My grandfather’s experiences as a U.S. troop member in the Korean Conflict

Few events impact the lives of humans as war . The United States found itself in many wars during the twentieth century , in every corner of the world . The common trait throughout all these wars was that they were fought by young men , many of whom had little political education or any idea why they were fighting . My grandfather , Francisco Martin , was one of these young men , as he fought in the Korean War . Through the violence and the confusion , he survived to create a family and life of peace , though the memories of

the war always stayed with him

My grandfather was born in Puerto Rico in 1930 , and was still a young man when the Korean War broke out . As a twenty-year-old college student at the University of Puerto Rico , Francisco knew very little about Korea , save for what he learned in history class . After World War II in a 1945 agreement reached by the allies at the Potsdam Conference Korea was divided along the 38th Parallel into North and South Korea It was an early indicator of what would become the Cold War , as the communist Soviet Union would occupy North Korea and South Korea would be occupied by the democratic U .S . forces . However , only five short years later , on June 25 , 1950 , North Korean communist forces launched a massive surprise attack on South Korea quickly overrunning the capital U .S . Intervention was ed on June 27 by President Harry S . Truman on the same day the U .N . invoked military sanctions against North Korea As a citizen of Puerto Rico , my grandfather was also a citizen of the United States , and his dual citizenship in each country would prove desirable to the armed forces , as well as his college experience . Less than a year later , young Francisco would put his studies on the shelf when his country called

As a student at the University of Puerto Rico , my grandfather had some experience in the R .O .T .C , and he could also speak Spanish and English so his qualifications for the military were more than adequate for what the military needed and he was inducted on October 5 , 1951 . For young Pvt . Martin , adjusting to life in the military was no easy task : It was difficult . The transition from being a University student , to being a trainee preparing to go to war was not easy . It was a drastic change in mentality and attitudes . After all , it was sort of `brain storming in to prepare the soldier to go to possible `combat areas ' as was called ' After four months of basic training in San Juan and Salinas Puerto Rico , Pvt . Martin found out that he would be going to South Korea , which came as no big surprise . However , finally hearing about his destination filled him with fear and trepidation , and he worried about what would come next . While his commanding officers repeated that it was their duty to serve and go to Korea , this did...