POW Charles Layton tells his life story and capture in memoir
“If I die, who would care?”
These sobering thoughts ran through the mind of 22-year-old Sgt. Charles Layton, a U.S. Army Ranger, as he lay huddled with 36 other men from various U.N. forces in a dark, stinking mud hut somewhere in frigid North Korea. For 17 weeks, that 18 x 36-foot hut served as their prison from November 1951 to February 1952.
“It was tough on me but I could swallow it,” Layton, now 85, said. “It was 50 degrees below zero in Korea. It was one of the coldest winters in Korean history.”
The daring escape of the 37 prisoners – led by Layton – and other events in the Noblesville resident’s life are chronicled in Layton’s memoir, “A True Story of a Korean War POW/MIA: Escaped With Honor.”
Childhood
Layton’s story began with his birth on Nov. 6, 1928 in St. Louis, Mo.
“I was a depression baby, which is not a healthy thing to be,” he said.
During his childhood, Layton’s family moved to Frankfort, Ind., and opened a dry cleaning business. When it was unsuccessful the family moved to Chicago.
“The day school was out I was on a bus headed to a farm in southern Illinois and stayed until the day before school started. For five years I spent all summer working on the farm,” he said. “I was looking for a place to belong. I used animals as a substitute for human beings. When I grew older work took that place.”
In the summer of 1944, a 16-year-old Layton was hired from the riding stable to work with horses on the set of “This Time for Keeps” starring Esther Williams, Jimmy Durante and Sharon McManus at Mackinac Island, Mich.
Layton received his draft notice three days before his 22nd birthday. He went through training very quickly – as troops were needed in Korea – and was soon deployed to Japan and then Pusan Harbour, South Korea. Layton remembers begin “sick as a dog” on his voyage over aboard a troop ship in 1951.
“I didn’t care what soil I was getting off on, I was getting off that boat,” he said.
As an Army ranger, Layton served as a forward observer for the 2nd Infantry Division and the 7th Armored Division.
“I was out in front all the time to guide incoming infantry. Out on patrol we’d observe any movement, sound or sight and report back,” he said.
On one such expedition, Layton’s patrol spotted a little boy standing over the body of his mother who had been dead for several days. The American soldiers took the 5-year-old boy back to their base and cared for him. Layton became particularly close to the boy before he was ordered away from the base.
“I never saw him again. I thought of him over the years a million times,” he said.
Layton and 36 others were captured in the rugged, mountainous region near the 38th parallel when the North Korean army “overran the flank and captured us.”
Prisoner of war
The prisoners once went eight days without food and when they did receive nourishment it was “very, very watery.” To stay warm during the winter, the captured soldiers would use hemp rice sacks thrown into the hut by guards for warmth. Soldiers also huddled together to share body heat.
“There was no latrine so we dug holes along the walls,” Layton said, adding that when someone had to go at night everyone had to wake up and move so soldiers often just went where they laid. “We saw daylight only when we were taken outside for roll call or to be beaten.”
The conditions and daily beatings took a toll physically and mentally on the soldiers.
“I had to stay up. There were six guys mentally not taking it well. We tried to hide those guys when the guards came in because they sought out the ones they knew they were getting to the worst. When they had one of those guys I’d cause a problem and they’d drop that guy and take me out. I did it to help protect them because they were getting more fragile by the day,” Layton said. “They burned my hands and beat my feet with a rod. I can’t walk barefoot anymore.”
The prisoners heard the noise of laughing every six weeks as alcohol and women were shipped to the camp to entertain the guards. Layton said the soldiers planned an escape attempt for the 18th week because it would be a little warmer and less snow would be on the ground.
“We noticed those nights that the guards were intoxicated,” he said. “We rehearsed this so many times.”
However, supplies arrived a week early causing a change in plans. Layton quickly overcame and killed the two guards and the soldiers escaped into the night before a Cessna L-19 plane spotted the men and American forces came out and met them.
Free man
Layton was discharged from service in 1952, after suffering a 60 percent hearing loss. He was an insurance agent in Muncie, Ind., before working in a meat-packing plant in Philadelphia. On his way to work one day, Layton passed a Mister Softee factory and decided to own his own truck and move his family back to Indiana. While in Fort Wayne, Ind., Layton’s truck evolved into an ice cream and doughnut shop before the building burned down.
Out of work, Layton began his career in public service. He served as personnel and labor relations director for Fort Wayne Mayor Robert Armstrong, was manager of Allen County’s three license branches and eventually became the Indiana Commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
The book
For his service, Layton was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Korean Presidential Citation.
“My story was untold for more than 60 years,” he said. “While I am proud of my service to my country, I buried the trauma of my experience in the Korean War deep in my heart and mind. The pain associated with my capture, torture and escape – both physical and emotional – was a terrible burden that I chose never to share. Why would I want someone else to share that pain? I didn’t want anyone to have pity on me or feel sorry for me.”
Serving as a volunteer at the Meals on Wheels of Hamilton County, Layton developed a friendship with Tammy Elmore, director of marketing and volunteer services, that resulted in Layton’s memoir.
“Things would be said like ‘you should write a book,’” he said.
Two years and four months later the duo had an outline and manuscript. Elmore’s friend, Georgiann Coons, then became involved in transforming the manuscript into a book. Another year and a few months later it was submitted any accepted by Wine Press.
“We got sick of reading our own book,” Elmore said.
“There would be no book without the two of them,” Layton said. “It’s my story, their book.”
“Escaped With Honor” is available at The Wild Bookstore and Barnes & Noble. Copies can also be purchased online at www.amazon.com and www.winepressbooks.com.
