Listening Patrols Vulnerability

Heroes Remember

Listening Patrols Vulnerability

We spent several months, or several weeks at that time in this Hook position and our duties were primarily to maintain a line. We weren't involved too much in movement. We were static. It was trench warfare. We had listening posts that would, that went out every night into the valley and we were an early warning of enemy activity. It was a horrendous experience to sit and know, out in front of everybody else, and know that your ass is on the line here and your chance of survival is nil, pretty well. If an attack comes, they're coming through you and your chance of survival isn't very great, so. This is the feeling that you had, that everything that moved out there, everything that moved, you heard and even though you knew, you knew that it could be enemy movement, there come a point during that period at night when sleep would try to get you. It was just the most damnable thing to try and keep awake and knowing that you are the eyes and the ears of your company or your platoon up on the hill.

Mr. Ferguson describes the purpose of a listening patrol, and reflects on his vulnerability in such an exposed environment.

Luther Ferguson

Luther Ferguson was born in Mayview, Saskatchewan on October 23, 1933. He describes himself as being “unworldly, poorly educated and having low self-esteem.” Mr. Ferguson felt that the Army offered him the best opportunity to both further his education and improve his life. He enlisted in 1951, and soon found himself a combatant in the Korean War, where he served in the infantry. Mr. Ferguson’s accounts lean heavily on the psychological impacts of training and warfare, and the devastation experienced by the civilian population during the Korean conflict.