Synopsis

Promised by a recruiter that he will not be in the infantry and therefore is unlikely to be sent to the war zone, instead of being drafted for 2-years, 19-year old John Lefter enlists for a 3-year hitch in the Army Security Agency and, as you might guess, ends up in the Korean War. At first, Lefter has a "candy ass" assignment 30 miles behind the fighting area. He spends a lot of time drinking beer, laughing and partying. Then he is forced to face his own mortality after being assigned bunker duty in the fighting area. He breaks down after his foul mouth buddy is hit with burp gun fire while saving Lefter's life. In a hospital psychiatry ward, his recovery is aided dramatically by an innovative doctor and the only man he has ever hated. Back on the front line and atop the bunker celebrating the cease-fire that had just begun, Lefter is again confronted with a shocking incident that takes him over fifty years to find closure.

Short Author Bio

J. Charles (John) Cheek was an enlisted man in the Army Security Agency and participated in the Korean War. His outfit eavesdropped on the front line radio communications of the enemy. He held the rank of Sergeant when discharged in 1955. His novel STAY SAFE, BUDDY is based on his experiences during the Korean War. He was in a part of the Army Security Agency that monitored the front line voice communications of the enemy. It was called LLVI, the army lingo for Low Level Voice Intercept. He was on bunker duty in the combat area during the final three months of the war. Now, over fifty years later, he is a retired engineering manager and lives in Vancouver, Washington with his wife of 50+ years.

How to order a copy of the novel STAY SAFE, BUDDY

I obtained five more books so you can get a signed copy directly from me.  Contact me through the email link on this website for my ordering address to send a check or pay via PayPal. The total price for a signed copy from me is $24.00 including shipping anywhere in the U.S.  However, you can read reviews below, then if you wish, purchase a copy of my novel directly from me or from my publisher at the following link:  http://www.publishamerica.com/shopping/shopreviewlist.asp?id=2541

A FEW READER REVIEWS

WARNING! ADULT MATERIAL. The novel contains language used by many soldiers I served with in Korea in 1953-1954. That is the plain truth of the way it was in the combat areas of the Korean War. Some readers may find the language crude so be forewarned and don't read the novel if it bothers you that many of the characters speak with "naughty" words. Below are several reader reviews:

Was confined to the house  the past few days and decided to read a book.  Pulled your book off my library shelf and once I got started could not put it down.  Last time I read it was in February 2005.  Sure am glad the Army chose to teach me Russian instead of Chinese or Korean. Served with the 331st Comm Recon Co and worked off the back of a deuce and a half rather than bunkers,  Is your book available in large print?   Have a close friend who would like to read it but has serious vision problems,

STAY SAFE, BUDDY 

ELSTON

One reviewer, Tim Hancock of MWLA Review of Okalahoma, said, A Truly Amazing Story That Keeps You Moving. On the promise that he won't see combat, John Lefter elnlists for a 3-year hitch in the Army Security Agency. I guess, since we are talking about the Army, you know what happens. He ends up in the combat area. It doesn't take long until Lefter is in a bunker on the fron lines. A lot of things happen then and most of them were not good. Once I started STAY SAFE, BUDDY I had trouble putting it down. I went everywhere with Lefter. I shared a lot of his pain and hangovers. I even shared his hatred of Major Soss. This is a great tale of the way things were during the Korean conflict, or war or whatever you want to call it. Just read it! Recommendation: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. ---Tim Hancock , Director of MWLA, a Reviewer and Author.

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I took the book STAY SAFE, BUDDY with me on our 2-week vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and sat up late one night to read it. It was so interesting that I couldn't stop reading until I finished the entire book. I cried a lot and laughed too. That Mewman was some crazy guy. He also was a hero. I could feel the concern when the soldiers used the phrase, 'Stay Safe, Buddy.'  The book is a very good read. ---- Barbara Byzick of Atoka, OK

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One evening at 11:30 PM I decided I would read a bit of STAY SAFE, BUDDY. At 3:30 AM my eyes were blurring so I had to put the book down. I could not wait to get back to the book. I really enjoyed reading STAY SAFE, BUDDY and experienced a wide range of emotions from tears to "belly laughs" as Lefter called them.

