Harvey J. Ernest
Bio
Harvey J. Ernest was born on September 10, 1935 in Clearwater, Wisconsin. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1952 at the age of seventeen and was sent to fight in the Korean War. His specialty was driving the M35, also known as the “Deuce and a Half.” He found serving in Korea to be extremely difficult due to the possibility of death at any moment. He recalled guard duty at nighttime as especially difficult due to not knowing the enemy’s location and the frequency of attacks. He found the suffering of the Korean people to be particularly hard to bear. He expressed how talking of the war never became easy for him due to the many bad things he witnessed. He was glad to have helped and glad to have made it home.
Video Clips
My Experience in Korea
Harvey Ernest describes the cold weather he experienced while in Korea. He shares how he was paid a dollar a day and that he would write letters to his family back home. He expresses reluctance to talk about some of the things that happened in Korea.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHGs7W_jAic&start=470&end=670
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/harvey-j-ernest#clip-1
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