SIXTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO on June 2, 1953, a 22-year-old soldier died on the battlefields of Korea. Blown apart by a mortar just the day before he was scheduled to leave, to return home to Wollbach, Nebraska. To his wife and six-week-old daughter.
He was Cpl Ray W. Scheibe, my dad’s Army buddy. Fellow soldier. Comrade.
My dad, Elvern Kletscher, witnessed Ray’s horrible death. Something he never forgot. The visual he carried with him from Korea back home to southwestern Minnesota. The trauma. The pain. The loss never left him. How could it? He and Ray were like brothers, linked by a bond unlike any other in the commonality of survival, of facing death, of shoot or be shot.
Today I honor Ray and all those brave men and women who died in service to our country. They left behind grieving friends and families and communities. Eventually, I would find and connect with Ray’s daughter, Terri. (Read that story by clicking here.) We have yet to meet in person, but continue to exchange annual holiday letters.
I hold close the memory my dad shared about Ray’s death. Dad seldom talked about Korea. I wish I’d asked more about his time there. It’s too late; he died in 2003. But I have a shoe box full of photos and memorabilia, including the memorial service bulletin Dad carried home from Korea. The one that lists Ray’s name among those soldiers who died in service to their country. The ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice—their lives.
© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
A beautifully written tribute honoring your father’s Army Buddy I shared on FB so others could learn of his sacrifice. ❤️
Thank you, Ruth. And thank you for sharing this story.
Great article.
Thank you, Becky.
Another wonderful tribute and thereason we have this day to honor them.
Thank you. And, yes, so true. Sometimes we lose sight of the reason for Memorial Day. I’m working on a photo rich post of Memorial Day observances in Faribault.
A loving tribute to your father and his friend.
Thank you, Valerie.