At one point in my military service I was Officer In Charge of the Classified Message Center at Division Artillery and Crypto Custodian. As a result I could identify with many of the characters in the book, their jobs and the situation that is seldom discussed because of it's security nature. It was a story that needed to be told and the author did a magnificent job of letting us in on some of the emotions with combat experience in Korea. This book is a must read for any Korean or any Vet for that matter. I recently read a newspaper article about a group of Infantrymen leaving their unit position on a patrol. "As they parted one of the troopers hollered, Stay Safe, Buddy" so the expression is still alive in the combat zone. I can't even imagine the emotions the author went through while writing the book. --- Jim Rowe of Renton, WA

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Just finished reading your book "Stay Safe, Buddy." Enjoyed it immensely. Having spent 14 months over there with 1st Weapons Company and then Chalie Company, 1st Marine Division, I could visualize the terrain as I read. My wife thought I was nuts because I would suddenly break out laughing in the middle of the night. I could see many of my buddies in similar circumstances. Having been a Corpsman with the Marines, I can visualize myself as Doc Teele except that I wouldn't know what to do as a full bird colonel. Again, Thanks for writing the book. It made me remember. Semper Fi, Buddy. John "Doc" Steele of Phoenix, AZ 

"STAY SAFE, BUDDY" ( ISBN 159286631X) ©

(A Novel about Humor & Horror during the Korean War)

Author: J. Charles Cheek

www.authorsden.com/jcharlescheek

CHAPTER ONE

A strange feeling came over the passenger, Private Lefter, as Corporal Mewman drove the jeep through the dark and empty streets of the war-ravaged city. His eyes searched the outlines of the bombed out and jutted buildings that lined both sides of the narrow street. In a little over two years, Seoul had been the scene of major battles and changed hands four times. The devastation was massive. The empty streets looked ghostly. The jeep’s heater blew out warm air that contained the faint smell of sewage. The engine and rolling tires made the only noise. The streets were silent. "Spooky," thought Lefter. Suddenly, a screaming screeching sound rang out from an alleyway.

"Ohhhhh!" Lefter was startled, his body jerked and he sucked in a large breath. He gripped tightly on the carbine in his lap. A wild domestic cat darted through the beam of the headlights. Mewman laughed and said, "There’s one they ain’t caught and cooked. Good thing them fucking cats breed so fast or they’d all be in a kimchi barrel by now." Mewman let out a big belly laugh.

Lefter didn’t respond. His wide eyes swept the area in the jeep's headlights and he impulsively gripped harder on his M-2 carbine. He tried to blank out the uneasiness welling up inside him. As a new arrival in Korea, he had already heard about the estimated 8,000 to 20,000 guerrillas and bandits operating behind the front lines. In an operation called RATKILLER, an entire Division of 30,000 soldiers was searching for them. Their orders said round them up, dead or alive.

Lefter thought these empty streets of Seoul, in the middle of the night, would be ideal for an ambush. This was the first time that Lefter had felt totally insecure since arriving at ASAK yesterday afternoon. "OK," he thought, it’s not insecurity, its beginning to feel more like fear. Then he was quickly annoyed as he asked himself, What the hell are we doing out here in the black of night instead of driving north in the daylight? It didn’t make sense to Lefter. Why didn’t they just stay overnight at ASAK and leave early the next morning?

ASAK, a.k.a. Army Security Agency Korea, and a.k.a. 501st Reconnaissance Group, was now the occupant of the former campus of Ewha College. Before the Korean War Ewha had been the largest women’s college in Asia. Because of the war, the faculty and students abandoned the school, and now it is a fenced and guarded compound of the U.S. Army. Lefter had felt safe there during his short stay. But now he was on his way north toward the combat area. Up ahead, men were fighting for a cause few of them understood, or even cared to understand. Lefter could feel fear welling up in his chest.

"Hey Lefter, wanna’ stop at a whore house on the way and check out some fucking pussy? My favorite, Dong’s Place, is up ahead." Mewman let out another belly roar before Lefter could answer.

"Huh? Oh no, thanks." Lefter paused then added, "My new wife back home wouldn’t think too highly of that. Besides, I don’t want to catch any of those cock rotting diseases they showed in the movies on the troop ship."

"OK, Lefter, you can have a raincheck. But I’m betting you’ll change your mind after being in this fucking kimchi bowl for awhile. Wet dreams ain’t no fucking fun in a mummy bag." Again, the little man let out that big man belly laugh. If Mewman were as big as his laugh, he’d be a center in the NBA. Instead, he could barely see over the steering wheel of the jeep. "You’ll change your fucking mind," said Mewman with finality in his voice.

"I doubt it," said Lefter thinking of an analogy that might impress Mewman’s filthy little mind. "The Korean women I’ve seen since getting here are uglier than the tits and noses on Halloween Witches." Lefter chuckled at his own quick wit, then waited for a response from Mewman.

