Korean War missile battalion members reunite in Tulsa after 50 years

From Tulsa World: Korean War missile battalion members reunite in Tulsa after 50 years
The last time the five of them were together was 50 years ago and a world away.

Leroy Schaeffer, Don Eilers, Gary Threw, Tom Proszek and David Barker, along with the other members of their missile battalion, were charged with keeping the peace in Korea after the war there. The 13 months there forged strong friendships conducive to Army service.

When they met this week in Tulsa, there was more gray hair and less agility, but little changed as they heartily laughed and swapped stories, of war and of life.

Barker, of Tulsa, had remained in contact only with Schaeffer, but he realized last year that time was against them to get the gang back together.

"When I started trying to contact people, I found that several of them had passed away, and I asked myself why they hadn't had a reunion yet," Barker said. "When you're younger, you're working and busy with your job and all that. Now we have time."

After training, they were assigned to the 6th Missile Battalion, 8th Artillery out of Fort Sill in southwest Oklahoma. They were activated in 1959 to serve the Korea defense after the armistice in 1953. Soon after, they shipped out.

As American kids in their early 20s, it was a shock of reality.

"I remember when we sailed underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, that was an eye-opener," Barker said. "That was kind of a choker - going underneath that bridge and going, 'Wow. This is real.' "

But the time in Korea was not entirely hell, aside from being away from home, they said.

They were in a remote outpost about 40 miles from the South Korea capital of Seoul, Eilers said. They didn't see much conflict and the tension was low, for the most part.

But one missile launch in particular was a little nerve-wracking.

"The missile was supposed to go up and out and down and arm itself," Proszek said. "This one went up and started coming back."

Luckily, the errant missile splashed down in the East China Sea, Proszek said.

Their time there included keeping themselves entertained, as 20-somethings tend to do.

However, their unit was eager to make its return to the states.

"Coming home, though, we got into San Francisco and everyone got off the boat and kissed the ground," Schaeffer said.

The unit split after that - and it wouldn't be until 2011 that the unit was back together.

"We had about enough of one another," Schaeffer joked. "It took about 50 years for the memories to fade."

When they entered the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel at 71st Street and Highway 169 Wednesday evening, it was time to play the guessing game.

"We were sitting right here yesterday and when they came in, we thought, 'Is that Gary? Is that Tom?'" Barker said.

"These guys got old," Proszek joked.

They spent the last two days sharing stories and experiences, at least the ones they could remember.

Their wives "probably heard some stories last night that we've never told them before," Eilers said.

Korean War
Conflict erupted on the Korean Peninsula in 1950 between South Korea, backed by the United Nations, and North Korea with Chinese support. An armistice was signed in 1953, re-establishing the boundary along the 38th Parallel and creating the Korean Demilitarized Zone. About 28,000 American troops remain in South Korea.