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Pacific Stars and Stripes, September 11, 1950

 

Sentry 'Captures' Prize

Foundling Given Loving Attention

By Sgt. Allen Waters S&S Korea Bureau

 

25TH INF. DIV. IN KOREA-Cpl. James W. Asnionson, Austin, Minn., was on guard duty on the perimeter defense of a medical collecting station when he heard a dog scratching himself.  It was eerily dark and somehow the sound of the scratching seemed unnatural.  He turned on his flash light and briefly caught a glimpse of white which is the color of danger here.

He unlocked his weapon, pointed it towards the sound and summoned the sergeant of the guard.  Again he flashed his light and moved nearer the sound.  As he approached it, sheer terror stared at him from black eyes in a face pitifully thin.  He was looking at an all but starved South Korean girl, age six.  A pup with the most brutal master in the world could not have shown more fear than this girl as the sentry lifted her up, then tucked her, complete with dirt, lice and fleas, into a sleeping bag. 

Next morning the order of the day for the girl was a bath.  They combed her hair, cooks prepared her the best possible breakfast, and, such is the adaptability of children, within two hours she was cuddling trustingly on the laps of war-hardened men, unafraid perhaps for the first time in her recollection.

 

An area within artillery range of a fanatical enemy is no place for tots.  Reluctantly, she was turned over a few days later to the proper authorities, to be placed in a home for foundlings.

 

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