Mewman fell quiet for a few minutes as he tried to visualize Lefter’s ugly witch analogy.

Meanwhile, Lefter’s mind wandered back two days to the troop ship landing at Yokohama, and then the early evening train ride to a processing center in Tokyo. Painted in four foot high letters across the enormous block-long processing building was THROUGH THESE PORTALS PASS THE BEST DAMN FIGHTING MEN ON EARTH.

Several hundred soldiers, including Lefter, were lined up on the cold dark street. Just before midnight, a burly master sergeant addressed them from atop an empty ammo box. "Sorry men but replacements are needed right away in Korea so we’re gonna’ process you tonight. In a couple of hours you’ll be on your way to Korea."

Then, they were herded inside the cavernous building and told to line up by last name. They were being issued their combat gear. Long underwear, parkas and mukluk boots were being handed out. Duffel bags were being traded in for packs already pre-loaded with a GI shovel, first aid packet, mummy bag, one additional pair of wool socks and underwear, field personal hygiene kit, and other items needed in the combat area. Each man was issued an M-1 rifle, cartridge belt and ten clips of ammunition. Other weapons would be issued when they arrived in Korea and received a combat assignment.

Lefter was standing in the line marked ‘K – O’, army lingo for the first letter in a man’s last name. By the numbers, and by the letters, that’s the way they trained new soldiers. "Now listen up Cruts, sound off by the numbers. ONE, TWO, THREE …. I CAN’T HEAR YOU, REPEAT - ONE, TWO, THREE. LINE UP IN APHABETICAL ORDER; NOW, MOVE IT!" Then there was roll call after assembly each morning: "Allen - HERE, Abbott – YO, Brown, -PRESENT…" Then on the drill field, "FIX BAYONETS -CHARGE!" Orders, orders, and more orders, everywhere and at all times. Don’t question it, just DO IT is the mentality instilled in every soldier during boot camp. Never, never, NEVER, question the order of a superior. Just DO IT, and DO IT NOW! "How in the hell did I get into this mess?" thought Lefter.

Then Lefter’s mind jumped back seven months to his induction into the Army. The draft notice actually said, "Greetings: Your friends and neighbors have selected you for service in the Armed Forces of the United States of America." Up until then he thought that phrase was just part of a Bob Hope joke opening. Friends and neighbors, my ass, he thought, Harry Truman wants me to fight in his Korean War. My friends and neighbors didn’t have a damn thing to do with it. The letter instructed him to report to the Armed Forces Induction Center in Seattle for a pre-induction test and physical examination. OK Harry, since you asked so nicely, I’ll be there.

A drizzling rain fell from the sky as he reported to the Armed Forces Induction Center in Seattle, Washington. The humid air smelled clean and fresh. It’s raining on my parade, thought Lefter with a grin. Inside the building Lefter and a couple of hundred of his fellow inductees were assembled in a large room. "When I call your name, come forward and take the next available desk," said an Army Corporal. "Allen, Abbott, Brown… and the list went on through Lefter to Zarkeski."

They took written tests all morning. Soon after starting, Lefter gazed around the room and notice that many of those taking the written test looked puzzled and just stared forward or looked out the windows. Their apparent lack of interest stimulated Lefter to concentrate intensely in an all out effort to get a good score on the test. Instinctively, he knew that a good score would likely result in good things to follow. When he finished the test, Lefter was confident that he had done well. It was nearly noon, hunger and thirst gnawed at his stomach. He craved a cold beer, but there would be no alcoholic drinks today. A glass of cold milk and a hamburger would have to suffice for a victory celebration.

Right after lunch, they had another large dose of the military method of handling large groups of men. Dressed only in their underwear and carrying the rest of their clothes in a wire basket, they had physical examinations, military assembly line style. The room air felt chilly and Lefter shivered as he felt goose pimples forming on his exposed skin.

"Turn your head and cough," was the doctor’s command while checking for a hernia. "Good, move on to the next check point."

Then moving on to the next check area, Lefter was given another command prior to the check for hemorrhoids, "Bend over and spread your cheeks," said the Doctor as he aimed a flashlight beam on Lefter’s anus. "Good tight bunghole," said the Doctor. Keep on moving kid." Lefter was embarrassed and humiliated but followed the orders without comment. He felt vulnerable. Then he smiled as he thought, What a terrible job, looking at anuses all day. Ugh!

After the physical examinations were completed, the two hundred of them were herded together back into the large testing room. An Army Sergeant, with a chest full of medals addressed the group. "The following seven men are to meet me in the hallway right now." He proceeded to call out the names. Lefter was not surprised when his name was called. He sensed a payoff was coming for doing well on the written test. He was right.

