Port Deposit veteran, 92, mindful of those who died for USA

PORT DEPOSIT — Korean War veteran Zeford Gaddy is blind because of injuries he suffered to his eyes in battle some 70 years ago, but the 92-year-old Port Deposit resident downplays his blindness whenever someone broaches the subject.

That’s because Gaddy knows all too well that some of his fellow soldiers lost their lives in combat during his 21-month stint in Korea.

“They made the supreme sacrifice,” Gaddy emphasized, before noting that he is mindful of and ever-grateful to all U.S. servicemen and servicewomen who were killed in all wars and conflicts.

Raised in Cecil County, Gaddy was drafted by the U.S. Army in the early 1950s, when he was about 21, and he was sent “straight to Korea” after finishing boot camp in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa.

“Something had to be done and others did it before me. I was just picking up the baton,” Gaddy said, explaining how he viewed his wartime military service as necessary and as a privilege. “It was an honor. I knew what my purpose was. I was there to serve and protect our country.”

Gaddy spent much of his tour of duty in battle zones and, as a result, he experienced that deep bond — that brotherhood — that soldiers have with one another because they’re fighting side by side. “You lived on a line and that puts you in a different frame of mind,” he said.

Despite the closeness that grows among soldiers in combat, there was little time for mourning in the heat of battle when a serviceman was killed, according to Gaddy. “When one dropped out, you had to move up. Everything was too fast-paced. You had to keep the rest safe,” Gaddy said.

Gaddy is blind today because metal fragments from a nearby explosion peppered his eyes in the midst of battle, sending him to a military hospital for about one week before he returned to duty.

But the damage to his eyes caused his vision to diminish gradually over the decades that followed Gaddy’s honorable discharge from the Army in 1953. Gaddy’s wife, Monolyne — they have been married 62 years — told the Cecil Whig that her husband has undergone 10 surgeries because he found himself plagued by cysts every time once-imbedded metal fragments surfaced on the front of his body.

On Sunday, Gaddy will be recognized for his wartime military service at Port Deposit VFW Post 8185 moments after the Memorial Day ceremony is completed, confirmed William Ward, who is the post commander. (Kevin Clark, a Gaddy family friend, was instrumental in bringing attention to Gaddy.)

“We are going to present him with a VFW coin at the end of our ceremony,” Ward said.

Ward noted that Gaddy will be recognized during the portion of the program when the post honors “our living veterans,” which occurs after servicemen and servicewomen who made the ultimate sacrifice have been honored. During that latter part of the ceremony, Ward will present the Order of St. Michael medallion — a high honor — to one of the veterans affiliated with the Post 8185.

As for recognizing Gaddy, Ward commented, “I will speak well of him, and I will speak well of his service.”