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Re: Time and Promises

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: January 16, 2003

"Of time and a promise
Whittier Army veteran honors decades-old vow to comrade
By Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell , Staff Writer

WHITTIER -- Decades after his harrowing ordeal as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, Henry Contreras has never forgotten his quiet, compassionate friend with the thick Irish accent.

Nor did he ever forget the watch that helped save Contreras' life.

Its silver and gold face now discolored, the watch is returning to its rightful place with the family of William Murphy. And Contreras smiles at the thought of a decades-old promise finally being fulfilled.

Now 72 and a Whittier resident, Contreras was a young U.S. Army soldier in 1951 when he was captured by Chinese forces near the Hoengsong/Wonju area of South Korea and forced to march with 400 other prisoners to the Yalu River in North Korea.

To avoid air strikes, the column of prisoners and their Chinese guards marched by night in freezing weather. By day, the prisoners were camped at small villages along the route north, receiving a single meal each day of rice, beans and millet.

"The only way we could survive was to find friends,' recalled Contreras.

He soon found himself teaming up with two men in particular Billy Joe Harris,a farm boy from Missouri, and a young Irish immigrant from New York named William Murphy, who had come to America just four years earlier to start a new life.

A bond between the three men quickly developed during that grueling march to the north.

"When we were staying in huts along the march, Murphy would go out and show a North Korean civilian his watch when the Chinese guards weren't watching,' Contreras recalled.

Wrapping the watch in a rag, Murphy would offer to trade it for food or candy, but when the Koreans weren't looking, he would swap the timepiece with a rock, Contreras said.

The quick sleight-of-hand trick worked. The Koreans gave Murphy candy made from molasses, which he shared with his starving companions, Contreras and Harris.

Murphy never completed the march. Just days before the prisoners arrived at their destination in April 1951, the young Irishman died in his sleep of pneumonia, with Harris on one side of Murphy and Contreras on the other.

As for the watch that helped keep the three friends alive, Harris took it and made sure the enemy soldiers could not get to it.

He also vowed to send the watch to Murphy's folks, but he lost the address. For years, the watch sat gathering dust.

Then last month, Contreras received a letter from Murphy's nephew in Ireland. Stephen Murphy had contacted U.S. military officials and learned that Contreras had provided the Army with details on how William Murphy died.

The nephew wanted to know more about his uncle, who was among 30 young Irish men recognized by President Bush in November for sacrificing their lives during the Korean conflict. William Murphy became a U.S. citizen, posthumously, by order of the President.

For Contreras, the letter from Murphy's nephew provided the perfect opportunity to keep Harris' promise to return the watch to the Irishman's relatives. Harris has sent the watch to Contreras, and Contreras now plans to pass it along to the Murphy family.

"He (Stephen Murphy) doesn't even know it's coming,' said Contreras. "But I know he is going to think it's very special, because it was his uncle's watch.

"I feel great about this, because Murphy was just a real good soldier.'

Debbie Pfei ffer Trunnell can be reached at (562) 698-0955, Ext. 3028, or by e- mail at debbie.pfeiffer@sgvn.com .

Copyright © 2003 Whittier Daily News"