"You seven men have done especially well in the morning tests and I want to offer you a special opportunity." Then he gave them a sales pitch about all the advantages of voluntarily joining the Army Security Agency. "You won’t be in the infantry," he pitched. "Only about one percent of ASA men get sent to Korea and even that one percent don’t have to fight."

The jeep hit a large pothole and jarred Lefter back to the present. Crap, he thought, "I’m not only in the one-percent group, I was almost issued combat gear. What a crock, based on that recruiting sergeant’s bullshit sales pitch I signed up for a 3-year enlistment instead of taking the 2-year draft.

"Bastard," Lefter mumbled out loud without thinking.

"Huh?" said Mewman.

"Not you, sorry, I was just thinking out loud about the recruiting sergeant that fed me a line of bullshit about the ASA never having to fight and now here I am headed toward the front line in Korea. I damn near got shipped out with the infantry troops at the processing center in Tokyo. Fortunately, someone from ASA Pacific paged me over the loud speaker, pulled me out of the line, whisked me out the back door and drove me to our headquarters in Tokyo. What a relief that was. Thought I might get assigned to Tokyo but no such luck. The next day they put me on a plane to K-19, then a deuce-and-a-half to ASAK in Seoul, and here I am headed toward the combat area of the Korean War."

"That’s a sad fucking story Lefter." Mewman belly laughed.

Lefter realized that he had just told Mewman "a whinny-ass story," so he changed the subject. "Where the hell are we anyway?"

"We are coming up on Dong’s Place. Last chance to get laid tonight Lefter, after that we head out through the fucking kimchi fields to Uijongbu."

Lefter didn’t respond so Mewman fell into a disappointed silence. A few minutes later, the jeep was bouncing along a two-lane gravel road known as a Main Supply Route. The road was full of icy potholes and an occasional sign along the edge read, SPEED 35. Some of the potholes were as big as bathtubs and Mewman swerved around most of them but hit enough of them to bounce the jeep violently up and down. Sometime the jeep started to skid sideways and Mewman would jerk it back on a straight-ahead track. They seemed to be the only ones traveling on the road tonight. It felt very lonely. It was graveyard spooky.

As the jeep bounced and jerked along, Lefter held onto his carbine with one hand and the bottom of the jeep seat with the other hand. "This road is in terrible shape."

Mewman laughed. "You’d be in terrible shape yourself if you had them fucking ammo supply trucks running over your body all day."

Way up ahead, the night sky was filled with flashes of light that seemed to appear at random across the horizon. "What are all those flashes of light up ahead?" asked Lefter.

"Looks like a little shit being thrown around up on the front line tonight.

"What do you mean?" asked Lefter anxiously.

"Artillery firing, mortar firing, machine guns, had grenades, flares and all the other fucking weapons of war."

Mewman seemed to Lefter to be the sort of fellow whose filthy mouth got him in a lot of trouble. At the time, Lefter didn’t know that Mewman had already been busted in rank four times in his twelve year Army career. Each time he was demoted and shipped out to another outfit. How he got into the ASA was a mystery. ASA was supposed to be a bunch of bright intelligent people. Many had college degrees. Mewman was, in college talk, an anomaly, but referred to in the army as an odd ball.

After almost an hour of driving, they still hadn’t seen another vehicle. The flashes of light ahead were much brighter now and Lefter could hear the muffled sound of explosions. The jeep lights shinned on a sign along the road that said BLACKOUT ZONE AHEAD. Mewman slowed the jeep to a crawl, reached forward and pushed in the main headlight switch on the dashboard then switched on the blackout lights. Only a small sliver of light still shone on the road ahead of each front fender. Now the spooky fearful feeling returned to Lefter’s mind and he thought again of the ambush that could be awaiting them along the blackened roadway. We must be getting close to the combat area, Lefter thought. He again gripped the carbine tightly and strained to see into the darkness.

The jeep was barely moving so the half-mile or so to the entrance gate at I-Corps took a good six to ten minutes. It felt like an hour to Lefter.

"HALT!" Lefter jumped at the command of one of the gate guards. Mewman stopped the jeep and one of the guards inspected Mewman’s trip pass briefly, leaned over and gazed at Lefter. "Is this a newbie?" asked the guard.

"Yeah," replied Mewman, "he’s a real fucking tender ass just in from the States." The guard laughed then said, "Welcome buddy," then motioned them to drive on. Mewman drove slowly past the dim outline of some tents, Quonset huts and temporary metal buildings. Mewman laughed big again. "Bet you thought we was gonna drive right into the fucking fighting area, didn’t ya?" Then he followed with the big belly laugh.

