• U.S.

MEN AT WAR: Squiggle of Honor

2 minute read
TIME

“I told them it was some sort of a mistake,” said the bewildered hero, but his protest did no good. An antiaircraft private, even one about to be decorated, is not encouraged to argue with his division commander. So one day last week Private Walter N. Johnson was whisked from his battle post on Korea’s western front and flown to Seoul. Bands were playing bravely as the 21-year-old Nebraskan was lined up with seven high-ranking U.N. officers at Eighth Army headquarters. Then His Serene Highness, Siamese Prince Pridi-debyabongs Davakul, pinned to the private’s chest the Silver Medal of the Crown of. Thailand. What for? “I haven’t the slightest idea,” said Private Johnson, a veteran of only two months in Korea. “I never saw a Thailander before.”

Back in Tokyo, a U.N. liaison officer offered a tentative explanation. “You see,” he said, “some time ago the Thai government sent up a list of some 70 American soldiers it wanted to decorate for assistance to the Thai battalion. The list was written in Thai, which is a very difficult language. It has its own alphabet, which is very squiggly. I can’t say for sure, but I’ve got a hunch that the medal in question was supposed to be given to some other Johnson.” It was—to Private Walter N. Johnson, now back on his farm in Aplington, Iowa.

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com