Beckley World War II veteran opens up about his tour in Europe

As the son of a Lebanese man and a Syrian woman, Edward Corey says he's still "100 percent American." Technical Sgt. Corey served in World War II and hasn't left the country since his tour in Europe. 

"I was a truck driver," the 93-year-old Beckley resident said. "They asked everyone in the service who could drive a truck. I could and I was only 19. The commanding officer said, 'Where did you learn to drive a truck, Corey?'

"You have to understand that this was between 1941 and '42. Not many people had trucks. My father used a truck for deliveries and I had learned to drive."

The commanding officer took Corey outside and said, "Then there's your truck."

"It was a two-and-a-half-ton truck with a 50-caliber machine gun on top," Corey said. "That thing scared me to death. I drove the truck, but I was also trained to climb poles and run wire."

That was the job of the Army Signal Corps. They created the networks that hospitals, barracks, and other buildings used to communicate.

"I was supposed to go run poles on D-Day," Corey said. "We couldn't get in because everything was so gummed up. I was in Company B with the other trucks. We had caulked everything on those trucks to keep water from getting in. As soon as I pulled out into the water, I sank.

"Eventually, we started running poles. I'd take the wire and climb up a pole and get shot at. Once you were on that pole, you were wide open."

It wasn't long before Corey found himself in Germany with some of his buddies.

"We were walking through a field in Germany and it was beautiful," Corey said. "I hate to admit it, but that country was gorgeous. The rest of Europe left a lot of be desired in those days. They were all backwards and didn't go anywhere, but the Germans had roads.

"Anyway, we were walking through this field and came upon a house that was beautiful. Simply A-1."

Corey and his friends decided to get some eggs from the farm. After all, they only had powdered eggs in the military and fresh eggs were a delicacy, Corey said.

"I knocked on the door and this big German answered it," he said. "The German looked at us and said, 'Was?' (or 'What?' in English) I told the German, 'Can we have some eggs? You know, eggs? Bawk bawk?'

"The German said 'Was? No understand English.'"

Corey's comrades agreed that the German couldn't understand them, but Corey wasn't having any of it.

"I said to the German, 'You lying son of a bitch! You speak better English than we do!'" Corey said as he furrowed his brow at the thought of not having any eggs. "My friend said, 'Come on, Corey. He won't give you no eggs.'"

Corey said he would fix things once and for all.

"I went to the truck and got a submachine gun," Corey said. "I walked up and said 'Eggs?' The German said 'No English.'

"I cocked that machine gun and pointed it at the German. That German looked at me, looked at the gun and said, 'Oh! You want eggs!'"

Corey had a good laugh at his own story.

"Those eggs were delicious," Corey said as he remembered the food fondly. "Powdered eggs were just horrible."

The platoon was later sent to France, and Corey became company clerk.

"I was the only idiot that knew how to type," Corey said. "It was a mess being the company clerk. You had to keep records of everything and report to the captain. I got to give out some passes to go into Paris. Naturally, I kept some for myself."

After using some of the passes to get into Paris, Corey and his friend started to party.

"We went into a hotel and there was one bed and one bunk," Corey said. "We flipped a coin and I won. I told the guy, 'This is my bed. You sleep on the bunk.' I ended up partying all night and never came back.

"When I got back in, that guy cussed me for everything I was worth for not even sleeping in the bed and making him take the bunk. I promised him that I'd be back that night and actually use the bed."

Corey never came back to the hotel.

"I was too scared of what he might do," Corey said with a laugh. "Paris was fun so we decided to stay another day. What's the worst that could happen?"

The "worst that could happen" was getting demoted, Corey said.

"They sent a letter back to base that said that everyone who stayed an extra day was to be fined and demoted a rank," he said. "Since I was company clerk, everything went through me. I typed up a letter without the part about getting demoted, signed the captain's signature to it and sent it forward."

Corey said he's not a sneaky snake, just someone keeping things in order.

"That's how the Army was," Corey said with a sly smile. "I'm making it all look fun, but war really wasn't."

Looking back on some of America's conflicts is hard, Corey said.

"Korea and Vietnam were a waste of nice young men," he said disgustedly. "You mean to tell me that, with all of our military power, we couldn't overshadow these people? I think that's just wrong."

Once he was back home, it was time to get lazy, Corey said.

"I had every intention of sitting back and doing nothing," he said. "My father owned Corey Candy Company on Valley Drive (which is now Robert C. Byrd Drive in Beckley). I didn't get to sit around. I delivered candy to coal companies from all over the area.

"I loved candy. I absolutely loved it and I ate it my whole life."

While candy is a major vice for some people, it was just one of many for Corey, he said.

"I smoked, drank and ran around," Corey said. "I got older and said, 'I can't do this anymore. I've got to stop.'"

And so he did. It's been 25 years since he's touched the stuff, he said.

"We eventually sold the Candy Company to some boys in Welch who wanted to move to Beckley," Corey said. "That was my chance to sit around."

But family had other ideas and his oldest son got him a job selling advertising trinkets, such as pens, keychains and the like.

"I worked until I was 92 years old," Corey said. "I was never really educated and school was miserable for me, so I educated myself through work.

"Different people offer different situations. The key to anything is respect, though. You treat people right and you'll go far in life. I wish more people knew that."

These days, Corey lives in Beckley with his friend Mike Stump and the two take care of each other.

"I've got neuropathy in my foot," Corey said. "That's why I don't walk so good. I've lost my hearing, most of my sight and most of my teeth, but I'm still kicking."

— Email: cneff@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @RHCodyNeff

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