Many call the Korean War the forgotten war, but it's not forgotten by the some 1,900 Aggies who served there, and certainly not by the families of the 63 Aggies who died there.

Second Lieutenant Bob Middleton, A&M class of 1951, fought on the front lines of Heartbreak Ridge, where they did battle mostly in the pitch dark of night and often in the snow. Bob Middleton left Korea with memories fo close calls, survival, and the Army's Silver Star medal.

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"When I graduated from A&M, it was - the Korean war had started, been going on a year...about a year, and that's the first thing that they did, I was an infantry officer, and that's what they wanted, infantry officers and so they called us in and most of us right out of college went right straight into the army."

2nd Lieutenant Bob Middleton, Fightin' Texas Aggie class of 1951, was thrown into the fire after his graduation from A&M - as an officer in the Army during the Korean War.

"At that time, I just didn't feel like I was ready. I got over there and in my own personal opinion, I wasn't ready for that, but that's what i had to do, and I just felt like all those people were depending on me and I just had to suck it up, get in there and do what I was supposed to do."

In charge of a 55-man platoon on Heartbreak Ridge, Middleton and his men sustained constant fire from rifle and artillery fire - even mortars.

His platoon spent their time defending the low-land in the valley beneath the ridge.

"One night when it was very cold...we were out in front of Heartbreak Ridge and climbing up another hill out in front and met up with several of them and we were close enough to smell the garlic on their breath and it was really a fighting situation, but we were able to get with it and kill several of them. Brought back several of the dead. We didn't bring a prisoner back in but, we lost one man in that incident."

"One of our men was shot, just right next to me, and we had to pull back some and not knowing whether he was alive or dead, well somebody had to go up and get him and so I just crawled back up the ridge and got him and drug him back down. But he was dead at the time, but we did get him back across the lines. "

For his bravery, Bob Middleton was awarded the Silver Star, one of the highest military honors, regardless of branch.

And for him, it wasn't about doing all the right things, it was about minimizing the mistakes.

"You didn't want to make a mistake. Just didn't want to make a mistake and get everybody killed, or get a lot of people killed, and so there was a lot of pressure, a lot of pressure built on you.

For Voices of Veterans, I'm Tom Turbiville.