"No greater love has any man than to lay down his life for a friend."
Here is another story of love from my Korean experience.
The love here was for a stepbrother. We had been in a firing mission. We fired white phosphorous recoilless rifle shells into Chinese positions and then fired the 81 millimeter mortars shells upon the scattering Chinese. A major from division had come up on the line and ordered the fire mission. It was not a pleasant experience to see the young Chinese soldiers toss bodies like cordwood out of the positions they were digging.
Finally, the major told us what a fine job of killing our fellow men we had done, and left.
Six or seven of us stood talking after the slaughter. A corporal from Oklahoma told us that he had orders to go home but that he was not leaving until his stepbrother got his orders to go home too. His stepbrother was in the same company, Company B, 17th Infantry Regimental Combat Team.
If the brother had been a full brother, he would not have been allowed in the same infantry company. We told the Corporal to go home. We were getting the heaviest concentration of enemy artillery fire during the history of the Korean War (according to "Stars and Stripes."). We told him he could be killed and that it was better to let his stepbrother catch up with him.
The Corporal said, "If I was going to be killed, I would have been killed by now. I'm staying!"
Now, infantry men have their degree of superstition. We told him to take back what he said. We told him anybody could be killed at any time. We also told him that it was not only bad luck to say that you wouldn't be killed but that it was even worse luck not to go home when ordered.
The Corporal had a great love for his stepbrother. He would not leave him. About two hours later, I was told that he was killed.
I don't remember the Corporal as being arrogant or stupid. I remember him as having a tremendous love for his brother. I remember that he had the courage to continually face enemy fire until his brother could leave. He paid with his life. "No Greater Love."
For The Little Children
Once upon a time there was a young prince who lived in a great stone castle on a big green mountain. He was old enough to start looking for a bride, but he knew he would not be able to do that. He knew that his parents, the King and Queen, would choose his bride for him. He thought, They will find me a bride in a foreign land and she won't even speak my language!
The prince was very sad.
One day, the Queen said to the King, "I'm concerned about the prince. He was always so happy. There was always a smile on his face. Now, I often see tears in his eyes."
The King said, "I felt the same way when I was his age. But what can we do? It has always been the rule that the King and Queen select the bride, not the prince. Surely we have more wisdom in such things than he does."
"Yes, My King, but I'm afraid the prince will run away rather than have us select his bride for him. What can we do?"
The king thought and thought. The next day he came to the Queen and said, "Let's have a grand ball and carnival. It will last a week. We will invite all the young princes and princesses with their parents as chaperones. We will see which princess he likes. If she is suitable, we will make the arrangements for the wedding. Now, the young prince must not think that he is selecting his own bride. We must stick to the traditions of our fathers."
The Queen said, "That is a marvelous idea. I'll see that the staff prepares for the celebration."
The great carnival started on Monday and the ball was to be held Saturday night. The prince spent time with each of the princesses, but after, Wednesday, he only was seen with one, Princess Nijinska. When she was young she was not pretty like the other princesses. She was known as the ugly duckling of princesses. But she always had a smile on her face, was very smart, and she liked the same things the prince liked.
When the King heard that the prince was spending his time with Princess Nijinska, he said to the Queen, "Surely, the prince does not want her for his bride. Do you remember what she looks like? She was such an ugly child. What if he is just being polite to her. He never has been rude, and he might just be helping her to have a good time while she is here."
The Queen smiled at the King. "You have misjudged our son. Remember when he was young. He loved toads more than frogs, and snakes better than bunnies. Looks are not the main thing with our son. He has to evaluate everything for it's true worth. Why, you taught him that looks can be deceiving."
The King sat on his throne and said, "Our son is also very clever. Maybe he is up to something."
The Queen laughed. "Like what? Well, maybe we will have to wait for the ball. Let us decide now. Whomever he dances with the last dance, shall be his bride."
The king thought that was a good idea.
At the Saturday night ball, the prince danced with each princess once, but not twice. He danced every other dance including the last dance with Princess Nijinska.
The king said, "She is like a beautiful swan on the lake. She moves with such elegance. In fact, she looks different tonight."
The Queen laughed. "You remember the princess as a child. She is woman now. She has changed."
The King laughed, "You could have told me that!"
The Queen smiled, "What kind of a surprise would that have been"?
"Right you are, My Dear Queen," said the King. "You have always filled my life with surprises. But that is only one reason that I love you. I even loved you before the last dance of the ball before my parents chose you for my bride. You see, I knew what you were up to, My Queen."
Copyright©John Taylor Jones, Ph.D. 2001-2005
John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com)is a retired R&D engineer and VP of a Fortune 500 company. He is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering), poetry, etc. Former editor of international trade magazine.
More info: http://www.tjbooks.com
Business web site: http://www.bookfindhelp.com (wealth-success books)
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