WITH 25TH INF. DIV. IN KOREA-Here's
a new twist to the old story of kind-hearted GIs adopting Korean waifs.
Some 25th Division engineers picked up one at Suwon, and
it turned out to be a girl.
Cpl. Thomas C. Davis, driver for the engineer battalion
commander and self-appointed guardian of the youngster, said: "It
sure surprised me. Looked exactly like a boy, short hair and everything.
We didn't find out she was a gal until.. . . " The Monticell, Miss.,
flushed slightly. Then he continued, "Well, there's only one sure
way of finding out. We gave her a bath!"
The four-year-old was left with Davis by two Korean
women at the Suwon Airport. The Koreans, who also mistook the child's
sex and referred to it as "he," brought the tot to the fire Davis
had burning. "They told me he (she) didn't belong to them, and they
didn't have room in the crowded refugee truck for him (Her)," Davis
related. So the young engineer took her under his care when he moved
out that night.
"She was freezing cold." He said, "No hat, a ragged
old sweater and nothing but shreds of an old GI blanket wrapped around
her feet for shoes."
Back at the new command post, after discovering
he had acquired a feminine mascot, Davis got another surprise when
the tiny Korean started chattering. "I understand enough Korean to
catch some of the things she says." He said. "She told me her mother
left while she was asleep and never came back, and that policemen
took her father away." She also told Davis she was five years old,
but he figures she's closer to four, judging by the Korean calculated
age. The Engineers now have the orphan warmly clothed, and keep her
appetite satisfied. "She ate so much the first time we fed her that
she got sick," Davis said.
