It’s possible my greatest exposure to the Korean War comes from reruns of M*A*S*H. And one of my college history professors even threw a wrench into that timeline by explaining M*A*S*H may have used Korea as its backdrop, but it was actually an allegory for Vietnam.

In fact, some veterans who served in Korea say a common issue is people who don’t know much about the war. You’ll never believe this, but there was a time the country was war weary and had a negative opinion of, what M*A*S*H will tell you was technically, the police action.

Richard Carey was a 22 year old Marine rifle platoon commander in Korea. This week, he spoke at the groundbreaking of a monument at DFW National Cemetery to those who served at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

Loyal Scaiaholics will recall I always take advantage of opportunities to speak with World War II veterans. If there’s anything Carey can teach us, other than M*A*S*H may not have been historically accurate, it’s that veterans of Korea are also modest when describing the work they did.

Chosin Reservoir took place in November and December of 1950. Carey explains, with wind chills at 85 degrees below zero, “it was kind of cold.”

Carey says they were outnumbered eight to one at Chosin. In fact, he was shot and didn’t even find out until he tried to return a jacket he’d borrowed from a British officer.

He was pointing up at the time, so I suspect the man in question who was taking care of him was the Lord.

Members of the South Korean consulate in Dallas came to the groundbreaking of the monument. You might notice Carey is enjoying some cake in that picture. The day of the groundbreaking was also his birthday.

Organizers of the event insisted he cut his own cake, adding that, given his experience at Chosin Reservoir, Carey was likely to outlive us all.

This is a generation of problem solvers. They improvised the most majestic place they could have Carey cut his own cake, presenting him with a KA-BAR Marine knife.

Loyal Scaiaholics will also recall one of the World War II vets was disappointed he was not allowed to hold his rifle for a photo op, so the Marines may be easing up a bit on what equipment their veterans can carry.

So we’re all still learning. They also had a couple boxes of Tootsie rolls set out, and when they explained why, I now understand Tootsie Rolls have a sinister side.

I did Google, and I learned the Marines were running out of ammo at Chosin, so they called for more Tootsie Rolls, which was a code name for ammo. The dispatcher did not completely understand and actually had pallets of Tootsie Rolls [the candy] dropped in. I feel like that’s how I would have handled a similar situation.

“This is getting serious,” I’d have thought to myself. “If the Tootsie Rolls don’t work, I’ll call in some Rolos.”

But in fact, the Tootsie Rolls provided nourishment and the Marines learned they could use them to seal bullet holes in equipment. Plus one for 1950s Dispatcher Scaia.

The canisters they had at DFW National Cemetery really were just filled with candy Tootsie Rolls, also. I double-checked.