Oliver Offers Unique View of Korean Conflict
BA Ledger — January 23, 2008
Lucienda Denson, Lifestyle Editor
BA Ledger — January 23, 2008
Lucienda Denson, Lifestyle Editor
A new book by Dr. Clarence G. Oliver Jr. has been released. A book signing will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, at The Book Place, i32 W. New Orleans, Suite 136.
"Tony Dufflebag . . . and Other Remembrances of the War in Korea" has been in progress two to three years. In the "acknowledgements," Oliver expresses his thanks for the many sources he used in the book, for people who assisted with research and who shared their memories of the same war, and often the same battles.
A major contributor to "Broken Arrow, The First Hundred Years," Oliver is a veteran of three careers - the military, journalism and education. A 32-year school administrator, he retired as superintendent of Broken Arrow Public Schools, is Dean Emeritus at Oral Roberts University and is the former editor of the Broken Arrow Ledger. His passion for research has been recognized by many in the community.
In addition to the research Oliver did for tl1e book, stories told in "Tony Dufflebag" are a mixture of history, journalism , mem0ries and autobiographical experiences.
Oliver served as a master sergeant in an infantry rifle company during the Second Winter Campaign of the War in Korea. The book's title story is of the rescue of a 6-year-old Korean orphan boy by two soldiers. The child was freezing and starving on the streets of Seoul, South Korea.
He was secreted into protective "adoption " and cared for by the soldiers in Oliver's company.
"His parents had been killed by the Chinese," Oliver said, adding that there were many such children in Seoul. Over the years, he has tried to find Tony Dufflebag, but has been unsuccessful.
Oliver said he has been told that there were so many children helped by American soldiers, it is unlikely he would ever find the child, now in his 50s.
But the book is about more than one small child. Told in Oliver's conversational , easy reading format, stories include the death of a fellow soldier, thoughts of a young wife and son at home, the feelings of a Christian soldier in combat, and about life-long friendships that develop in wartime. It is also well documented with photographs, copies of documents and commentary by friends, colleagues and researchers.