Kenneth Borchers
Bio
Kenneth Borchers was born in Battle Creek, NE. He was farming at Ida Grove in Iowa when he enlisted in January 1951. During his period of service, Kenneth Borchers arrived at Yokohama, Japan and was stationed on the front line in Korea as a SFC in the Fox Co. 8th Corps (1st Corps Division). He participated in the Korean War and received a Purple Heart for his commitments. From his time in the war, he still remembers Col. Stone. On returning home from his deployment in Korea, Kenneth Borchers worked in the Special Service supply at Ft. Riley, KS. After his discharge in 1954, he went back to farming where he now belongs to the KWVA Chapter 270.
Video Clips
A Farmer's New Invention
Kenneth Borchers reminisced about the integration of new technology during the Great Depression. Kenneth Borchers and his brother were hired to work for a farmer who had electricity even though he had never seen it before. Kenneth Borchers recalled how his brother continued to turn the light on and off in amazement of this new invention.
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The Enemy Talked To Us
Bodies lay dying on the battlefield not too far from where the troops were stationed on the hill they were defending territory. Kenneth Borchers recalled the sounds bodies were making as the men were dying during the night. There was death all around and soldiers moaning from their pain was a constant sound.
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A Breakfast Surprise
The men in Kenneth Borchers's platoon were enjoying a delicatessen of eating pancakes while on the front line one morning. As they got situated on the ground to eat, they saw the enemy running through their camp. The US soldiers never could fire a shot before the enemy passed their camp and were down the hill.
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Attack By the Chinese and the Rats
After spending nights as an observer on the hill they were defending, Kenneth Borchers continued to report to Lt. Stone that there were people coming up the road, but no one believed him. The area they were located had been fairly secured with barbed wire, but around 9pm, the rats began to run.
Therefore, Kenneth Borchers knew that his troops were under attack by the Chinese who mounted the barbed wire fences by using acrobatic moves to scale the fence.
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Soldiers Insane with Thirst
Kenneth Borchers was at an outpost on a very hot day in August, when one of the younger soldiers had not filled his canteen up with water like he was instructed. Later, he saw the same soldier come running back down the hill to get on his hands and knees so he could drink water from the rice fields. This act would make him very sick, so his leader put a gun to the soldier's shoulder and told him that if he drank it, he'd shoot him right there.
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