Worst Experience

Heroes Remember

Worst Experience

Transcript

Interviewer: Tell, tell me Mr. Pfeifer when you think back on your experience in Korea, can you think of the worst thing that happened to you there, something that stands out in your mind as being the worst? I don't know if I should tell you this but yeah there was, I was a RP that's Regimental Police with the, with the PPCLI's. and what was happening, some of the guys didn't want to wash there own clothes eh... and so they got the, we used to call them (Inaudible) and, and they did the laundry for them and for doing the laundry they would leave some of their clothing there. And I don't know whether they were running short of clothing or whatever but my job was to go, me and another guy were supposed to go down there and take all this clothing back. Well, these poor women they worked for that. They cleaned all their everything up and so they left them this stuff and it was hard I couldn't, I couldn't go there and say "Well you gotta give it." I did though, I went and I told them and they wouldn't, they didn't want to give it. So I fixed the bayonets on, on the rifle, and said that "You have to give it, my job to see that they gotta go back." and this one, one girl she had, well, I guess they didn't have anything they didn't have a, they were starving too. So, she didn't want to give it and she come, she come towards me, you know like...like yelling and I, actually I got scared and I was armed! But she finally cooled off and we told her we have to take all the equipment back that's Canadian Military equipment, and it belongs to Canada, you have to give it back. They finally gave it back but that was, that, that stuck out in my mind for a long time, cause here was a girl, she was ready to jump me without any ammunition or anything just bare hands and I, I, I don't think I could have shot her. I don't think I could have, because I just couldn't and here she was, she made such a big thing out of it. Anyway we got our equipment back and that was, that was really sad for me.

Description

Mr. Pfeifer recalls how his role as Regimental Police with the 2nd Battalion PPCLI resulted in his worst experience in Korea.

Rudolph Pfeifer

Mr. Pfeifer was born February 14th, 1931, the son of a German immigrant. His two half brothers both served in and returned safely from the Second World War. Being in the country and working the land, Mr. Pfeifer had little knowledge of the buildup of the Cold War in the late ‘40s. While in Winnipeg on June 25, 1950, having had to give an injured co-worker a ride to town, Mr. Pfeifer saw recruiters and, wanting to explore the world, joined up on the spur of the moment. Assigned to the 2nd Battalion PPCLI, Mr. Pfeifer was sent to Calgary for training before being shipped to Seoul, Korea. The highlight of Mr. Pfeifer's action came at the Battle of Kapyong (April 22 - 25, 1951) where the Canadians held off wave after wave of Chinese offensives, attempting to capture Hill 677 and move on to Seoul. He and the other participants in this action later received Presidential Citation's for their service. In the summer of 1951, Mr. Pfeifer was wounded when a 2" mortar mis-fired. He was given a medical discharge and returned to Canada.

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