Eligah Tice Autry, Jr., was born in Dustin Oklahoma on May 6, 1920, but his family moved to LeFors, Texas a few years later. Eligah’s father was an Army Veteran of World War I; his mother, Carrie Lanhan Autry, was a homemaker. As a teenager, Eligah not only looked like the comic strip character, Popeye, but did an impressive impersonation of the spinach-eating cartoon character singing “Popeye the Sailor Man.”

The Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War is considered by many to be the most brutal wartime battle in American history. The battle raged for seventeen days, from November 26, 1950, until December 13th, on some of the toughest terrain in Korea during extreme winter conditions. 2,836 Marines and Army personnel lost their lives at Chosin; 13,000 more were wounded, many from frostbite and other weather-related injuries. Cpl. Huey Pierce French’s unit was part of the Task Force MacLean/Faith, which suffered 88% casualties.