According to the publication, Johnie and Blue as she was affectionately known actually met in South Korea in the months before the war on the peninsula broke out while she was working in Seoul with US Army personnel on communications matters. In the immediate chaos after the Communist North Korean army invaded on June 25, 1950, Johnie and Blue were separated and his unit was forced to withdraw over 200 miles to the Pusan Perimeter area (where the UN forces held out until the tide of the war could later be turned with the Inchon Landings). Over the next several weeks, Blue like countless other displaced South Koreans began a grueling journey southward, mostly on foot, and remarkably found Johnie's location. After months of lobbying and appeals, they received permission to wed from the US Army and actually married on Valentine's Day (and if that isn't amazing enough, it was also her birthday).
by HawkeyeTen
8 Comments
Love surviving something like that is honestly unreal
I can’t even begin to imagine the mix of emotions she must have been feeling at that table. Absolute culture shock, relief, anxiety, and hope all at once. What an incredibly heavy, beautiful moment
So, this might be my ignorance showing, but ‘war bride’ sounds demeaning, as if she were a prize. And it might be because, at least in my morning brain, seems too similar to ‘comfort woman’.
Is this a case of accurate term at the time vs now sounding more wrong, or am I just that low on sleep?
Is that meatloaf? Is it cut like a pie? If not, not a bad idea for serving.
She passed away in 2019. Johnie passed away in 1976, she remarried and outlived her second Husband by 17 years. She had 4 children and 12 great grandchildren! Blue and Johnie are interred in Arlington National Cemetery.
“War Brides” sounds so demeaning. I hope her and Johnie had a happy life.
God, imagine the culture shock.
>…sits with her husband Sgt. Johnie Morgan and his parents for what was likely one of her first meals stateside, 1951.
Narrator: And the food was terrible.
She’s beautiful