Certainly, Earl Becker of Marysville felt compassion for a family he recently read about with two children serving in Iraq.
Becker, 76, and five of his brothers all served in World War II. And that was less than half the Becker clan.
His parents in Minnesota had 13 children including 10 boys. Every 18 months to two years, there was a new Becker. The senior Becker found work wherever he could, from a lumber camp to the federal Works Progress Administration. Still, ends didn’t meet.
When the children were old enough to toil in a barn, they were farmed out to other homes where they worked for room and board. Earl Becker was nudged from the nest at age 9 when he was sent to live with another family and milked eight cows before he went to school.
"It was the way it was," Becker said with no emotion. "You did it, or you starved to death."
Most of the family came to the state in 1941 where his father found work. Becker wasn’t with the first wave and came alone on a bus at age 13. Young Earl was farmed out to a home in Arlington and was going to Arlington High School during World War II as five of his older brothers marched off to war.
Don, 87, was a Seabee and served in the Pacific. Gordon, now deceased, was in Europe in the Army. Dick, deceased, was wounded in Italy with the Army. Leo, 80, was in the Navy in the south Pacific. Jim, 78, was wounded in the Army in Europe.
One time, Becker ran into his older brother, Gordon, in a mess hall in Frankfurt, Germany. After the war, younger brother Robert served in the Air Force; Duane was in the Army in Europe; sister Mary was an Army nurse and Teddy was in the Navy.
How proud their parents must have been. Becker’s wife, Marion, 64, said her in-laws were stoic sorts, but it was hard for them to have so many children fighting a war.
Earl Becker went on to serve in the Korean War where he earned a Purple Heart. He was shot in Korea and his feet froze in the grueling winter overseas. His feet still burn and turn blue.
After more than 20 years in the service, Becker worked for Boeing and Weyerhaeuser. He and Marion had four children. Becker’s son from a previous marriage, a Vietnam veteran, was killed by a drunken driver.
The retired couple enjoy their grandchildren, their lovely home and traveling in their recreational vehicle. Their son Corey served in the Army in Germany. Their other children are Dana Martin of Everett, Russell of Smokey Point and Shawn of Marysville.
The family understands that Earl Becker suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in Korea.
"It was bad," Becker said. "It was real rough."
The soldier would wear one pair of socks and keep another pressed to his chest to try to dry the wool. He took three baths in 10 months, he said.
More than a dozen years ago, he began waking up from nightmares, imagining he was under attack. He never shared his pain.
"I didn’t want to talk about it," Becker said. "I never talked about it."
Eventually, he found relief at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Seattle. He began attending a monthly support group at the hospital where slowly, service stories came to light. Some of the men sat silently during sessions. Some found comfort hearing other war experiences. One Korean veteran at the support groups said he was told he survived because the extreme cold stopped the bleeding from a grenade wound in his gut.
Becker even ventured to a reunion of the 1st Infantry Division, the famous Big Red One. At one breakfast, he noticed a familiar face in the hotel cafe.
"I knew that guy," Becker said. "I went up to him and said ‘Hey Black, I’m Becker’."
Black remembered his comrade.
"What a moment," Marion Becker said. "Someone should have had a camera."
Becker shuns the limelight on Veterans Day. He doesn’t want to go out and have anyone feel sorry for him. He doesn’t like seeing the flag illegally displayed on clothing or bedding.
"The flag means something to us," his wife said.
She appreciated the patriotism she felt at the Big Red One reunion. Military reunions are good places to feel the spirit of veterans, she added.
"See how patriotic they are," Marion Becker said. "It’s a religion. It’s more than a religion."
I got a sense of religion when Earl Becker showed me his Purple Heart.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
