BRINGING HOME THE COLORS

Colors, in military terms, are the various flags of an army, division, regiment, battalion or company.

Early March of 1954, I was approaching rotation from Korea after serving my tour of duty. To my great surprise, I was notified that I would be temporarily assigned to the 45th Division - the first division, to my knowledge, to be retired from active duty after the end of the Korean War. The division would have a full assignment of men, albeit temporary, and we would 'return the colors' to the United States. This was to be a 'good will' tour as we dropped off soldiers being discharged from service and picking up new recruits.

We sailed from Inchon, the same port where I had debarked some ten months earlier. We sailed on the General J.H. McRae, first to Yokohama, Japan to take on supplies and then on to Hawaii. Most of us received a 36 hour pass and I enjoyed a steak dinner preceded by an 'up' Martini (the first in over a year) and then toured Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. We sailed on to the Panama Canal and again received a day's pass and I had the opportunity to view Panama City.

Our final leg of the tour was up the East Coast after stopping at San Juan, Puerto Rico, again dropping off and picking up men. We sailed into New York harbor the Friday before Easter - the Army was doing its best to get us to our respective homes on leave by Easter Sunday. We were up at 5 A.M., and dressed in full (winter) uniform and with our packed duffel bags beside us, all 2,000 men were called to attention with our right hand held in salute as we sailed past that grand old lady, The Statue of Liberty. I was not the only soldier to view her welcoming torch through a blur of tears. We were indeed 'Bringing Home The Colors.'

Men who had families living within a 100 mile radius of New York City had been notified and many were on the dock to welcome their 'boys' home. There was an army band playing 'Yankee Doodle', and 'The Caissons Go Rolling Along' and then a joyous burst into Cole Porter music - all this, and the return was duly celebrated in the pages of Life Magazine.

November 11 is Veterans Day - or, called in the old days after WW I, Armistice Day. I will celebrate it by marching in the parade and remembering my tour of duty, my glorious sailing into New York Harbor as well as the friends who didn't make it home with me. So fly an American flag, march, if you can, or just be grateful for all the veterans who are celebrated on this special day.

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