"I can't believe how lucky I was… If I had been sent to the front I probably would have killed myself, you know, shoot myself in the foot or drop a grenade on me." (Video Interview, 29:49)

Kenneth Bentz

Staff Sergeant Kenneth Bentz War: Korean War, 1950-1953 Branch: Army Unit: Adjutant General's Section, Headquarters Company, 7th Infantry Division Service Location: Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Chip'yong-ni and Chunchon, Republic of Korea; Fort Custer, Michigan Rank: Staff Sergeant Place of Birth: IL

For someone who modestly admits he did "nothing special" while serving in Korea, Kenneth Bentz offers an informative and entertaining look at the life of an Army clerk in wartime. Drafted six months after the start of the war, Bentz did not ship out with the men he had trained with and went over on his own. His voyage took so long that there were letters waiting for him when he arrived in country. His three sisters were good to him, sending him everything from cookies to a camera to a cot. He was stationed for time in Chip Yong Ni, where one of the big battles of the war had already been fought and where he contracted malaria. He typed, did personnel work, and occasionally pulled guard duty, thankful he wasn't carrying a weapon out in the field. His tour of duty was extended by one week: He agreed to interview outgoing GIs in Japan for a ticket on an airplane back instead of passage on a ship.