Serving in military opens up other opportunities for Korean War vet
Nov. 9—JAMESTOWN — Veterans Day is about honoring veterans and the U.S. flag for a Goodrich, North Dakota, native who was a school teacher when he was 19 years old before he was drafted into the U.S. Army.
Warren Papke, 92, who now resides in Jamestown, hopes to see the American flag flying in everybody's yard on Veterans Day, which is Friday, Nov. 11.
"When you look at that, you think of freedom, you think of the men and women that didn't come home," he said. "You think of the ones that are crippled. It was not in vain. It was freedom."
When Papke graduated from Goodrich High School, he was approached by the school board to teach.
"They said they had checked my records and I qualified to be a school teacher and at the same time uncle Sam wanted me," he said. "Uncle Sam, he waited until I finished my one year of teaching and then of course I was drafted."
Papke was drafted at age 20 in 1951 during the Korean War. Being the youngest of 13 siblings, he said serving in the U.S. Army had a lot of benefits.
He said as long as he passed his physical examination, he had to go through training. So, he got on the train at McClusky, North Dakota, passed his physical examination before heading to Fort Riley in Kansas where he was trained in using heavy equipment such as machine guns, bazookas and mortars.
After his training, he served two years in Big Delta, Alaska, during the Korean War. At that time, Alaska was not a U.S. state yet, so he was able to say he served overseas.
Papke became a chaplain's assistant. Because he was a chaplain's assistant, he said he didn't have to go through inspections or stand guard, which others would tease him about.
"When I went back to the barracks at night, ... they would say that I was brown-nosing," he said.
He said he drove the chaplain around and made sure everything was set up for church services.
If service members were having trouble back home and needed to go there, they came to Papke. Then, he would schedule an appointment with the chaplain, who has a lot of authority, he said.
"If he says, 'Yes, you can go home on a leave,' that authorized it," he said.
Papke still remembers the time Ann Blyth, who was an actress and singer, went to Big Delta to provide entertainment for the troops.
"The post commander one day called me and said, 'Mr. Papke, we got a young lady coming here to entertain us and she will be here for a few days and I want you to escort her, show her around, take her all over the place,' so that was quite a privilege," Papke said.
A couple of years ago, Papke said his daughter contacted Blyth.
"She's (Blyth) my age, she lives in California, and I think my daughter wanted to verify my story," he said. "She wrote a nice letter and a picture of herself. She said, 'Yes, your dad did escort me,' so that settled that."
When his two years of service were up, he was ready to return to Goodrich. He went to Minneapolis where he graduated from a broadcasting college and then got a job in Marquette, Michigan, where he worked for about a year.
In North Dakota, he was in Hettinger for three years before he went to work for the Meyer Broadcasting Co. in Bismarck and Williston. He was an emcee of a talent show in Williston.
Once he quit the broadcasting business, he worked in grocery sales for 20 years before retiring at age 65. Papke eventually went back to work and drove vehicles for a dealership.
"I drove right up until I was 90 years old," he said.
He said he was married with six children. He moved to Jamestown about 18 months ago to be closer to his daughters.
Papke was honored in October when he went on the Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. He said he saw the Vietnam Wall, Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, Theodore Roosevelt Island and the Pentagon.
"The accommodations were unbelievable," he said. "I have to mention the volunteers, how helpful they were. ... I'm glad I had the opportunity and of course thankful for all the sponsors, the people who donate and the people that work so hard to put that program together."
He said individuals between ages 18 and 25 should consider joining the military.
"You go into the service, you are going to turn out to be a better person, you are going to learn to get along," he said. "I believe for myself I would have never accomplished the things I did if I wasn't drafted into the service because my schooling was paid for. ... If I would have to pay for all the medications and my education, I don't think I could have done that without entering the service.
Papke is a 60-year member of the American Legion, who served as a post commander for the American Legion in Goodrich. He is also a 50-year member of the AMVETS and a lifetime member of the International War Veterans Alliance.
