Memorial Day Thoughts: Whatever Happened to Postel Nixon?

We've had no military casualties in my family. The closest we've come is a guy named Postel Nixon, whose house you could see or almost see from the window of Ranger Baptist Church in Ranger, Georgia. I never met Postel, and I'm not even sure I'm spelling his first name right. It is pronounced Poss'tell.

Postel was a prisoner of war in Korea when I was very young. We prayed for him every Sunday at church. The preacher would describe the conditions he endured in prison camp, including what he had to eat to survive. If he was anywhere close, it's hard to imagine.

The prayers were answered, and Postel came home at the end of the war. They had a parade in the county seat welcoming him home. I don't remember what condition he was in, but it must have been reasonably good or I would remember.

Around 1997 or 1998, coincidentally during the Asian monetary crisis, I flew from Tokyo, which seemed pretty plastic to me, to Seoul, which seemed much more like home. I'm sure Postel had something to do with that. I told Postel's story to some government officials who probably fought side by side with him.

(When I flew back home from Seoul via Tokyo, I plugged the ear-phones in and they were playing all the songs from Elvis's 1968 Comeback Special. I had the video at home; so I already knew the sequence of songs.)

I don't know what happened to Postel-whether he is still living or not. My sister, who lives in the area, checked all the phone books from nearby towns, but couldn't find him listed.

Either way, some of us will always remember Postel Nixon, along with faceless others who served, on Memorial Day.