Lefter thought about saying, That’s not fucking funny, but he didn’t say anything.

Mewman continued. "Our 303 ASA headquarters is inside I-Corps Headquarters here. This is where General TT lives. He’s got 50 caliber machine gun nests every 50 yards around the outside of the fence. Fucking gooks ain’t gonna’ try sneaking in here."

"Who the hell is General TT," said Lefter.

"He’s a fucking career man like me. Only difference is he’s a West Point gentleman and I’m just a fucking grunt. You’ll probably see him tomorrow. His helicopter pad is next to our headquarters Quonset hut. He’s a real Tall Turd and carries a long staff. Don’t tell him I call him General TT, OK?" Then Mewman cracks up belly laughing at his behind the back put down of the I-Corps Commander, a two star Army General.

"What’s the General’s real name," asked Lefter.

"Name is Bruce Blark; his big brother, Mark Blark, is the big fucking mucky-muck Far East Commander with headquarters in Tokyo. TT reports to General something-or-other, the Eight Army Commander; can’t remember his fucking name. Eight Army headquarters is in Seoul some fucking place."

"End of the line", said Mewman as he stopped the jeep and turned off the engine. "Lets get this fucking mail sack checked in and hit the rack."

Lefter could barely read the large red sign on the door that said RESTRICTED AREA.

Mewman knocked on the door of the metal building and the CQ on duty opened the door into a lighted room. The name sewed on the fatigue jacket of the CQ said Crovelli. He was only a Private First Class, but tonight he was in Charge of Quarters. In other words, he stayed awake and watched the office while everyone else slept.

"Crovelli, this is Lefter," said Mewman looking upward at the six-foot two-inch Crovelli, "Sign for this crap so Lefter and I can go hit the rack."

Crovelli and Lefter shook hands and exchanged greetings. Lefter had to look up two or three inches to meet his eyes. Crovelli inspected the combination lock on the mailbag before signing the release paper that Mewman had handed him, "OK Mewman, you’re clear. Hit the sack."

"Don’t say that like a god damn order; I outrank you," said Mewman.

"Screw you," said Crovelli, "I’m the CQ tonight. That means I’m in Charge of Quarters, so don’t piss me off you nasty mouth little midget."

"Fuck you," said Mewman.

Crovelli held up his middle finger toward Mewman. Both men smiled.

Outside, Mewman said, "Grab your fucking duffel bag and follow me. Oh yeah, get your weapon and be sure to pack it everywhere you go around here. Wear the fucking cartridge belt also. They don’t give us any fucking ammo to carry in the cartridge belt but they get all twisted out of shape if you don’t wear the empty belt. That fifteen round clip in your carbine wouldn’t last long." He threw both hands in the air, sighed and said, "Oh well, that’s the fucking career Army I love."

"Where the hell is the other ammo if we need it," asked Lefter, feeling vulnerable.

Mewman pointed westerly, "In the supply tent, ain’t that a bunch of fucking shit?" Then the big belly laugh that Lefter was beginning to expect from Mewman.

The action up north had slowed with only an occasional flash of light. However, an occasional muffled explosive sound could be heard faintly in the distance. The flashes and muffled explosions didn’t seem to be related which seemed weird to Lefter.

"How far are we from the combat area," Lefter asked Mewman.

"Oh, maybe fifteen miles as the crow flies." Then Mewman said excitedly, "You wanna’ drive on up to the MLR tonight and shoot a fucking gook?"

Odd, thought Lefter, Mewman didn’t follow that statement with a belly laugh. Lefter didn’t respond because he had a notion that, if encouraged, Mewman might actually drive them off into the night looking for a gook to shoot.

Mewman led the way into a squad tent and used his flashlight beam to point out an empty cot. "That’s your mummy bag on that cot; checked it out of supply earlier for you, Sweet dreams", said Mewman as he crossed the tent, undressed to his skivvies and crawled into his mummy bag.

Lefter undressed to his skivvies, crawled into the mummy sleeping bag, then shivered from the surreal feeling that overcome him. It all seemed so weird. It was cold in the tent although two GI stoves showed a sliver of flame through the fire sight hole. No wonder its cold, thought Lefter. What the hell, it’s mid January. With all the excitement of the ride north in the heated jeep, he had completely forgot about the bitter cold winter weather. The down filled sleeping bag quickly became warm and cozy. Lefter drifted off to sleep despite the nagging worry about the occasional muffled sounds of explosions in the distance.