HAPPIER TIMES — Items found in Pfc. Patrick McElholm's wallet show him and Barbara Lee Nolde during happier times. McElhom was killed during the Korean War. His wallet was found in the heating duct of a rotting barracks building at Camp Roberts. Officials hope to return the wallet and its contents to survivors and loved ones — perhaps to Nolde. Staff Sgt. Tom Murotake

A soldier's wallet and a lost love

By DENNIS ANDERSON
Valley Press Editor

Patrick McElholm, Service No. US56114231, of the Bellingham, Wash., area, was killed in action, Sept. 5, 1952, with forces fighting the North Korean army.

His job was a dangerous one — heavy weapons infantryman, probably mortars.

Little more is known about him other than what was found in his wallet, retrieved recently from the heating duct of a rotting wooden barracks building at Camp Roberts, the largest training area for the California National Guard.

During World War II and Korea, hundreds of thousands of troops passed through this sprawling camp in the oak-studded hills of the central California coast. Nearly all were good guys, but there were a few bad hats, too, noted Lisa Cooksey, a public affairs specialist and informal historian of base lore.

"There were a couple of wallet thieves," she said. "They'd keep the money and toss the wallet, usually into a heating duct."

For Staff Sgt. Tom Murotake, solving the mystery of Pfc. McElholm's lost love is something of a personal quest. He has gone up on the Internet to search for possible survivors, and contacted the Bellingham Herald newspaper.

"I would just like to find out if Barbara Lee is still alive, or if there is someone who would want this soldier's wallet and personal effects," Murotake said.

Pictures in the wallet show McElholm and Barbara Lee Nolde in their bathing suits on a lakeshore holiday. There are two other pictures of the young woman, one of them a lovely portrait shot, and another of her in graduation cap and gown.

The inscription says, "This was a special day. I want to share all my special days with you — Love, Barbara Lee."

Boxes of wallets with similar stories were recovered from the wall and crawl spaces of the decrepit wooden barracks, Cooksey said.

Cooksey related in a base newspaper article that a retired police officer, military veteran Gary Huff, returns the wallets to next of kin at his own expense as a way of honoring those who served.

The items are found in buildings that are going to be demolished. The buildings cannot be bulldozed or fall to the wrecker's ball because of asbestos and lead-based paint.

Among the artifacts excavated from the buildings were 1950s Army training films and film taken by the 40th Infantry Division, the California Guard division that served in Korea.

On one of the films was footage of Marilyn Monroe entertaining 40th Division troops in Korea. She joined a USO tour to boost troop morale while she was on her honeymoon with baseball great Joe DiMaggio. The visit improved troop morale, but DiMaggio didn't enjoy sharing the limelight, biographies have reported.

Korean war historian Lee Ballenger of Rosamond is author of two combat histories about the war, "The Outpost War" and "The Frozen Crucible."

Ballenger and Will Brown, an Antelope Valley veteran of the 40th Division, note that Korea stands as a largely forgotten conflict. But it was one where soldiers sustained high casualties in intense fighting with the communist forces of North Korea and China, who were backed by Soviet advisers.

A T-34 Stalin tank nestled on a hill at Camp Roberts recalls the onslaught of North Korean armor that rolled south, killing tens of thousands of young men like Pfc. McElholm, who once loved and was loved by Barbara Lee Nolde.

"She probably married and changed her name, but I'd love to know if she is alive. She was very beautiful," Murotake said.

© 2010 Antelope Valley Press, Palmdale, California (661) 273-2700