BY NOREEN O'DONNELL
THE JOURNAL NEWS

 

(ORIGINAL PUBLICATION: JULY 2, 2007)

DANIEL WOLFE HAD BEEN BACK HOME FOR 46 YEARS WHEN HE FINALLY RECEIVED A BRONZE STAR FOR HIS HEROISM DURING THE KOREAN WAR. HE HAD DRAGGED THE BODY OF A DEAD COMRADE DOWN A CLIFF INTO THE IMJIN RIVER AND HAD FLOATED IT 2 1/2 MILES DOWNSTREAM, ALL THE WHILE UNDER FIRE.

HE HAD BEEN HOME EVEN LONGER WHEN HE VISITED THE BRONX VA MEDICAL CENTER FOR A HEARING AID. BY CHANCE, HIS WIFE, SHEILA, MENTIONED HE HAD GOTTEN THE AWARD, WITH A V FOR VALOR, AND A COUNSELOR SUGGESTED THAT THEY STOP BY THE PSYCHIATRIC FLOOR.

NEITHER WOLFE, 77, NOR HIS WIFE WAS THINKING ABOUT POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER. HE HAD RARELY TALKED ABOUT THE WAR, HE AND HIS WIFE SAID. IN FACT, SHE AND THEIR CHILDREN HAD NOT KNOWN ABOUT HIS COURAGE THE DAY HIS PLATOON WAS AMBUSHED UNTIL HE GOT HIS MEDAL.

BUT FIVE YEARS LATER, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WOLFE IS BEING TREATED FOR WITH ANTIDEPRESSANT MEDICATION.

"I WASN'T AWARE THAT I HAD IT," HE SAID.

THE KOREAN WAR HAS BEEN CALLED THE "FORGOTTEN WAR." THE CONFLICT WAS FOUGHT FROM 1950 TO 1953 AND ENDED IN A STALEMATE AFTER 36,000 AMERICANS WERE KILLED; THE VETERANS RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES AND TYPICALLY WERE LEFT TO DEAL WITH ANY PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS ON THEIR OWN.

WOLFE WAS A 21-YEAR-OLD FROM THE BRONX WHEN HE WAS DRAFTED. HE ARRIVED ON THE FRONT LINE IN APRIL 1952. HE WAS NOT THERE FROM CONVICTION; HE WAS A HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE WITHOUT THE MONEY TO ATTEND COLLEGE OR SKILLS TO GET A WELL PAYING JOB.

"NORTH KOREA DIDN'T PRESENT A THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES AS FAR AS I WAS CONCERNED," HE SAID.

HE WAS SCARED, WITH HIS INTESTINES CHURNING, BEFORE HE WENT OUT ON PATROLS, HE SAID. BUT ON AUG. 8, 1952, AFTER HIS PLATOON HAD BEEN AMBUSHED, HE TURNED BACK FOR SGT. ROBERT MASSENGALE, WHO WAS LYING ON THE GROUND.

"I CRAWLED UNDER QUITE A BIT OF ENEMY FIRE AND I DRAGGED HIM BY HIS COLLAR BACK TO THE CLIFF," WOLFE RECALLED. "AND THEN, AS I WAS SLIDING, EMBRACING HIM, HALFWAY DOWN, I SAID, 'IS THIS GUY ALIVE?'

"SO I PINCHED HIS CHEEK, AND ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSE. SO I DRAGGED HIM DOWN THE REST OF THE CLIFF, AND THEN AS I FLOATED HIM DOWN THE IMJIN RIVER TOWARDS OUR POSITION, THE CHINESE WERE OVERHEAD FIRING DOWN ON US."

HAD HE CONSIDERED THAT HE WAS RISKING HIS LIFE FOR A DEAD MAN?

"I DIDN'T THINK ABOUT IT," HE ANSWERED.

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER HAD BEEN IDENTIFIED WELL BEFORE THE KOREAN WAR. DURING WORLD WAR I, IT WAS CALLED "SHELL SHOCK"; IN WORLD WAR II, IT BECAME "COMBAT FATIGUE."

FREUD AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES WROTE ABOUT IT, AND IN THE 1940S, A PSYCHIATRIST FROM HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL REPORTED ON ITS TREATMENT AFTER THE TRAGEDY OF THE COCONUT GROVE NIGHTCLUB FIRE IN BOSTON, WHEN NEARLY 500 PEOPLE DIED.

BUT THOUGH THE POST-COMBAT TRAUMA OF OTHER VETERANS GAINED LOTS OF ATTENTION, MANY KOREAN WAR VETERANS WERE OVERLOOKED.

THE COUNTRY IS NOW IN ANOTHER WAR, AND MANY OF TODAY'S SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN WILL RETURN TRAUMATIZED. A YEARLONG TASK FORCE STUDY RELEASED LAST MONTH FOUND THAT THE MILITARY'S MENTAL-HEALTH SYSTEM WAS FAILING TO MEET THE NEEDS OF TROOPS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

"THE CURRENT OPERATIONAL TEMPO HAS EXPOSED FUNDAMENTAL WEAKNESSES IN THE U.S. MILITARY'S APPROACH TO PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH," THE REPORT SAID.

MENTAL-HEALTH PROBLEMS ARE INCREASING AMONG THE MORE THAN 1 MILLION WHO HAVE SERVED IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. ABOUT A THIRD OF MARINES AND SOLDIERS AND MORE THAN HALF OF NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS HAVE PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS; AMONG THE NEARLY 230,000 NEW VETERANS WHO HAVE APPLIED FOR HELP FROM THE VETERANS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, MORE THAN A THIRD ARE SUFFERING MENTAL DISORDERS.

WOLFE HAD BEEN RECOMMENDED FOR A MEDAL SOON AFTER THE AMBUSH, BUT THE PAPERWORK FOR IT APPARENTLY WAS LOST IN BATTLE. WHEN THE WAR ENDED, HE RETURNED TO NEW YORK. HE GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE AND FOR 35 YEARS TAUGHT BIOLOGY IN THE NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS. AND THEN HE RETIRED, ATTENDED A REUNION OF HIS COMPANY, COMPANY L OF THE 3RD BATTALION, 15TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION, AND BECAME PREOCCUPIED BY HIS TIME IN KOREA.

IN THE COUPLE'S APARTMENT IN YONKERS, HIS BRONZE STAR HANGS ABOVE HIS COMPUTER. PICTURES FROM KOREA SURROUND IT ON THE WALLS. HE HAS EVEN FRAMED HIS DOG TAG AND THE SPOON HE CARRIED WITH HIM.

HE ALSO HAS SHORT-TERM MEMORY LOSS, AND LEAVES BEHIND GROCERIES OR OTHER BELONGINGS, BUT HE REMEMBERS KOREA CLEARLY. HE HAS WRITTEN AN ACCOUNT OF THE WAR AND PUBLISHED IT: "COLD GROUND'S BEEN MY BED: A KOREAN WAR MEMOIR."

WRITING HELPED HIM COMPLETE THE DAYS, HE SAID. HE HAS TAKEN CLASSES AT THE HUDSON VALLEY WRITERS CENTER, AND AT DUKE UNIVERSITY AND SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE AND HE IS NOW WORKING ON A BOOK ABOUT GROWING UP IN THE BRONX. (THE WOLFES RETIRED TO FLORIDA AND THEN NORTH CAROLINA BEFORE COMING BACK TO NEW YORK. THEY HAVE A SON LIVING IN NEW JERSEY AND A DAUGHTER IN TORONTO; A SECOND SON DIED.)

WOLFE IS PROBABLY LIKE LOTS OF OTHER MEN HIS AGE. HE SIMPLY DIDN'T TALK ABOUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HIM.

HE REMEMBERED STOPPING AT THE CANDY STORE IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD SOON AFTER HE GOT BACK AND BEING ASKED IF HE HAD SEEN COMBAT IN KOREA. WHEN ANOTHER MAN THERE MADE A JOKE ABOUT IT, HE REMAINED SILENT.

BUT HE HAS PAID A PRICE.

"I'M ANGRY THAT A WAR DID THIS TO MY HUSBAND," SHEILA WOLFE SAID