Vilonia man volunteered for Korea, earned Purple Heart

Francis "Wade" Brady served with the Fifth Regiment of the First Cavalry Division after World War II, and when the Korean War began, Brady could not let his friends serve without him.

Brady, who lived in Vilonia, re-enlisted in the Army on the condition that he once again serve in the First Cavalry Division's Fifth Regiment. Brady was 20 years old when he re-enlisted, but he had already served two years and 10 months with the Fifth Regiment in Japan, where he had been trained as a truck driver.

The thought of combat did not spur Brady's return, instead he said that he recognized many old friends' names in the dispatches. The soldiers, such as Vilonia native and Private First Class Rex Strickland had been wounded in action. Brady felt that he should return to aid Strickland and the others.

The letters he sent home never read like Brady might be endangered, although he earned a Purple Heart for his service in Korea. Below is a letter he wrote to Eva Brady Brown dated Aug. 8, 1951: