Leo Brandt, formerly of Tyler passed away in 2018 after sharing 65 years with his spouse, Lorraine.

Leo was born in 1927 on a farm near Arco to Axel and Dagmar (Lund) Brandt and grew up on that farm. He explained that his formal education began nearby, “I attended (country) school in District 43 southwest of Tyler.” He completed high school at the West Central School of Agriculture, a residential high school in Morris, and returned to help his folks on the farm. His nation later called him to military service.

“War broke out in Korea on June 25, 1950,” he recalled. The local draft board notified him they were classifying him 1A and Leon reported for service in Feb. 21, 1951. “We were shipped out immediately,” he recalled, “… there was a group of us from Tyler and one man from Porter I knew, Leonard Boulton, my closest Army buddy.” The Army sent the new inductees by train to Fort Lewis, Washington.

Leon continued, “We were shipped from there to Fort Warden where I had my basic training.”

He completed Basic Training and received his first assignment. “They needed someone to do cooking,” he remembered.

Leo left Fort Warden for Fort Lawton, near Seattle, and eventually ended up at Pier 91 in Seattle. He explained, “It was the port of embarkation where the men shipped out (to Korea).”

While Leo was at Pier 91, the Army sent him to Fort Lewis, for a six-week course in cooking for one hundred at a time. “It was quite extensive and I learned a lot,” he recalled. Leo returned to Pier 91 and continued working as a cook until his number came up for overseas replacement.

Leo shipped out of Pier 91 on the troopship, USS Frederick Funston. The new soldiers were stacked in bunks in the berthing areas and shared the misery of seasickness when the Funston encountered rough waters.

The Funston arrived in Japan and the replacement soldiers reported to a camp for final training before going to Korea. “I got up in the morning and could see Mount Fuji,” Leo remembered. They spent hours on the rifle range, sharpening war-fighting skills they hoped they would not have to use.

The new replacements boarded another ship for the short trip to Korea. When Leo arrived in Korea the command did not need another cook. Leo explained, “I ended up with Graves Registration and that was a totally different experience!” Their mission was to travel to battle sites and, following maps created after the fighting, carefully dig up the bodies of American soldiers killed in action and return them for final burial.

“It was kind of a tear-jerking job,” Leo explained, “I did not like it, but that was what we did. It was difficult.” The men worked carefully, gently handling the bodies of American soldiers in a final act of soldiers caring for soldiers. “Not very many words were spoken between us,” Leo recalled.

Their unit traveled all over Korea, finally ending up in the capital, Seoul, where they lived and worked from a partially destroyed schoolhouse. South Korea’s capital was a mess. Leo remembered, “There were blocks and blocks that were just ruins. We had no heat, no electricity, no nothing and we stayed there through the winter months.”

The end of the year brought a change for Leo. “I was fortunate when it got close to Christmas,” he explained, “they needed somebody to do cooking, so I made the Christmas meal.”

Leo found himself back in an Army kitchen, this time helping prepare a meal that nourishes more than soldiers’ bodies. A holiday meal nourishes soldiers’ hearts. The Christmas meal brings a familiar tradition and small slice of home to soldiers far from home. Leo described the meal he served to those soldiers so long ago.

“We had turkey, potatoes, and stuffing. It took us all night to prepare the turkeys and we fed 200 soldiers the next day for Christmas. There were a few musicians there and they played Christmas songs. It made me homesick.”

Leo returned to regular duties that evening. “I was on tower guard duty,” he recalled, “they had North Korean prisoners. I was sitting up there with a .50 caliber machine gun.” He sat alone in the cold night with a machine gun for company. Then he heard a faint sound. “I could hear a melody in the distance,” he explained, “It was ‘Silent Night.'”

“I heard that and got so homesick, you can’t believe it,” he said, choking up as he recalled that particular silent night in Korea, “I broke out in tears.” He concluded quietly, “There are some things you don’t forget.”

Our nation stations soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines all over the United States and overseas to make sure we can live our lives in relative safety and freedom. These men and women serve the rest of us voluntarily. They leave their familiar worlds for many reasons, but one of those reasons is to serve us.

Christmas is often a difficult time to be in uniform away from home because you remember other Christmases with your family and friends. Your military family supports you and you celebrate the holiday with one another as the only family available to you.

As we gather with our families and friends this year, please remember in your thoughts and prayers our troops who are spending their Christmas away. One of the gifts we ought to celebrate each year is the gift of their service.

Merry Christmas!

Copyright 2025. William D. Palmer.