SOUTHERN OHIO OPRY

The Korean War, a ’47 Gibson Guitar and Three Friends

Raymond H. “Bud” Nunley purchased his Gibson guitar in 1947
in a small music shop near Washington and Tremont Streets in
Boston for a sum of $80—rather costly even then for a 19-year-old
enlisted sailor a long way from his Tennessee home. For the next
two-and-a-half years, his guitar companion accompanied him to
South and Central America, the Mediterranean and Northern
Europe on a peacetime tour of duty on board the U.S.S. Houston
and the U.S.S. Fargo, entertaining others during “happy hour”
or merely for personal pleasure.

In 1949, Nunley was released from the Navy only to find no
employment in his home state of Tennessee and attempts to
procure work in Detroit, Michigan failed as well. Deciding
that re-enlistment in the Navy meant more on-board ship
confinement, and believing the United States was now in a
settled military position (post-World War II), Nunley
narrowed his choices. He opted for service in the 82nd
Airborne Division, U.S. Army since paratrooper pay meant
an extra $50 per month and more money to send home to
aid his widowed mother and younger siblings.

On 22 June 1950, though, with the invasion of South Korea
by North Korea, Nunley’s peacetime hitch in the Army was
about to change. In August of 1950, he was put on board a
train bound for Camp Stoneman at San Francisco—his port
of embarkation for Korea. While on the train, he and Ed
Heimrich, his seat partner and fellow member of H Company,
187th Army Regimental Combat team (ARCT), began carving
on the face of the guitar, with a single-edge razor blade, the
names of the many countries where the Gibson traveled. As
Nunley often said, the carving started partly out of boredom,
but also as a tribute to the guitar that likely might never return
to the States with him after the war—considering the treacherous
months looming in his immediate future.

For three days and nights Nunley and Heimrich took turns
carving on the guitar: Greece, France, England, Italy, Belgium,
Egypt, Scotland, Norway, Germany, Sweden, Portugal, Holland,
Turkey, South Africa, Spain, Cuba, Denmark, Guatemala,
Sardinia, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Panama. . . . Only later
would the place names Tokyo, Japan, Korea, Kimpo, Seoul,
Yong Dong-Po, Sunchon, Pyongyang, and Chinnampo be cut
in the remaining vacant area beneath where the fret board
connects to the sound hole.

In order to enter Korea from Japan, the Gibson almost
parachuted into Kimpo Airbase as an ammunition bundle
when Nunley received permission from his company
commander to attach it to his legs while parachuting into
Kimpo to assist in the famous Inchon Landing. Fortunately
for the guitar, the jump for the 187th ARCT was delayed due
to foul weather. While Nunley, a machine-gunner, was fighting
on the front line, the guitar was left in the care of cooks and
clerks. Often it was strapped to the front of a jeep and moved
from place-to-place, wrapped only in bundles of army blankets
for protection. During lulls in the fighting, Nunley became
acquainted with two other soldiers who shared his love of music
and although the two men were from other companies, they
united as often as possible to sing and play the Gibson.

n his memoirs, Nunley wrote: “Sgt. Carl Fitzgerald of Staunton,
Virginia took a liking to the Gibson as soon as he saw it. We
became good friends immediately. He gave renditions of several
good country songs sounding much like the late Tex Ritter. By
this time Carl had become rather well known throughout Second
Battalion for his singing of The Bad Brahma Bull, Roger Young,
the Airborne version of Moving On and many others. Another
fine young man, Sergeant First Class Ira Taylor, of Rarden, Ohio
and G Company made our acquaintance and often chimed in with
our struggles for three-part harmony. Taylor’s favorites were Molly
Darling, Swiss Lullaby, Goodnight Irene, and several others. With
Fitz and Taylor singing, it was no wonder that my Gibson became
so well known.” Nunley often said Ira Taylor had a voice much
like Eddy Arnold.

SFC Ira Taylor died on 14 February 1951 at the Battle of Wonju.
He was only 22 years old. Nunley was there when Taylor’s frozen
body was carried from the battlefield and recalled for many years
the heartbreak of this sorrowful event. Nunley and Fitzgerald were
both released from active duty in Korea on 11 May 1951 and
remained close friends until Nunley’s death in 1997.

For many years after the war, Nunley searched for Ira Taylor’s
family but was never able to locate them in Ohio, as he was
misinformed about Taylor’s place of residence. Finally in July 2009,
Nunley’s daughter, Sandra Bryson, located Ira Taylor’s last
surviving sibling through genealogical research. On October 2
of the same year, Sandra and her mother, Lucille Nun-
ley, traveled to Scioto County, Ohio to finally meet Bob Taylor
and family; visit the gravesite of Ira; and to have Fred Nichols,
a member of the Southern Ohio Opry band, play the 62-year-old
restored Gibson on the stage of the Southern Ohio Opry. Nichols
played and sang Hank Williams’ I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in
Love with You)—a very fitting selection, considering the song’s
release date of 1951.

To both Lucille Nunley and Sandra Bryson, the old Gibson
guitar’s 450 mile journey from Murfreesboro, Tennessee to
Ira Taylor’s home in Scioto County, Ohio was the most
poignantly tender trip it has ever traveled. It was a pilgrimage
to pay tribute to an old friend—a quest Bud Nunley tried for
years to make, but never realized. Their families finally did.

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