By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Staff Writer
It’s never too late to reconnect with an old friend.
With only black and white photographs and the vague memory of the name of a fire department, 85-year-old Edward Andrews, of East Windsor, set out to find his brother in arms, Jack Stewart.
”Ed, are you still alive,” was the first thing Mr. Andrews heard Mr. Stewart say to him in the 63 years since they ended their military tour of duty together.
They were medic occupation troops in Germany during the Korean War.
”We were Band-Aid boys,” Mr. Andrews, who was recruited at the age of 22, said.
”I wasn’t too happy about it but I knew I had to go; it was my duty,” he said.
Soldiers were just numbers, he said, split into two lines, one of which was sent to Germany and the other sent to fight in Korea.
Mr. Andrews and Mr. Stewart were two of the lucky ones.
”Those guys that went to Korea lost a lot and some lost everything,” Mr. Andrews said. “I respect the guys who went to Korea. I respect them a lot.”
In Germany, Mr. Stewart, a corporal, took Mr. Andrews, a private first class, under his wing. They joked around but also confided in and took care of one another.
”We looked out for one another,” Mr. Andrews said.
They conducted maneuvers in the woods and spent many nights in pup tents.
In the years that followed, Mr. Andrews looked at the photographs and thought about Mr. Stewart many times.
A few years ago he sent a letter to the Auburn Fire Department. After the letter was hand-delivered to many different people over many miles in Alabama, it finally made its way to Opelika, Alabama and into the hands of Mr. Stewart, who is now 86 years old.
Mr. Stewart decided to give his old pal a call and the two eventually reunited in Mr. Stewart’s hometown. They immediately started fooling around like they used to in the service but not before the pair broke down crying, overwhelmed with the joy of seeing each other again.
”Sixty-three years,” Mr. Andrews said. “I didn’t realize it was that long. He did the math.”
Mr. Andrews wife, Carol, said of their meeting, “I just embraced it. I think I was more excited than he was. I was just glad he was still alive.”
She said both families laughed at the men reliving their glory days.
Mr. Andrews said little changed except for the way they look.
”If I walked past him in the supermarket, I wouldn’t have recognized him,” Mr. Andrews said.
He said they now talk on the phone regularly and that Mr. Stewart once was and still is like a big brother to him.
”I’m glad that we had the health and that we could afford the visit,” Mr. Andrews said. “We’ll make the trip again next year.”
Mr. Andrews also tried reconnecting with another brother in arms, Gene Thomas, of Spanish Fork, Utah, only to find that he had passed away about 30 years ago.
