Local POW Stars In War Documentary

Desert Dispatch - Barstow, CA, USA

January 4, 2009 - 10:00 AM

By EUNICE LEE, staff writer

BARSTOW • Most of Dave Villafana's customers never knew that Villafana was ever a prisoner of war when they stepped into his Main Street barber shop.

Though Villafana, who owned Dave's Barber Shop for 25 years, could have filled a book with stories about the Korean War, the 76-year-old POW rarely let a word slip about surviving beatings by North Korean soldiers or enduring death marches while chatting up customers waiting for a cut or shave.

"It's not an everyday conversation," said Villafana. "You learn to be a good listener."

But now, he's finally speaking out — in a war documentary that will air on television Jan. 6 — and others will have the chance to listen.

"Korea: Reflections on War, Vol. 1" features Villafana as one of three Korean War veterans from Southern California who share their personal experiences as young soldiers witnessing the horrors of war firsthand.

"He's an excellent storyteller," said Frank Blanquet, producer of the documentary, who said Villafana retold events with as much clarity as if they happened yesterday. "You can tell that he's never forgotten any of it."

But for Villafana, it was a lifetime ago.

The Barstow native was 17 years old when he arrived with the United States Army’s 24th Infantry Division on the shores of Korea on July 9, 1950.

"I was so young that everything was an adventure," he said.

When he enlisted, Villafana said he had to receive special parental permission to join the Army as a minor. His mother signed off.

He was captured only 11 days later, along with 750 other soldiers, and taken prisoner by the North Korean army. The following three years in captivity were unspeakably brutal, according to Villafana.

"It don't do no good to talk to people because they don't believe the stories," he said.

In the documentary, Villafana recounts a 120-mile march in the snow where 130 fellow soldiers died of cold, disease, and exhaustion, and seven others were executed, in November 1950.

"As prisoners were dying, we took clothes from the dead ones," he said, in the documentary. "I never in my life dreamed of ever seeing so much death. I slept with death."

Villafana remembers the exact date he was released: Aug. 29, 1953.

"When I got out of there," Villafana said, in an interview, "my way of thinking wasn't going to ever be young again."

"Reflections on War" puts a local name and face to what has become known as "the forgotten war." The documentary also brings human emotion to the impersonal statistics that often define wars.

Blanquet said he contacted Villafana last spring and asked him to be part of the documentary. Villafana agreed. Soon after, Villafana and his wife drove down to the KVCR studio in San Bernadino where Blanquet interviewed Villafana on camera for about 90 minutes.

A few times during the documentary, Villafana visibly breaks down, overcome with emotion.

"Your body, your mind goes back there," he said.

After returning to Barstow from the war, Villafana worked as a barber. He returned to California with tuberculosis in both lungs and was relegated to indoor jobs with low health risks. Villafana said he never dreamed of becoming a barber, but went to own his own shop, which he sold about 16 years ago before retiring.

Until now, Villafana has declined requests to speak in public about his experiences as a POW because of the intense emotions it stirs up.

His wife, Lydia, said that several years ago when he agreed to speak at a POW reunion event at the Marine Corps Logistics Base, Villafana was so overcome with emotion that he couldn't give his speech. Instead, she got up on the stage and delivered a short, improvised speech to the awaiting crowd about her experience living with a POW husband.

Despite the nightmarish events he and many others endured, Villafana said he still feels a kinship with the country over 6,000 miles away.
"I can never forget it. It's my home, too," Villafana said. "I toiled the soil to eat."

Lydia said she hopes those watching the documentary gain a greater understanding and appreciation for POWs.

"He went to fight for us," said Lydia. "When you're gone," she said, turning to her husband, "I'm going to be an activist for this."

Watch it
What: Korea: Reflections on War, Vol. 1
When: Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m.
Where: KVCR-TV, Channel 24 (only available on Direct TV)
Info: www.kvcr.org/reflections