Lamar Edmonds looks over a photograph of several Yazooans who served in the military during the Korean War. As a teenager, he also served his country during the Korean War.By JAMIE PATTERSON
Managing Editor

Lamar Edmonds said he was never nervous about going off to war.
At the time, he was more worried about cutting himself during his first shave aboard the shaky train, headed toward Fort Jackson in South Carolina.
“The first time I ever shaved was on that train,” he said, smiling at the memory.
The Yazoo County native was a teenager when he served his country in the Korean War. With a family history of men in the military, he was only 16 when he joined the National Guard in 1950.
Military service allowed Edmonds to see the world and visit places he had only read about or seen in pictures. Considering he was born in the backseat of a car, his travels were a highlight of his life.
“My daddy delivered me,” he said, with a laugh. “I was born in the backseat of a 1927 Chevy in a roadside park near Redwood.”
Raised in Satartia, Edmonds joined the National Guard to earn extra income. At 16 years old, he wasn’t concerned with the conflict that was going on overseas in Korea.
“I was growing tired of being in the National Guard so I wanted to join the regular Army,” Edmonds said. “It was all fun for awhile because I enjoyed being with the friends I made.”
Edmonds celebrated his 17th birthday in the Army. But it wasn’t long before he could no longer ignore the war that was raging across the ocean.
“They told us that they wanted five people to go over to Korea,” Edmonds said. “So they put ten pieces of paper in a hat. If you drew a piece of paper that said ‘no go’, you didn’t go. But if you drew one that said ‘go’, you did. It was that simple.”
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