Music was respite for area pair

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Monday, May 5, 2008

When Fergus Falls area residents hear the names Al Jacobs and Dick Hefte, they think about Jacobs as a respected band director and Hefte as a respected attorney. What many people don’t know is that music provided a mental sanctum for each of them during military service during the early 1950s, part of the Korean War era.

In December 1950 Jacobs was with the U.S. Army in Yokohama, Japan, a commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area.

“I was selected, by audition, to be part of the GI Musical Variety Show ‘Take Ten,’ directed by Skippy Lynn, a former member of the Radio City Rockettes," Jacobs said. “We toured Japan and on April 1, 1951, we landed in Pusan, Korea.”

From Pusan the group traveled by convoy to Taegu, the fourth largest city in South Korea. Jacobs' group later found itself near the front lines, traveling all over the peninsula and performing on the flagship in Inchon Bay.

They gave about 120 performances to 140,000 GIs from all the participating nations. Among them were Canada, Great Britain and Turkey. Jacobs sang in a barbershop quartet and chorus, and did bit-acting.

“When in Seoul we were about a mile from the capitol building, and saw the balcony from which General McArthur gave a speech. Underneath was where the Chinese stabled their horses,” he said. “When the next Chinese offensive began, on April 18, 1951, my outfit made a hasty retreat from north of Oijonbu, and across a pontoon bridge over the Han.”

Jacobs and fellow soldiers later stayed with an anti-aircraft unit stationed at the west end of the runway at the Seoul City Airport.

“For about two weeks our tents were next to those of the Jack Benny troupe,” said. “We saw their show, and they saw ours.”

In June 1954 Hefte, a recent graduate of Luther College in Iowa, shipped out with the Army for Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Later that year he and fellow soldiers got word that the New York Philharmonic Orchestra was booked to play in Seoul.

“Most of us were college grads, so we thought a concert would be good for us,” Hefte said. “When we were there, in 1954, the fighting had stopped, but we (the USA) still wanted to stamp out Communism. Attending the concert would be R and R (rest and recreation).”

At the time, Hefte admitted to his fellow soldiers that he had never heard or seen the Philharmonic Orchestra.

“My level of musical organization was in grade school band where I played clarinet,” Hefte said. “Thousands came to see and hear the Philharmonic. The Koreans were all seated in front of the U.S. soldiers.”

The scene in front of Hefte was a thousand or so pure black Korean heads.

“It’s something I’ll always remember,” he said. “No Norwegians there. Behind the orchestra was a completely bombed out capital building. The nearby streets were all a wreck. But the music was beautiful.”

Later, Debbie Reynolds, a singer and actress best known for her part in “Singin’ In the Rain,” came to Korea to entertain U.S. troops, including Hefte.

Back in their military quarters, John Rando, who previously performed with the Oakland Symphony, played his clarinet in the Quonset. When the 8th Army held a talent concert in Seoul, Rando entered the competition.

“John played perfectly and beautifully,” Hefte said. “But, of all things, he took second to an accordionist. What a disappointment. We felt the judges should have been court marshaled.”

Jacobs presently plays in the Heart O Lakes Band of Battle Lake and Hefte plays in the Carlisle Band and the Ninth District Legion Band.

Tom Hintgen is a reporter for the Daily Journal. His column appears Mondays.