Former POW grateful to be honored in D.C.
By THERESA CAMPBELL, DAILY SUN
Incredible. Moving. Unforgettable.
Those are the words that come to Ray Baumbach's mind to describe the experience of being one of 15 prisoners of war invited to the National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony Sept. 15 at the Mall Parade Field at the Pentagon that featured an Armed Forces Full Honor Review.
"I must say it was the greatest experience I have ever had," the Del Webb Spruce Creek resident said. "This was the biggest thing that ever happened to me. It was just fantastic."
The highlight was meeting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace of the U.S. Marine Corps, and being photographed with him.
"That's the highest military man in the country," Baumbach said. "He has four four-star generals under him. That's the top dog."
Pace thanked the 75-year-old local Army veteran who served in Korea and was taken captive by the Red Chinese before Baumbach managed to escape.
"He said, ÔI want to thank you, Ray, for your service,'" Baumbach said, recalling Pace's words. Baumbach quickly returned the praise.
"I said, ÔWell, I want to thank you for what you're doing. I really enjoyed this and I want to thank you personally for it,'" Baumbach said.
"You deserved it," Pace responded.
Baumbach was humbled by his words.
"That's enough to shake anybody," he said.
Baumbach also was moved by the speeches from Pace, along with Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, and Rep. Robert Simmons, R-Conn., who both said that POWs and MIAs must not be forgotten. The words brought Baumbach to tears.
"There are 81,000 from the Korean War still missing," he said. "So it is important to keep it alive."
Baumbach often is sought after as a speaker at local veterans' functions.
"I recognize the second World War veterans and I tell them they are the Greatest Generation," Baumbach said. "I tell the Vietnam veterans that I apologize for what America had done to you, and I tell the Korean veterans, ÔYou have not been forgotten.'"
Baumbach doesn't know why he was invited to the Pentagon event, yet he remains forever honored.
"To be picked for this alone was mind-boggling because there are thousands of POWs that endured more than I did," he said. "Others that should have been there."
Baumbach has been known to move crowds as he shares his POW experience.
"The first day that I was taken, I was taken up a ravine and there were another 75 Americans. They took 15 of us, lined us up, and shot every third man from the back of the head," he said in an earlier interview. "The man right next to me was the one that was shot."
While held captive, his mind raced as he tried to think of ways to escape.
Baumbach was injured on his third escape and plagued by shrapnel wounds in his left shoulder. He also suffered from frostbitten feet.
"I was sitting in the mountains by myself because all of the other guys were killed or had died that were with me," he said. "I was hunched down between a bush and a rock, and the snow was 20 degrees below zero. My feet were screaming with pain."
He had a strong feeling he was going to die.
"Then my mother's face appeared to me. I just knew in my mind that she was saying, ÔCome on! You can do it!' And then I was able to move," he said. "I don't know how."
He later told his mother she saved his life.
Baumbach has spent his life giving back to others. He and his wife of 50 years, Pat, were involved in prison ministry work when they lived in Iowa. Many in jails and prisons would complain about how they had been framed, or how bad they had it being incarcerated.
Their thoughts quickly changed when Baumbach would tell them of life as a POW.
He also would tell them: "I have no regrets and I have no hate for Koreans or Chinese or anyone else. Hate is a silly and dumb thing to do."
Baumbach has been credited with turning some 200 men's lives around. Several have told him that his words touched them and made a difference. One troubled young man told Baumbach: "You never gave up on me. Now I'm a policeman and I want to thank you."
"You don't always win them all, but you win some," Baumbach said. "That's the secret of life. Find the need and fill the need."
Theresa Campbell is a senior features writer with the Daily Sun.
© 2006 The Villages Daily Sun