Photos courtesy of Bob Aufenthie Bob Aufenthie befriended a group of Korean children on one of many opportunities to see the Korean way of life. He spent a total of two years in Korea

Bob Aufenthie got something he didn’t expect when he shipped out for military service in Korea, and it turned out to be a rewarding experience.

He was one of five enlisted men who were chosen for special assignment out of hundreds who were on board an aircraft carrier expecting infantry duty. The assignment was to work at the United Nations consulate in Korea, an office that was staffed by 85 people from 14 countries.

“They gave me a very good opportunity,” Aufenthie said. “I had a wonderful job. I got to see behind the scenes life in Korea and I met many great people.”

Aufenthie graduated in 1955 from St. John’s University in Collegeville near St. Cloud and taught school for a year before joining the Army.

He did basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. He then went to Seattle, Washington, to be shipped to Korea on an Army troop ship.

He learned of his special assignment during a stopover in Tokyo, when he was called to report to the ship’s commander.

“I was surprised,” Aufenthie said. “It meant I wouldn’t be wearing my infantry boots. The only thing they asked me was about my typing, and I could type accurately.”

A highlight of his two-year tenure with the United Nations was to attend about 30 meetings between U.N. officials and North Korean leaders.

He sat behind the leaders who met at a conference table and had the responsibility of passing them files as needed. He said it was interesting to listen to the detailed discussions about relations in and around the Korean demilitarized zone.

The zone was set up after the 1953 truce that brought an end to the Korean War. It served as a buffer that could be closely policed by military from both sides.

“They talked about conditions on both sides of the border,” Aufenthie said. “There was concern about spy activity and about how to manage the DMZ.”

He said additional time was spent discussing the issue of border crossing. A significant number of North Koreans attempted to cross over to South Korea to enjoy the freedom of the non-Communist world.

“Many of them tried to come south,” he said. “Our conditions weren’t all that good. Seoul was a demolished city, but the conditions in the south were still better than what they had in the north.”

He was housed at the United Nations headquarters, and had the amenity of house servants. Personnel from overseas often tipped the servants with cigarettes, which the servants could sell on the street for extra cash.

His evenings were spent teaching English conversation at a South Korean university. His students included many prominent local Korean officials and business people.

“It was a pleasure to teach them,” Aufenthie said. “They’d studied English and basically knew the language, but they needed practice with conversations. I became good friends with some of them.”

He said one of his favorite experiences in Korea was going to students’ homes for occasional Sunday dinners. He was surprised to learn about the many different ways to use rice in a daily diet.

He returned to the United States after two years, where he again taught school and later became an insurance agent for State Farm Insurance.

Aufenthie looks back at his time in Korea as a rewarding, eye opening experience that broadened his awareness of cultural diversity around the globe, One of his sons recently archived his slides from Korea on a compact disc.

“It was a really rewarding two years,” he said. “I’m honored to have served. It gave me many good experiences.”