Lester Wall could be quite a talker – just not about the 33 months he spent as a prisoner of war in North Korea.
The late Ken McKalip, also of De Soto, was in the camp with him, and the experience helped the two develop a lifelong bond.
“They told all kinds of stories about all kinds of things – they both were tall-tale talkers,” said Robert Harmon, 68, of De Soto, a Vietnam veteran and a fellow member of VFW Post 1831 in De Soto. “Lester never spoke much about his captivity. He and Kenny would be talking about it and you’d walk up and they’d just look at you. You knew they were talking about it, but they just never talked about it with anybody else.”
Mr. Wall died Aug. 1 at age 81 of complications from COPD, emphysema and congestive heart failure. He is believed to have been the last Korean War POW in Jefferson County.
Mr. Wall was born and raised in the Potosi area. When he was 14, his father was killed in an industrial accident, leaving behind a wife and five other children.
Mr. Wall dropped out of high school and lied about his age to join the military, serving first with the Navy and then with the Army.
“He always said he went in there with the idea that this was his way of taking care of his mom and his siblings,” said his granddaughter, Angie Fitzwater of De Soto.
Mr. Wall was only 17 when he was captured and sent to Camp 5 in Pyoktong, near the North Korea-China border, infamous for its brutal treatment of U.S. prisoners and its high death rate.
Although Mr. Wall never volunteered information, he would talk about his POW experience when pressed.
“If we’d ask him questions, he would answer them,” said his daughter, Darlene Wall, 51. “But as he would talk about it, he’d get choked up – especially as he got older. He was very emotional. He would get up and talk at Veterans Day events, that kind of thing, but he’d always warn people, ‘I’ll talk as much as I can, but if I can’t finish, I can’t finish.’”
Mr. Wall’s memories made an impression, his granddaughter said.
“He showed me on a map of the camp, which hole he was in,” Angie said. “They were only allowed to come out once a day. He always hated Chinese food; he said it looked like maggots. That kind of tells you what it was like.”
When he returned from military service, Mr. Wall settled in De Soto and quietly went about raising a family.
“He was a truck driver for Yellow Freight,” Angie said. “He retired in 1992.”
Mr. Wall was active with both the VFW and Amvets posts in De Soto, where he found others who could at least somewhat comprehend his experiences.
“He talked several times about how nice it was to talk to somebody who knows at least part of what you went through, who had seen some of the same things you’d seen,” Angie said.
But it was only Mr. McKalip who could understand it completely.
“They had a bond that was far beyond what the rest of us could understand, even though we were combat veterans, too,” Harmon said.
The horrors Mr. Wall endured in Korea shaped his outlook permanently, making him determined to live his life to the fullest.
“I think that was why he became the man he was,” Angie said. “He found good in everything and everybody, and nothing could get him down.
“He was so full of life. He loved everybody. Whether you’d done him dirty or not, he still found the good in you. He’s my hero. He’s my idol. I grew up without a father; and he was my dad. I’m getting married in late August, and he was going to walk me down the aisle.”
Mr. Wall was known for his wry sense of humor.
“If you asked him how he’d been, he’d say, ‘Why, if I was any better, I’d be twins,’” Angie said with a laugh.
Mr. Wall was a longtime motorcycle enthusiast, and was riding up until nearly the end of his life.
“I remember being 2 or 3 years old, sitting on his Harley,” Angie said. “Because of the arthritis in his knees and his legs, he went to a trike in 2012. He had just bought a new one on July 19. He got to ride it twice.”
In recent years, Mr. Wall’s health began to give him problems.
“Every time he’d get pneumonia, his lungs would get a little worse,” Angie said. “He’d go a little further downhill.”
Harmon said his friend was never bashful or shy, but just preferred to downplay his experiences.
“If we’d try to put him and Kenny in a parade or something, they’d say, ‘Aw, we don’t deserve this. We didn’t do anything. We were locked up the whole time; somebody else fought the war.’
“But we want to honor him. At the (VFW) post, we have a 30-by-50-foot POW/MIA flag, and weather permitting, we want to hang it for him to pass under in his funeral processional.” (The funeral was held Wednesday.)
His family said Mr. Wall will be remembered for his zest for life.
“We got the man out of the hospital on a Sunday,” Angie said. “If someone called on Monday and said, ‘Hey, let’s go for a ride,’ he would get up and go. He let nothing get him down.”
“Life Story,” posted each week on Leader Publications’ website, focuses on one individual’s impact on his or her community.