

I worked with one of his sons and got to know him. He eventually gave me permission to write a book about him. It is called B.A.R. Man. Those of us who were in the service know the initials as Browning Automatic Rifle.

William enlisted as soon as he graduated high school. He grew up listening to stories of the Korean War on the radio. When he enlisted, he specified he was to be sent to Korea to fight. He got his wish. He soon gained the respect of his men with whom he served with. He usually was assigned point man. He was very sharp-eyed and always took very good care of his rifle.

He went on many patrols and did some very amazing things. Eventually, he was wounded by American airplanes. He was captured when the Chinese joined North Korea and pushed south into South Korea. He was separated from his unit and the men close to him were killed. He was forced to march over 200 miles with no medical attention. Those that could not keep up were shot and left to rot. Once they reached their camp, they were fed cattle food. Some had bugs in it. As time went by, they stopped picking out the bugs. They slept on the floor of small huts. As morning approached, the walls were coated with ice from their breaths. They slept on straw and had the poorest of diets. He lived that way for two and a half years. Many of the men were sick and died. In winter they were placed on the ice of the river. They floated away when spring rains came. In warmer weather, they were forced to dig graves for their fellow prisoners.

Once he was given back to the US, many questioned the fact they did not try to escape. When he was captured, the Chinese pushed the US forces way back toward the Southern part of Korea. The POWs had no idea where the US forces were or how to get to them. The people back home gave many of the POWs a very hard time because of that. William got very few promotions and very few medals for his ordeal. He got very little compensation from the Veterans Administration. It was not until his last remaining years they found shrapnel in his back, close to his spine, which caused him great pain. Photos attached. William Gilbert standing taken in Korea.