“I knew people who never came back, the potential for grievous harm was present.” Born out of Westchester Pennsylvania Peter Race was a very well rounded student participating in the school choir in college and looking forward to life out of college, when the unexpected happened.

Peter Race was drafted into the Korean War in 1952, but due to his enrollment at college he was able to stay in college for the remainder of his time to get his degree. Then he was shipped off to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, then to Fort Dix, New Jersey to finish his basic training in the army.

When he was drafted Race did not try to avoid it by fleeing the country or protesting. “It was something you just did” Race said. During basic training, Race was an excellent marksman and even got a marksmanship medal, but due to his bad eyesight, they would not let him become a officer. He described his time at basic training a “very deadly, frightening experience.”

Next, Race and his medical battalion were shipped of to Germany during the war in defense of the Germans against the Russians. Although he believed that the U.S. should not have been involved in the war, he still did his duty as an American.

His wife came over to Germany, and him and her had an apartment together in Germany. His wife who was not fluent in German and was constantly challenged doing daily things such as grocery shopping or clothes shopping because of the language barrier. He joined an army choir and toured all over Germany signing. He was also part of a men’s volleyball team which went very far in their respective tournament, and almost made it to the championship in the US before getting knocked out.

Finally, Race and his wife took a two week vacation to the Mediterranean and traveled around, and had one of the best times of their lives for about only 250 dollars. When the war  was over he went back to the U.S. and worked at a insurance business. He is now retired and currently resides at Nichols Village Groveland, Massachusetts.