A Korean Christmas Carol

And now, another tale well calculated to keep you in. The Time, Christmas 1958. The Place, Korea. The Story. A Korean Christmas Carol, written for suspense by George Bambour. It sounds good, doesn't it? Did you hear kids singing, I mean?

And I mean, I can't understand the language, but I know what they mean. They sound so fresh and full of promise, almost as if they knew. But then I'm getting ahead of myself. The name's Connolly, PFC Larry Connolly.

I'm a soldier in Korea. I was sent here just about a year ago, this time. And that's where this strange story begins. Christmas, 1958. Christmas was for me that year miserable. I've been stuck on guard the night before, and so I plan to stay in bed the next day and forget about Christmas.

I hadn't counted on my first sergeant. Since I was the first man he came to in the barracks, it's only logical that I should be the man he picks to drive a truck all the way to Solenback.

It was night by the time I got on the road, headed back from Seoul and started the snow. Big flakes coming down soft at first, And so thick and fast I could hardly see. I was just over that first range of mountains and was starting on the twisting slippery way down when I saw him.

The side of him scared me wide awake. He was standing bareheaded, the wind whipping the snow and his hair around his face. When he raised his thumb I had the strangest feeling, he'd been expecting me, almost as if it were unnecessary.

As if he knew I'd stop. You want a lift? I'm going as far as Camp Santa Barbara. Barbara, or is that? You mean where's that? Everybody knows where Camp Santa Barbara is. Don't stand there with the door open.