Harlan Buck had it easy.

He only had to drive with his wife, Joann, from Hayfield to Austin for the reunion.

The others didn't have it that easy.

Duane Sweep came from Clara City, Minn., Ambrose W. Peters drove up from Marble Hill, Mo., and Max E. Fisher drove all the way from Lewiston, Pa.

In all, there were 18 veterans and their wives and friends. They held a reunion Friday through Sunday in Austin. Although their numbers are aging, those remaining got together again.

People like Harold

R. Taylor and James E, Fleming, both from Illinois.

They were all U.S. Army soldiers who were attached to the 30th Field Artillery Battalion, during the Korean War.

"The forgotten war," they called it. Stuck in the middle of World War II and the Vietnam War.

Buck and his wife organized the reunion and served as hosts. "We had a great time. The AmericInn people were great to us. We had a good time at the SPAM Museum and a great dinner at Lansing Corners and we just enjoyed seeing each other again," Buck said.

Most served a single enlistment after being drafted into the U.S. Armed Forces.

James E. Graves was an exception. He was a pilot of P-51 aircraft, during World War II in Europe (1942-46). After a few years hiatus as a civilian, he was called back to military duty for the Korean War (1951-1954) and assigned to the 30th Field Artillery Battalion. Including his National Guard service, Graves was in the Army for 34 years before retiring.

Another exception to the one-hitch-and-out soldiers was Fleming, who served

33 years and 4 months before retiring as an Army major.

Taylor was at the first reunion in 1982, when there were only six solders from the unit represented. Like Peters, he was among the draftees. "I got a letter from Uncle Sam that said 'Come and join the Army' and I went," he said.

Peters was a farm boy in the Missouri "boot heel. When Uncle Sam said 'go' we went," he quipped.

Graves joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, the forerunner of the U.S. Air Force and served with distinction with the famed 8th Air Force, during World War II.

"I don't know if it was so much an act of patriotism as it was doing your duty for your country. Whatever it was, I went and served," Graves said.

All of the veterans say they are pleased to see renewed attention being given the plight of today's veterans. "It's getting better all the time. I think there is more awareness for what they did," said Peters.

All feel Americans are showing their love of their country more and more each day.

"Patriotism is alive and well," said Sweep. "Since 9/11 there's been even more of it."

Sweep's son, son in law and daughter are all Army or Air Force veterans. His daughter, Gretchen, served in her father's old unit, the 40th Field Artillery."

Fleming was drafted in 1953. Like his artillery peers, he served in Germany (Erlangen) among other bases until retiring in 1986.

He also visited the current 30th Field Artillery unit at Fort Sill, Okla. and examined the big guns up close.

"It's changed so much today," he said. "They have the Global Positing System to guide them. They have more firepower and they can fire with more accuracy."

Artillery soldiers in World War II and the Korean War fired the "big guns,' which launched projectiles with a high trajectory over great distances.

Those who used powder bags in their weapons faced some of the most dangerous tasks on the battlefield.

It was the big guns that bonded them. One man was dependent upon the others for the success of their mission and his life.

Today's Hollywood movie depictions of soldiers are "getting better," as Buck said..

Next fall, they will reunite again -- this time at St. Charles, Mo., -- and swap war tales, discuss the plight of veterans and compare today's Army with their era's fighting men and women.

Graves said he found the fitting epitaph for all veterans and their service to their countries on a sign in a cemetery in Great Britain.

"It read 'When you go home, tell their story. For your tomorrow, we gave our today."

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com