Love Letters to Pete, a Korean War Memoir

In early November 1952, 2nd Lt. Ron Freedman, along with 900 members of his battalion, boarded a military transport ship—destination … South Korea. While onboard, Ron was given fifty Christmas cards and told to write home. He couldn't remember if he had fifty friends, but he did remember Nancy “Pete” Smith, a girl he'd once dated in Boston. Their correspondence continued throughout one of the most turbulent years of the Korean War - 1953. In May 1953, not long after the first battle of Pork Chop Hill, Lt. Freedman transferred to the 7th Infantry Division as a Forward Observer, 48th Field Artillery Battalion. His service earned him the Silver Star … and a Purple Heart. Many have written about the Korean War, and the two desperate battles of Pork Chop Hill in particular. Love Letters to Pete tells the personal story of one soldier who took part in the 2nd Battle for Pork Chop Hill. But the letters he wrote to future wife Nancy “Pete” Smith don't tell all of the story. Now, 60 years later, Ron gives details of actions not told in those letters. Together the comments and letters in Love Letters to Pete give a complete picture of life at war—the boredom, endless training, friendships, battles, and an almost casual heroism, as told by one who lived it to the one he loved.