“It was bitter cold and we were ill-equipped,” said David Dulack last week, remembering his fight at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. “Thousands and thousands of Chinese [soldiers] had just come over the border. We weren’t expecting them.”
On that day, Dulack’s job was to find a way out of the area, although Chinese soldiers surrounded him and his men, most of whom had frostbitten feet.
Dulack served in the Navy from 1947 to 1949, and then in the Army from 1949 to 1953. He was stationed in the 44th Engineer Construction Battalion “C” Company in the Korean War, where he earned three bronze stars.
“There was only one path out,” said Dulack. “And we all got out, every one of us. We did not lose one single man.”
At 70, Dulack, the last active member of the American Legion Post 46 in Union City, feels that his job is to continue to educate people about how America got its freedom.
“America is America because of the veterans,” said Dulack who has a banner that reads “Freedom is not Free” on the front porch of his Kennedy Boulevard home.
All of the other members of Post 46, which was once more than 200 members strong, have since either passed away or moved out of the city and become inactive.
The American Legion, a community service organization, was chartered by Congress in 1919. The legion fights for better military housing, assistance for veterans in finding jobs, and a superior health care system proposed by the Legion called the GI Bill of Health.
All of the members of American Legion posts have served federal active duty in the armed forces during any of the country’s wars or conflicts. According to the Federal Government, the Korean War began on June 25, 1950 and ended on January 31, 1955.
Active duty
When it was active, VFW Post 46 rented space in the Senior Citizens Food Center building. But six years ago, they lost their lease. Dulack recently transferred his American Legion Membership to West Hoboken Post 14. But he said that there are still two items that Post 46 created that will be around forever.
First is the American Legion Post 46 Plaque that Dulack presented to Union City Mayor Brian Stack and the Board of Commissioners at their last meeting on June 28.
The other is the Nurses Scholarship Fund that the post started at Christ Hospital.
“We spent every Sunday for 20 years away from our families to work BINGO to set that scholarship up,” said Dulack, adding that the scholarship has already put 138 nurses through college.
From the money that the Post earned from BINGO, the post also gave $100 a month to three Veteran’s homes and hospitals in New Jersey; one in Lyons, one in East Orange, and one in Menlo Park, totaling $1,200 a year given to each hospital.
Locally, when the post was at its strongest from the 1950s to 1980s, legion members visited schools and decorated the veterans’ gravesites in Flower Hill Cemetery in North Bergen.
The post has also raised money to send local students to the American Legion Boys and Girls State seminars.
These week-long seminars were started by the American Legion in 1946 and teach high school students about government and citizenry.
Where is the patriotism?
When Dulack went to visit a class of about 30 students at Emerson High School last month, he was disheartened to learn that none of them knew about the Korean War.
“We have the memories of what we did,” said Dulack, who is afraid that people are going to forget what the veterans have done for our country. “The veterans did so much for our country and then did so much for their community. There are so many veterans that are still in the hospitals and will never leave until their death.”
“It wasn’t an easy task,” added Dulack. “When we got called, we went and we did our job.”
However, Dulack is not alone in his task. The Dulack family is also heavily involved in veterans’ affairs. James Dulack, his son, was a commander of the Sons of the American Legion, and both his wife Mary and daughter Kathy have been active in the women’s auxiliary of the American Legion.
Dulack hopes that the American Legion Post 46 Plaque, the one that was given to the city, is hung in Indian Pond Park, which is slated to be renovated within the next year.