Though the battle known as the Korean Conflict ended more than 50 years ago, one of Batesville’s own remembers it well. He was there when the treaty was signed to end the war.
Troy N. Lambert, a retired member of the U.S. Army Aviation Corps, moved to Batesville in 1962- almost 10 years after the end of the Korean Conflict.
"Right before the Korean War, the Army and the Air Force split which left the Army with no aviation unit, so they founded the Army Aviation Corps," he said.
Lambert said while he did spend some of his time flying in combat, he spent the bulk of his service flying in important dignitaries and members of the press.
"They assigned us to the combat division, and we were supposed to stay for one year with six months being spent in combat," he said. "In just the first six month, our unit flew more than 120 combat missions."
Some of the engagements Lambert flew were Pork Chop and Old Maldi.
Following his combat assignment, Lambert was assigned to rear echelon flying and moved out of the combat zone.
"I was moved from the 2nd Infantry Division into the 8th Army Aviation Unit," he said. "That was a very prime assignment in Army Aviation."
Lambert said because of the people that unit would fly, he and his comrades would joke and say a one star general didn’t even get a salute.
Come by the office for a copy of today’s edition of Playbook 2003 – an in-depth preseason look at all the local football teams.
