By David Fleet
Editor
Groveland Twp. — From reading In Flanders Fields at the Memorial Day services to the Korean War to a stellar career in heavy-equipment excavation, at 91 years-old John Wudarcki has helped build his community and defend a nation.
Wudarcki is now one of just a few Korean War veterans remaining in the Ortonville VFW Post 582 since it was chartered in March 1985.
“When the post was formed there were a total of 20 Korean War veterans,” said Dennis Hoffman, post commander. “Now there are three, remaining. Often the Korean War veterans were overshadowed since they were on the coattails of World War II. That’s why many of the Korean War Veterans were not recognized as part of the Greatest Generation.”
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, between 1950 and 1955, 6.8 million American men and women served in the Korean War worldwide. In 2020, there were just over 1 million Korean War Veterans with an average age of 88. By 2030, the aging Korean War Veteran population is projected to fall below 200,000.
“It’s imperative that we recognized the dwindling number of remaining Korean War veterans,” added Hoffman.
Ortonville VFW Post Chaplain Wudarcki was grounded in a military family.
A Groveland Township native born in December 1931, Wudarcki attended the Bird School before graduating from Ortonville High School in 1950.
Wudarcki enlisted in the Army in September 1952 and was trained in tractor-scraper school at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. The Army recognized his knowledge of heavy equipment and earth moving experience, gained in the Ortonville area where he grew up.
“I completed basic training then on to tractor-scraper school,” he said. “I had experience running a bulldozer so the Army continued that training. They put me on a troop ship heading across the Pacific and we landed in Pusan, South Korea.”
The docks at Pusan, were one of the few ports in South Korea that were large enough to handle a sizable amount of cargo.
“I grew up on a farm in Groveland Township, but seeing all those rice paddies when I got off the ship seemed strange to me,” said Wudarcki. “They sent me to a post out in the countryside and I ended up based about 20 miles south of the 38th Parallel.”
That line marked the border between North and South Korea, etched in 1945 following WWII. In 1950, US troops crossed the line prompting the Chinese to enter the war. North Korea aimed to conquer South Korea and unify under the communist party. The conflict escalated over the next three years.
The countryside where Wudarcki was assigned was mountainous and the weather was much like Michigan, he recalled
“They issued me a sleeping bag when we shipped out to Korea,” he said. “The nights were cool in Korea so the bag was pretty warm. I slept in that same bag for 21 months and when I was released from the Army that bag could stand up by itself. The Army made me return the bag when I got out. They were welcomed to it.”
Wudarcki was assigned a new D-7 Caterpillar bulldozer and worked on a variety of heavy-equipment projects from creating base camps for troops to storage areas to roads. Some of the projects were for the South Korean people.
“The Koreans called me ‘Mr. John,’” he said. “I never got shot at, but they had a few bombing runs that came pretty close. Once we were in a tent drinking beer and were bombed. We did not realize it until the morning. A lot of times the sky would light up at night with ongoing bombing operations.”
Wudarcki recalled often working in a rather steep mountainous region when some of the unstable ground gave-way, entrapping other equipment operators.
“I worked to help recover the other operators along with the equipment,” he said. “There were landslides at times in the area we worked.”
During the summer of 1953, while Wudarcki was still in Korea, the military action slowed as the war came to an end.
In July 1953, the United States (United Nations Command), the Korean People’s Army and Chinese People’s Volunteer Army signed the Korean Armistice agreement.
Sgt. Wudarcki, was awarded the United Nations Service Medal, Korean Service Ribbon with two bronze service stars and the National Defense Service Medal. He returned home and built a successful excavation business.
“I helped build more than 400 ponds in the community,” he said.
Some of the areas excavated were at Cook’s Farm Dairy, Camp Tamarack, Brandon Tire, A &W and the Ortonville Marathon Station.
“I was just proud to be a part of this community and help build it,” he said.
John was the youngest of four Wudarcki brothers all who served in the military.
Roman Wudarcki, served in World War II as Special Services and was killed in action during the battle of Anzio, Italy in 1944; Carl Wudarcki, also served in World War II as a member of the Army Air Corps stationed in the South Pacific and Norbert Wudarcki, served in the 101st Airborne in Japan and Korea.