Archie Specht didn’t talk much about his military service during the Korean War. Whatever his stories were, they were lost when the Piqua native died in 2015 at the age of 86.
That doesn’t surprise Nick Hay of Yates Center. He’s a veteran, too, and he understands the experiences that happen during conflict can be difficult to talk about.
“The guys who looked the tiger in the eye very seldom want to talk about it. I suppose that’s because of painful memories that arise from a conversation like that,” Hay said.
That’s just one of the reasons Hay has embarked on efforts to recognize veterans from the Korean War.
On Friday afternoon, he will visit Iola Elementary School to present a special honor to Archie Specht’s grandson, who shares his name. Little Archie is a second grader at IES.
During a ceremony and visit with second graders, Hay will give Little Archie an Ambassador for Peace proclamation from the Republic of Korea to recognize Specht’s years of military service in Korea.
Hay has worked with the South Korean embassy to bring similar recognition to nine area veterans, including two others who were posthumous awards. He believes it’s important to recognize veterans of “The Forgotten War” in Korea, which spanned from 1950 to 1953.
“There were more total casualties in three years of the Korean War than in 10 years in Vietnam. It was a bloodbath,” he said.
“We’ve made great strides in recognizing Vietnam veterans, but Korea is often forgotten.”
ARCHIE SPECHT was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1951 and started his service in July. He served just 18 days short of a full two years, as required for draftees, and was discharged in July 1953.
Specht served with an engineer battalion. His unit’s job was to keep the roads clear to allow the transportation of supplies to troops on the front lines. Sometimes, that meant building bridges and roads. But it also might mean blowing up bridges to prevent the North Koreans from supplying its troops.
Engineers, though, had a secondary role as infantrymen.
“They were trained for duties and tactics, and the Army sometimes put them on the lines but the engineers very seldom got credit for that,” Hay said.
Specht grew up in Piqua, the fourth of six children born to Carl and Mary Specht. He graduated from Iola High School in 1947.
Hay has known the Specht family most of his life; his wife is from Piqua. Hay relayed a conversation with Fred Kipp, another Piqua native and Major League Baseball pitcher in the 1950s for the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles and later the New York Yankees. According to Hay, Kipp said he “never came across a catcher better than Archie Specht.”
