Respect, incentives, and proud to serve

When Gene Amley enlisted to serve in the Korean War, there was an incentive to joining the paratroopers: an extra $50 per month in pay.

Amley willingly signed up. But he earned every penny. Now, at age 94, he's still willing and able to share war stories with about anyone who stops by his farm north of St. Olaf Lake.

On this day there was a female voice in the house, Jane Wagner, New Richland's most famous basketball mom.

"Tell me what you want and I'll bring you something good for supper," said Wagner before scurrying back to town.

He was asked, "Are you and Jane related?"

"No," said Amley. "She's just looking in on me."

Such are the perks of being one of the area's most beloved - if not flamboyant - veterans of a foreign war.

Amley isn't completely alone on the farm though. Todd Krueger, whom Amley at first called "foster son" before making it "just son," has lived there for 57 years.

Amley is a pleasure to speak with, easily recalling the events and details of his military service that began when he was about 18 with boot camp in Fort Campbell, Ken. It was there he signed up for the paratroopers and was sent to Fort Benning, Ga. for six weeks of training. It was a shock to the system, not at all enjoyable.

Take it from someone who's completed one parachute jump and will never do another - this reporter - it's not fun, at least not until your parachute opens.

Then Amley was off to Camp Drum, NY for pre-Korea training, also not fun.

All the hard work earned Amley a post in Alaska - before it was a state.

"That was to get us used to the weather," said Amley. "It was cold."

From there they shipped off to Korea, where Amley's regiment was assigned to clear caves occupied by aggressive enemy forces.

"My friend was a real good shooter with a bazooka," said Amley. "I spent a lot of time with him helping him load his weapon. I didn't get to come back with him. He was killed."

Amley figures he made about a dozen jumps with the paratroopers. All came off without a hitch - at least for him.

"I saw bad things happen when we made the jump in Korea," he said. "They were waiting for us, and they had ammunition."

Many lives were lost.

Among the things Amley remembers the most about Korea was the overall coldness they projected to the U.S. soldiers.

"Maybe that was because there were so many of them there before us," said Amley.

And maybe, Amley said, it was because of the way many of the soldiers carried themselves, young and scared inside, embroiled in a war they didn't totally understand on the other side of the globe.

Amley was discharged in December 1952, but not before being offered another two-year term in the military. This time, he readily declined, returning home to farm with his father for a short time.

"I didn't farm for long because I found a babe I liked," said Amley.

Amley sees his time spent in the military as something to be proud of.

"I'm just plain proud that I did serve," he said, agreeing that recognition to soldiers has been heightened in recent years.

Amley said the greatest thing he learned - or had re-enforced - in the military is old-fashioned respect.

"It really did me a lot of good in terms of respect," he said. "It was kind of like one of those things that you know it, but you don't use it until you get there."

And that respect was contagious.

"One thing about the service is that you had a lot of respect for each other, especially when you went to war," he said. "All of a sudden, it seemed like the sergeant was just like the rest of us."

Though he's outlived them all, Amley made some lifelong friends through the military.

"We'd have a reunion every once in a while," he said.

The last reunion? Twenty-two years ago.

Amley is a past commander of the New Richland American Legion, of which he's been a member for more than 60 years. He still laments the post's closing on No. Broadway Ave.

"That was hard to see that place closed," he said. "But it did."

If you talk to Amley, it's impossible not to ask the obvious question.

What's the secret to longevity?

"I did nothing to make it that long," he said. "I had some longevity in my family with my dad. Truthfully, I was just a little bit wild when I was younger."

But, he's seen a lot and done a lot in his 94 years, not the least of which were his years spent in service to his country."

"Yes, I did," said Amley. "And I got through it."

And, he's still getting through it.