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Interviewed by:
Skyeler Sandison and Tyler Harwood
Southern Korea
1953
Centerville Massachusetts
2016
“They called it the land of the morning calm, because in the winter time the temperature would be normally 10 below 0, and as the day went on it might turn up to be 70 … We would wear our Mickey Mouse boots to keep our feet from freezing, and our heavy flak jackets and everything.
And then by the end of the day we were sweating because the sun would come out and whatever,
and it would go 10 degrees again at night”
~ Francis Hufnagel (11:19)
Name:
Francis Hufnagel
Date of Birth:
May 1934
Branch of Service:
Army
Dates of Service:
Late 1952 - Mid 1954
Location of Military Service: Southern/Middle Korea
Current Residence:
Centerville, Massachusetts
Francis Hufnagel's Story:
Francis X. Hufnagel was born in May 1934 and grew up in Hyde Park, Boston, Massachusetts. Growing up he came to admire his older brother Joe as he had served in World War II on both the Atlantic and Pacific front. This inspired him to choose military service, signing up for the Marines shortly after graduating. And though he would then retract on that decision after seeing a good friend of his return from the war badly burned and scared, he would still pursue service in the Army.
Mr. Hufnagel trained at Indiantown Gap which the recruits dubbed “Little Korea” and shipping out to fight in the Korean Conflict on (date) for a 33 day voyage to Japan. After taking a military ferry from Japan to Pusan he spent the next year and a half doing mostly peacekeeping and guard work throughout southern Korea due to the ceasefire and 38th Parallel Armistice being negotiated at the time.
Throughout his time there he had many memorable experiences, some worthy to be looked back on fondly, some tragic, others even traumatic. And so with this he still looks back on it saying “I would do it again” years after that day when he took the long voyage back, and when he got off a train returning to his home street seeing his parents, siblings, and friends who welcomed him joyfully home.
He met his wife shortly thereafter and they eventually found their way to Cape Cod via a teaching career at Mattacheese Middle School.(Choosing between contracts there, Nantucket, or Australia) Living around Centerville since then his hobby of fishing has become his favorite activity aside from spending time with his beloved wife and family. Francis X. Hufnagel’s story can truly be seen as inspiring as he is a true witness to war.
The medals of an accomplished veteran seem to tell there own story...
Korean Service Medal (top left)
Korean War Service Medal (top right)
2nd Infantry Division, US Army patch (top center)
40th Infantry division patch (left below top center)
Eighth US Army patch[EUSA] (Right below top center)
Corporal/E-4 pay-grade insignia (center)
National Defense Service Medal (center left)
United Nations Korean Service Medal (center right)
Army Good Conduct Medal (bottom center)
Hufnagel's Korean War Veteran Cap.
A Certificate of Training for the mine-warfare school he was assigned attend.
A USO show that Hufnagel witnessed when famed actress and model Marilyn Monroe visited Korea in 1954.
Another USO show around the same time.
Even in war Christmas can still be enjoyed with cards and cigars...
Picture of a dog which Hufnagel and his fellow soldiers kept as a pet. Though they wondered why he disappeared one day, they soon figured out what local Korean restaurants had in mind when they saw him...
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