Jack C. Kauffman

83 years old

Born in Rolfe, Iowa in 1932

Now lives in Swea City, Iowa

U.S. Army Korean War Veteran

The horror of being on the front lines during the heat of the Korean War- said to be the bloodiest war of all time - has haunted U.S. Army veteran Jack Kauffman his entire adult life.

“Every morning I wake up with Korea on my mind,” admits Kauffman who enlisted in the service in 1950 and was a machine gunner with the Army Combat Engineers. “I have flashbacks during the night. I can't sleep with anybody, I kick them out of bed.”

Kauffman's first wife couldn't take it and divorced the disabled war veteran. “I got married again in 1969, but my wife has to sleep in another bedroom. She tried at first, but I accidentally hurt her during one of my flashbacks,” he says. To this day, the smells of certain foods also trigger his war flashbacks. “Some foods, like squash, reminds me of when we were trying to eat on the battle field with the smells of the dead bodies.”

The Swea City, Iowa veteran continues. “I'd seen a lot of crap over there. War is terrible when it's bloody like (Korea) was on the front lines. I was on foreign duty 19 months and 10 days. I served under General MacArthur. I came home a different person.” Kauffman tries to fight back the tears, but they come anyway. “My mom noticed and said I wasn't the same boy who left home to go to war. I said, 'Mom, I'm not the same.'”

Kauffman says he contracted tuberculosis in Korea, plus suffered from back and leg injuries. He was treated in a Minneapolis hospital for the TB once he arrived back stateside. Unfortunately, his young daughter contracted the disease from him.

Kauffman says he continues on-going treatment for post-traumatic stress syndrome at the VA hospital. Yet he continues to push through and live as normal a life as he can, under the circumstances. He still gets together with his fellow vets on occasion and even attends meetings of the Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 254.

© Photo and Story Joseph Kreiss