Korea veteran gets her long-awaited medals
ELK RUN HEIGHTS, Iowa -- After 58 years, Viola Beitz Rieck finally got what she deserved Nov. 18.
The U.S. government officially recognized Rieck for what she is -- a proud Korean War veteran.
She earned it for delivering payroll through combat zones, armed with an M-1 rifle in the event of a sniper attack.
She put up with what today would amount to harassment by her male comrades. "I'd say, 'This brain belongs to Uncle Sam, but if you touch this body you've had it,'" she'd say to any male Jeep driver who would try to get "fresh" with her.
She spent time with wounded soldiers in battlefield hospitals, writing their loved ones when they couldn't write themselves. "When I got though with my job. I would go over and write letters." She said she got thank you letters from soldiers' moms.
Rieck received her Korean service medal from the U.S. Army. She also received a National Defense service medal and a United Nations service medal, for being part of the multinational U.N. force that served during the conflict.
"There's more women who aren't getting what they deserve," Rieck said. "There's a lot more gals who were doing the same thing."
Rieck, 78, a native of Algona, served as a U.S. Army finance officer for three years, including service in Japan and Korea for a year. She went into service at age 17, against her parents' wishes, after she got two younger sisters to sign her parents' names for her enlistment papers. The fake signatures later were discovered, and her parents eventually relented.
She was stationed in Yokahama, Japan, but would help transport payroll through Kobe and the Korea Strait, roughly 125 miles across at its narrowest point, to the Korean peninsula.
Her quest for her medals took a winding path. She mentioned the missing medals on a recent visit to the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum. She was referred to the Black Hawk County Veteran Affairs Commission and U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley's office.
She received her medals last week from Braley's office.
"I'm happy I can give these down to my children," Rieck said. Her husband, Marlowe, is a veteran of that era too, and a John Deere retiree. She also worked at Deere.
"My four children have been my whole life. And service. I loved service. I could deal with everything in service."
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Distributed by MCT Information Services
