SAUGUS — Sixty-four years ago today, the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement brought an end to the Korean War. But it wasn’t until two months ago that the chapter could be closed for a Saugus veteran.
While serving in Korea in 1952, U.S. Army veteran Tom Sheehan, who carried a radio for his highly decorated battalion commander Colonel Young-Oak Kim, was given a 1,000 won note by a South Korean friend. A short time later, he heard on the radio that his squad would be moving out and acted quickly.
“When word came that there would be any kind of move, we were likely the first to know about it,” said Sheehan. “It was just a thought on my mind. We might lose somebody. Some of these guys might be gone. I might be gone. I had the note in my wallet and said everybody had to sign it.”
He gathered 16 signatures from the squad members who were present, and placed the bill back in his wallet, where it remained for the next 6½ decades. Weighing heavily on the note was the absence of the only missing signature — that of Charles Rumfola, who was busy rigging a system to easily transport ammunition and other supplies up a mountain side when the bill was being signed.
“He had jacked the end of a truck up and taken one wheel off,” said Sheehan. “He was brilliant with that stuff.”
That night, a firefight broke out, and Sheehan said he didn’t give the note another thought until long after he returned home. Out of the 16 men who signed it, he believes there is only one other person, Robert Breda, who is still alive, though Sheehan has been waiting for about five months for a response to his last letter to him.
The 89-year-old writer eventually tracked down Rumfola, who was living in upstate New York, and began corresponding with him through letters. After a handful had been sent back and forth between the two former soldiers, Rumfola, 91, arranged to travel to Massachusetts with his daughter, Carol Kostraba, to be reunited with his old friend last May.
“We had four great hours at my kitchen table telling stories,” said Sheehan. “He’s a great story teller. He’s got a good memory. He’s a great mechanic who knows the ins and outs of every kind of motor. He said to my son Jamie, ‘let me listen to your (truck) engine before I leave,’ and Charlie told him the thing sounded pretty good. Jamie was proud of that. It was a great, great time.”
Rumfola told Sheehan he had four motor jobs waiting for him at home and went on his way. Five days after returning to New York, Rumfola died from a heart attack.
“Some people treat things like that lightly,” said Sheehan. “I don’t and I can’t. The memories are precious. You remember all of them but some have special value. Some have real special value. He was one of them.”
