Army veteran saved by Bible from Salvation Army

By Mike Bush

KSDK -- The month of November has a familiar ring to it.

"This time of year we raise about 65 percent of the contributions we receive throughout the year," says Major Randy Polsley of the Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army red kettles at area stores are the first sign of the coming Christmas season but they are also a reminder of Don Roush's second chance.

Roush was a fresh-faced 19 year old who was drafted into the Army during the Korean War.

"I was very proud to serve in the infantry," says Roush.

Shortly after basic training, he learned that the 5th Regiment Combat team had been devastated.

"They had many casualties and so they needed the replacements and I was one of the replacements," recalls Roush.

He was on a train in San Francisco, about to be shipped off, when he noticed a volunteer with the Salvation Army waving on the platform.

"And asking if anyone would like a New Testament for their pocket," remembers Roush. "It would fit in your shirt pocket. It would fit in your shirt pocket GI's and you're going to the Far East. So thinking nothing about it, we took'em as if we would take anything else."

For Roush, civility turned to hostility in just a matter of days. Almost as soon as he got to Korea, he was facing enemy fire. The New Testament stayed in his shirt pocket, brought out only to help keep his sanity.

"When I came off guard duty after I was on line and you have spare time, you just open and just read it," says Roush.

The Korean Conflict is often called the forgotten war but those who were there can't help but remember. Roush still gets emotional recalling the night he lost his friend in a front line bunker.

"He says 'oh Don, I'm hit,' It was a trauma for me because we were very close," says Roush through tears. "He pulled the shirt back and there was the hole in his chest. I dragged him away from the hole so he couldn't be shot again."

Over the next few months, Roush was wounded twice only to return to action. He was sure that if there was a strike three he'd be out. Then, it happened.

"Schrapnel hit in the trench, I felt a thud in my chest and I looked down and my field jacket had a slash in it. And I thought 'oh no,' says Roush.

"Slowly I pulled the New Testament out of my shirt pocket and here were two holes in it and it didn't go through. The cover of the bible stopped it. And I was grateful for that and I thought well this is strike three and you're not out," says Roush.

In three years of war, it's believed that the 5th Regiment lost over 1,000 men. Don Roush however made it home, thanks at least in part he says, to the Salvation Army.

"Who just handed by chance a New Testament Bible to Don a New Testament Bible and it has impacted his life for all these years, " says Major Polsley.

It's a reminder that little things can mean a lot. It's something that one 78-year-old American hero thinks about every time he sees those red kettles.

"I immediately have to grab for my billfold and throw something in there because I am grateful for what they have done for me," says Roush.

He was handed a Bible that will forever be, close to his heart.