Senior News & Views

The World-Herald published my letter on May 14:

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen has announced an initiative to recognize Korean War veterans and make sure their “stories are alive and never forgotten”?

Every veteran has a story. Many began with a Selective Service notice. From there, stories took different paths, often ending in tragedy. For some others, the story was about a loss of little but time.

My story would be about the 1953 baseball season at Fort Lee, Virginia.

Purists would say they couldn’t play baseball there. The diamond had no outfield fence.

Capt. Stu Haskins of Special Services was quick to notice this deficiency. Superiors wouldn’t let him correct it. The best he could do was install a fence to “protect” the scoreboard in deep left field. The fence extended 50 feet, creating a home run corner.

Bob Williams, Omaha

End of letter.

Unpublished comment—This was the third draft as I shamelessly used the free space on my bingo card afforded by the current initiative to collect Korean War veterans’ stories. One of the earlier drafts appears below. My intent was to remember major leaguers Chet Nichols and Harry Chiti. In revisioin and shortening, their names disappeared. The published letter includes, “loss of little but time.” This was a commonality of all who served. For ballplayers nearing their prime, credit for the amount of time lost needs a considerable multiplier.