ASHDOWN, Ark.-With his military service in South Korea now 63 years in the rearview mirror, former Air Force Airman 1st Class James Monroe Bradshaw received quite a surprise last month.
As it turns out, the Ashdown, Ark., resident received a military medal he never knew about.
"Not long ago I got a call from a U.S. Army colonel who told me that I was in line to receive this medal for my military service in Korea," Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw learned that the Republic of South Korea started issuing the Ambassador for Peace Medal to any and all American military veterans who served in the Korean War. The medal is an expression of gratitude and appreciation on the part of South Korea. "Sure enough, the colonel brought this medal to my house at about 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning a few days after he called last month." Bradshaw said.
Stationed for one year in South Korea during the Korean War, Bradshaw worked as an aircraft crash-and-rescue firefighter with the U.S. 8th Fighter and Bomber Wing stationed at two bases about 20 miles south of Seoul.
"I didn't know about this medal, but I was so honored I didn't know what to think," Bradshaw said.
Born and raised near Ashdown, Bradshaw left Ashdown High School just short of graduating to help out with work on the family farm."I remembered having to chop cotton and grow corn before I got my draft notice from the U.S. Army," he said. "I knew I didn't want to be in the Army, so I managed to volunteer for the Air Force."
After swearing in at Barksdale Air Force Base near Bossier City, Bradshaw journeyed to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio for his basic training before heading out to Hamilton Air Force Base in California. There, he took firefighting and pilot rescue training. From there, he was deployed to South Korea.
During his year-long stay in South Korea, Bradshaw helped rescue flight crew members out of B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers as well as from jet fighters. One Marine Corps fighter pilot Bradshaw remembers was already famous for his baseball career.
"Ted Williams came in with his jet plane on fire. And after he landed, we had our fire trucks out there," Bradshaw said. "Ted wasn't hurt, but he was pretty shaken up."
Other rescue attempts weren't so successful.
"I saw many fighter planes crash and burn up," Bradshaw said. "There were times when all we would find was a foot in a shoe that hadn't been burned up yet."
Upon receiving his discharge in Panama City after the Korean War, Bradshaw continued his federal service, eventually going to work for the Red River Army Depot Fire Department before retiring in 1982.
"Now I often think about all the men who didn't get a chance to receive this medal while they were still alive," Bradshaw said.
Although it's now been more then six decades, Bradshaw said the memories of pilots and crew members struggling to get out of their planes still haunt him.
"That was more than 60 years ago and I still get shaken up over it," Bradshaw said. "Sometimes I cry day and night. It's just something that you really are never able to get over. It's hard to shake away the memories of something like that. I guess you just have to carry it with you to the grave."