Bill Stenberg
U.S. Army, Korean War
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Bill Stenberg says he was just “standing on the corner with a friend—the way guys do”-- when he decided to enlist in the military.
He was deployed to Korea, where he fought on the front lines and was wounded in the arm and the leg. He recovered for several weeks in Japan, before heading back to the front lines.
After returning to Chicago, he had a hard time leaving his time at war behind him, until he met and married his late wife Raspberry, who he says “straightened me out.”
Like many Korean War veterans, Stenberg feels that the war has been forgotten by many. He volunteers his time to visit high schools and talk about his experience.
Bill Stenberg’s platoon was wiped out after he was wounded and taken to the hospital. “I wish in a way I was there,” he said. “And in another way I’m thankful that I wasn’t.”
Bill Stenberg in his Chicago home. He remembers the Korean War vividly. Too vividly, he says. “If there is some way I could forget it all, I’d like to.”
Scrapbook memories of the Korean War kept by Army Corporal Bill Stenberg.
Bill Stenberg at a Veterans of Foreign Wars meeting in Chicago. Stenberg drank heavily for three years after his return from the war. “You can’t drink and forget,” he said.
“I found that out.”
Remembering the Korean War at a Memorial Day parade in Chicago. Not much is written about the war, says Bill Stenberg. “It’s something that shouldn’t be forgotten.”
Marching in the Memorial Day Parade in Chicago. The parade is import ant to Korean War veteran Bill Stenberg, who was released from the hospital only an hour or so before the march.
