People I Love : Number 12
THE BOMB DISPOSAL EXPERT
“What are these things? Weights for deep sea fishing nets?” I ASKED Stephano. Stephano was the mission on Paeng Yang Do Island. For two months now I’d been trying to solve the problems of the island mission two and a half miles off the coast of North Korea in the Yellow Sea. The complex of Church, school, hospital, TB sanatorium, orphanage, old folks’ home, etc. was already running a monthly deficit of $7,000 US when I received another bill for our orphans attending the local Middle end High School. I was ransacking the storerooms for old engines, pipes, and scrap metal of all kinds to sell to the local scrap dealer when I discovered seven metal cylinders about three feet high, standing upright, all with a metal ring in the top. “Could three be weights for deep sea fishing nets” I asked again. Stephano shook his head dubiously. “I don’t think so,” he said. “They look like some kind of artillery shell to me.”
I sent word asking the Commanding Officer of the Korean Marines to look at them. “What do you think you’re doing with these things?” the Officer demanded. “These are heavy duty naval shell, all fused and set to explode. If there’d been a fire in all this junk they would have blown the top off this mountain!” I assured him I was an innocent finder and had no idea where they’d come from.
I’ll send our bomb disposal squad right up to pick them up and defuse them.” He jumped into his jeep and drove off. About an hour later a young Korean Marine rode up on a bicycle. “My Commanding officer sent me up to look at some bombs,” he announced. We showed him the shells. “Will your bomb disposal squad pick them up?” I asked. He looked at me strangely. I’ll take me two trips, he said. “They’re heavy.” He balanced three of the naval shells on his left shoulder, and steering his bicycle with his right hand, he wobbled between the rocks in the dirt road that led down our hill to the Marines’ camp. As I watched him go I’m sure I heard the frightened flutter of my Guardian Angel’s wing.