Delbert Petersen

Age 82

Born in 1932 in Graettinger, Iowa on the family farm

Now lives in Esterville, IA.

U.S. Army Korean War Veteran

The U.S. involvement in the Korean War was still in full swing in March of 1953 when 20 year-old Delbert Petersen was drafted and entered the U.S. Army. Following 12-weeks of basic training, the Iowa farm boy shipped out to Korea and was attached to the U.S. Air Force at Osan Air Base “K55 Airstrip” in South Korea. “As guys were being rotated out, they needed replacements,” Petersen recalls. “So I became a cook.”

The truce was signed in late July of 1953 bringing to an end the 37-month war in Korea. Petersen was sent to two weeks of CBR (chemical, biological, radiological) training in October of that year. “We got on a bus and went through Hiroshima, Japan and stood right where the (atomic) bomb dropped,” he remembers.

Last year, Petersen had the opportunity to revisit Korea along with other members of the Korea Veterans Association. It was a meaningful journey for Petersen. “You really got to see how that country had changed from the way it was during the war to what it is today.”