The Lost Innocence of a Forgotten War
             It is a cool autumn day; the trees are changing from their summer green to their vibrant orange, reds and yellows. Leaves scatter the wet grass as the family pets run back and forth, their tails wagging, breath floating in puffs of mist before being swept away by a clean crisp breeze. The purpose of the visit to my cabin in Moose Lake, Minnesota is to interview my neighbor Charles Nelson or Chuck for short, on how the Korean War affected him, and in essence, stole his innocence.
             This sixty-nine year old is built like a real man, skin tanned from many boating excursions, his hair white and grey from age and the many years in the sun. Best of all is his personality, young and spunky just like the day he turned seventeen, which is where the story starts.
             Fifty-two years ago Chuck was a carefree seventeen year old high-school senior, months away from graduation and living his life to the fullest. World War 2 was still in the minds of almost every American and the country was just entering what is now referred to as the baby-boomer era. The country was doing well financially and many were excited at what was to come.
             But in 1950 when the North Koreans were looking likely to invade South Korea five of Chuck's good high-school friends who had already graduated signed up for the service. "The country had seen the world torn apart by imperialist empires such as Germany and Japan jus several years prior" Chuck recalled when asked the mindset of the country toward war. He continues, "With that mindset, we had seen as a nation," he pauses "the devastation [caused] by allowing dictatorships such as Germany and Japan to invade their neighbors. Consequently when North Korea invaded South Korea [we] had seen the damage once before, we had to act." Within two weeks, two of the five friends were dead. "I was angry." He recalled "When I heard they were
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