Biography and Web Page by Dakota Gray (Great-Granddaughter), Emersyn Fuller, and Mckenna Channell
“You didn’t walk there; the Lord carried you.” These were the words out of the mouth of Margie Eck, widow of Bernard Eck, when she was reflecting with Bernard on his experiences after being under attack and shot during the Korean War. We were honored to interview Margie Eck and listen to her share the story of her deceased husband, Bernard Eck, and his experiences in war. Bernard is also Dakota Gray’s great-grandfather.
Bernard Eck was born on January 21, 1929; he was the first baby boy born at Mitchell County Hospital and the second of eight children to Pete and Bernadine Eck. He was raised in Tipton, Kansas.
When Bernard was old enough, he enrolled at Hillside Country School. He enjoyed school and loved learning new things. After school, he farmed with his father and took care of their dairy cows. Eventually, Bernard graduated from Tipton High School in 1948. His love for farming led him to later become the manager of Tipton Lumber Company.
A few years down the road, Bernard was drafted into the Army when he was thirty years of age. Bernard never wanted to go to war. He wanted to stay home, help his dad on the farm, and do indoor chores with his mother. Even though he never looked forward to joining the military and fighting in the Korean War, he was always the type of person to do what needed to be done, even if he did not choose to do it.
When Bernard was in basic training at Camp Funston in Fort Riley, the conditions were not ideal. Their meals came out of cans and were certainly nothing like home cooking, but the men appreciated them because during the war, the meals were even worse. They also did not have much free time. Any free time Bernard received, he spent it writing letters to his future wife, Margie. He always took advantage of this opportunity because he did not know when he was going to come home or whether he would be lucky enough to see her again. Bernard enjoyed writing, but only to one person, Margie, “the beautiful girl and the love of his life waiting for him at home.”
Bernard was a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) man who was also in charge of working with machinery. He cleaned guns and other equipment that they used in the war. He was very talented when it came to working with machinery, and eventually, military leaders asked him to come back after the war to keep performing the same job. According to Margie, Bernard was always on top of things and “got everything done that needed to be done.” He never slacked off and made sure everything was in order.
During one battle, Bernard’s squad was selected to take the early morning shift at 2:00 A.M. and continue orders until morning. Bernard was assigned to be the leader. However, one night, one of Bernard’s squad members, Joe, requested to be the leader because he knew the password to get into battle headquarters. Without hesitation, Bernard agreed to let Joe take charge of the squad and lead the rest to their destination.
Once they arrived at their destination, they were caught off guard by a concussion grenade that was thrown over them. The enemy forces threw the grenade over them, so the light would blind the leader, which was Joe at the time. The third person in line was to be known as the squad leader. At this time, Bernard was the third person in line, while Joe was guarding Bernard’s assistant, Collete. Once the grenade exploded, the enemies started to fire at Bernard’s squad, but they were mainly focused on the third person, which was Bernard. That is when suddenly Collette and Bernard were shot in the stomach and the leg while Joe received a slight leg wound.
Bernard then fell to the ground while Joe and the squad retreated down the hill. Bernard said, “It felt to me as if my guts were shot and probably spilling out.” Immediately after, he heard footsteps approaching him in the snow. The enemy came up to him and began to feel his right wrist. Bernard knew he was trying to check for a pulse, so he played dead and tried hard not to breathe. “My mother always told me when I was young to play with my brother when we played with guns. Sometimes I would play dead, and she would come up to me and then become alarmed and shake me to see if I was playing or not.” This skill finally came into use at an extremely crucial moment.
Bernard felt as if he had a bayonet at his back. Then all of a sudden, he heard the enemy leader tell the others to follow him down the hill. Moments later the enemy dropped Bernard’s arm and continued down the hill with his squad. “I thought I was going to die here. I was thinking of all of the people in my life, my parents, my family, and the beautiful love of my life I had waiting at home for me.” Bernard was a Catholic, prepared for imperfect contrition (never sin for any reason other than to love God), so essentially he was prepared to die.
Bernard eventually went into shock: during that time his bodily functions slowed down so his body would stop bleeding excessively. “I tried getting up but couldn’t move; I felt numb.” He was laying on his stomach and tried sliding down the hill to get to the bottom. Bernard’s assistant, Colette, was lying to the left of him. He called his name, but there was no response. It looked as if Collete was crawling after Bernard down the hill, but he could not get a response out of him. Once Bernard got to the bottom of the hill, he began to regain the feeling in his legs again and was able to walk to where the medic aides had set up stretchers and had blankets to cover them. Bernard and all the other wounded soldiers were then transported to MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital).
While the doctor was examining the bullet wounds, he asked Bernard where he was from. Bernard thought it was a strange question, thinking that his answer would not help the doctor at all. Bernard responded with, “Tipton, Kansas, thirty miles from Beloit, Kansas.” The doctor then said, “Then you are a neighbor of my wife because she was a Markley from Minneapolis, Kansas.” That was the last thing the doctor said to Bernard before he went into surgery.
After surgery Bernard was required to stay in the hospital until he was safe from any possible growing infections. Once Bernard was cleared to leave, he was sent home for two weeks. It was then that he decided it was a good time to marry Margie since he did not know if he would have another chance to do so. Before Bernard had to return to the service, Margie and Bernard got married. He was not in the service for long and was then told he could go home since he was still recovering and could not fight anymore, anyway. Once he arrived home, he helped his dad with farm work and his mother with indoor chores. Bernard loved helping his family and others.
Due to Bernard’s injuries after being shot, doctors predicted he would not be able to father children and that is when Bernard and Margie decided to adopt two children: Douglas and Jay Eck. To their surprise a little later on, they were able to bear three children of their very own: Todd, Brad, and Judy. In addition, they were later blessed with fourteen grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren.
These memories that Margie shared of her beloved husband were events that were tumultuous times of his life. He was so very thankful for the Lord giving him eighty-five years of life, especially after his time spent in Korea. He underwent several surgical procedures throughout his life, and almost every time the doctors or surgeons reminded him how lucky he was to still be alive. He said he would never forget the words of Sister Mary, the administrator of the Holy Cross Hospital in Florida, “God spared you, for he has work for you to do yet.” Bernard was a member of the 24th Infantry Division and was honored to receive the Purple Heart for his war injuries. He was proud to serve his country, and it was no secret that he would have done it all again if necessary.