Life

Local veterans flying to South Korea

By Bill Moss, Published: June 20, 2014

About a dozen Korean War veterans and their wives are leaving for South Korea on Saturday in a trip paid for by Koreans honoring their service.

Hilliard Staton, a Henderson County native, served in the war from 1953 to 1954.
"We're going simply because Korea may be the only country in the world that still like the United States," said Staton, who is prone to a wisecrack. His business card features a photo of him with his tank at a Marine base in Korea 60 years ago. A successful Merrill Lynch stockbroker for many years in London and the U.S., Staton's title today is "Dilettante & Polymath," according to his card.
A group of about 15 Korean War veterans in Hendersonville gets together regularly and the Korean community here has always been appreciative of them. "Anytime they have a party they always invite us," he said.
Staton said he's not even sure exactly who is funding the trip. A few weeks ago organizers told him the trip planned for this Hilliard Staton, second from right, rehearses for the local history play "Sunbonnets and Straw Hats" in July 2013.month had been called off for lack of funding. Then all of a sudden, the Korean organizers reversed course and said it was on. They asked for the veterans' IDs and passports and scheduled them for a flight and a visit from Saturday until Friday, June 27. They leave on a 6 a.m. flight for Chicago, then fly non-stop to Seoul.
"It's a 12-hour flight so that will be a punishment," he said. "But it took me 22 hours to get their in the first place and that was a punishment, too. But I don't think anybody is going to be shooting at me this time."
A first lieutenant with a 1st Marines tank battalion, Staton and his unit served near Panmunjom, where peace talks were under way. "They were set up in tents," he said. "We could see them when we went by."
Born on the Fourth of July, Staton turns 84 on his next birthday. He's looking forward to seeing the changes that have taken place in a country that was war-ravaged when he left 60 years ago.
"I understand they've paved the roads and put glass in the windows," he said. "They hadn't done either when I was there."
The 22-hour plane ride to get to the war was an experience Lt. Staton didn't want to repeat. When the Marines offered him a plane ride home, he said no. He went by ship instead. "It took 22 days but I was rested when I got there," he said.
He assumes his hosts in South Korea will express appreciation for the American veterans, just as their countrymen have here.
"We don't know exactly why" they arranged the trip, he said. "Freedom's not free, as they say, and we helped them get the freedom they have and they're thanking us for it."