Luis Lugo (US Army)

Deceased November 19, 2011

Luis was a young man who grew up in Puerto Rico.   He supported his large family by doing various jobs.  In 1951 when he was 22 years old, he was drafted to serve in the US Army.

Louis (2nd from left) 1952

Luis in Korea (bottom middle)

He arrived in Seoul in 1951.  After about 6 months of fighting, his platoon was assigned to go to enemy territory to clear out some areas.   A scout was sent ahead to check out the enemy movements but he was killed.   The rest of platoon thought they were safe.  When they saw group of N. Koreans, fierce fighting broke out. Luis was wounded with shells hitting his ear when he threw a grenade.

Luis killed 12 N. Koreans and when the shooting stopped, he thought all the enemy were wiped out.  He turned around to see entire platoon of N. Koreans aiming guns at him.   He thought that was the end of him.   All men in his group were killed and he was the only survivor.   One of N. Koreans wanted to kill him since his comrade was killed by Luis, but N. Korean officer did not let him.  He was now a POW, it was Aug 19, 1951.

N. Koreans took him to POW camp by Yalu river which is Northern tip of Korea bordering with China.   During the terrible march, he could not understand nor speak with them, he was not fed, his shoes were torn, his clothes were in rags.   It was a hard march for 2 weeks through rough terrain and mountains.  Along the way, they met other POWs and he was put together with them.   They were brought to a mining camp which was the most horrible place.  One day he was sleeping on a thin mat and when he woke up in the morning to fold up the mat, he found a snake under it.   For years after Luis had screaming nightmares about snakes.   

Luis spent 2 years at the camp. He was in Camp 5 and then moved to camp 3 with Hartwell Champagne.   N. Koreans were brutal and there was one specific enemy whom they called “Tiger”.   He made life miserable for the whomever he came in contact with.   He abused American men physically and mentally and got enjoyment from seeing the men suffer.   Luckily Luis could avoid the “Tiger”.   The Chinese took over the camp after N. Koreans and the Chinese treated them a bit better. 

He was interrogated many times but he only gave them his name and rank, he felt proud that he did not give them any other information even though he was tortured.   His wife found many burn marks on his body.

Luis was released on August 19, 1953 and he came home to Puerto Rico.   His family had no news of Luis all this time and it was a joyous moment to see him.  He was a small man, but when he came home, he weighed only 90 lbs.  Luis received a purple heart. 

Luis reunites with his family in Puerto Rico, 1953

Luis Lugo after his release from POW camp where he spent 2 years

Back home, Luis had hard time fitting into the society.   He longed for his buddies from the war.   But he did not just want to waste away wallowing in the miserable memories of the war.   He decided to get a college degree and when the US Army offered free tuition for education for the veterans, he applied to LA State University in Lafayette.  There he met his wife, Alida.

Luis with his wife Alida and four sons

Luis told Alida: “Even if I had known what would happen to me, I would still have gone there.”