The wind swept the map out of the young soldier’s hands, and he watched it dance down the mountain where he was stationed.
Marion “Griff” Griffin knew he had to get it back before it got in the hands of the Chinese. The 21-year-old Satartia native had always been on his toes during his time in Korea.
With his country still at war, he knew he had better head down the steep cliffs to retrieve the map.
Then the enemy’s incoming fire began to fly around him. But he still went for the map.
“Then I noticed my arm felt wet,” he said, grabbing his right arm. “I had been hit in the arm. We didn’t have any medics around so I just taped my arm up and kept on going, fighting.”
Griffin never received the Purple Heart because he never reported his wound. With no medics around, he simply applied some sulfur powder to his arm and wrapped it up.
He pushed on, fighting for his country. And eventually the wound would heal on its own.
“I just kind of treated it myself,” he said. “I was just trying to stay alive.”
The 83-year-old vividly remembers his time in the armed services, particularly his tour in the Korean War. He was only 18 years old when he joined the military. But in the course of a few years, the young country boy would grow into a man. A man who was able to travel beyond the Yazoo hills and flatlands into a world that was nothing like he had ever seen before.
Griffin joined the Marine Corp when he was 18 years old. His twin brother Murray was in the military, and Griffin wanted to follow in his footsteps.
“My twin brother was joining, and I wanted to go with him,” Griffin said. “I was still in school, but I ended up joining.”
He took his basic training in South Carolina, before heading off to Guam.
Griffin was excited about the services and being able to travel to places he had only heard about in passing.
“But I did want to go back home and finish high school,” he said. “I only had one year to go. I missed playing basketball. I went All Star for two years in school.”
The Yazoo boy traded his basketball in for a helmet, spending two years in Guam.
“When I came back home, a friend of mine told me to join the National Guard,” he said. “I did, and I wasn’t there very long when I got called to Korea.”
Griffin was only 21 when he was told he would heading to the Korean War.
“Everybody thought we would be headed to Germany,” he said. “But they put pieces of paper in a helmet that said either ‘go’ or ‘not go’. I drew the first darn ‘go.’ I looked over to Blackie Fulgham and told him that I couldn’t go because I was about to get married.”
Before he knew it, Griffin was on a boat headed to Korea. Unsure of what to expect, he kept telling himself to just concentrate on making it back home.
When Griffin saw the shoreline in sight, he was unaware that he and his fellow soldiers were about to take North Korea back.
“We got out in the water, and it went all the way up to our chins,” he said. “We had to hold our rifles up in the air and make it ashore.”
That night Griffin slept on the beach and almost froze to death.
“I had never been in a more hot or cold place in my life,” he said. “It would be so hot and then so cold in the same day.”
Making his way to his division headquarters, Griffin saw his first vision of war. It was a sight he has never forgotten.
“I was so scared on the way to headquarters,” he said. “They kept telling us not to get off the trail because there were land mines everywhere.”
It was seconds later when an 18-year-old soldier stepped on a mine.
“They told me to help him up so he could get help,” Griffin said. “”When I pulled on his boot, his whole foot came off in it. Blood shot up in my face, and it made me sick.”
The young man lost his foot, but he survived.
Griffin spent his time in Korea letting others know when mortars were coming in.
And although he was fighting for his country and to survive, he found time to take in the scenery around him.
“There were some beautiful towns, but there wasn’t much left,” he said. “They tore a lot up.”
Griffin can also remember when General Douglas McArthur wanted to push on toward the Chinese. However, President Harry Truman called McArthur off.
Many people have said Truman’s decision was a mistake. But Griffin was very happy with the turn of events.
“There were a thousand Chinese soldiers facing us,” he said. “I’m glad we were called back. I was scared to death.”
Griffin had seen enough death.
“The Chinese left their dead,” he said. “It was so hot, and it smelled horrible. They sent in blowtorches to burn some of the bodies just to get rid of the odor.”
Even bunkers would serve as death houses, holding the bodies of dead soldiers.
“I turned my eyes away,” he said, looking down. “I just walked away. I didn’t want to see it anymore.”
Griffin was ready to return to normal. Even sleeping became out of the ordinary.
“I had my hand hanging off the bed one night, and I kept feeling something,” he said. “I looked down and there was a rat, chewing on my fingernails.”
But it was the love for his country and freedom that kept Griffin going through all the horrible sights and dramatic times.
“I kept saying, ‘Lord, help me get out of here,’” he said. “I just wanted to get back home. And I knew that one day I would get home.”
Griffin spent almost two years in Korea before he was sent home. He got married, started a family and continued to work with the Army.
He had three daughters, who “ruled” him.
He now has four grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He and his wife Elizabeth Ann Kirk Griffin have been married 60 years.
“I really enjoyed being in the military,” he said. “It was a good life for me.”
He began training soldiers at the local National Guard Armory.
“He loved the Army,” said DeDe Hankins, his daughter. “He loved serving his country. He was proud of it. He didn’t want to retire. He loved it that much.”
Griffin was awarded the Army Achiever Medal in 1988. He also earned the MS Magnolia Medal, the highest honor a soldier can receive in the state.
Griffin was asked to retire when he was 61 years old, earning the rank of Sgt. First Class.
“I didn’t want to retire,” he said, with a smile. “I was fixing to make Master Sgt. I had one more year to get it. Then they told me, ‘we are fixing to retire you.’”
Griffin still meets with fellow veterans once a month for breakfast.
And he still loves the Army, freedom and his country.
“I had a lot of close friends,” he said. “Some good buddies of mine didn’t make it. But I served my country. And I think I served it very well.”
