Pat Kinney Interviews Helen Brezina & Justin Scott

Posted by Pat Kinney on Thursday, May 17, 2018

TAMA, Ia - Helen Brezina tightly clasped the hand of her newfound friend, Justin Scott.
Her grip was as tight at the bond between her late husband, Rudy Brezina, and Justin's late grandfather, Henry Scott of Maquoketa, who served together in an ambulance unit during the Korean War.

(Above Photo) Helen Brezina of Tama and Justin Scott of Denver met and discovered Helen’s late husband, Rudy Brezina, and Justin’s late grandfather, Henry Scott, served together and were friends during the Korean War. They told their story to the Grout Museum District. (photo by Bob Neymeyer)

Justin, of Denver, found Helen only recently. They met to exchange photos and reminisce. The meeting was recorded by Waterloo's Grout Museum District as part of its veterans oral history project for its Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum.

"I just wish they were both here to experience all this," Helen, 84, said of her husband and Henry. Rudy passed away in 2014 and was known in service as “Breezy.” Henry, who died in 2012, was nicknamed “Scotty.”

Justin Scott, a photographer, was going through his grandfather's photos, found a photo of Rudy and sought out Rudy’s family. Justin found Helen through Rudy's online obituary and a local funeral home.

Justin discovered that Henry and Rudy were not only in the same unit, they were friends. Justin and Helen found photos of the soldiers hanging out together in each of their collections.

(Above Photo) Buddies Rudy Brezina, left, and Henry Scott are shown here in an ambulance in their U.S. Army service during the Korean War. (Photo courtesy Justin Scott)

“Their lives didn’t cross until they got to North Korea,” Justin said. They were both trained stateside at different locations.

“All Grandma ever told me was, ‘Your grandpa drove the (38th) Parallel, picking up bodies,’ ” Justin said, referring to the border between North and South Korea. “But he never wanted to talk a lot about it; she didn’t know a lot of the details.”

Rudy “didn’t say a lot about it. But he did say enough,” Helen said. “It was bad, let’s put it that way. A lot of those boys were injured pretty bad.”

Helen said she and Rudy actually met Henry and his wife Mary at an anniversary dance for common friends about 15 years ago. But it didn’t dawn on her that Henry was the “Scotty” her husband talked about until Justin contacted her.

Both men, Helen and Justin said, were proud of their service – and their comrades.

“I’ve  learned more now, looking through these photos and talking to Helen, than I’ve ever learned before,” Justin said. “So I think it’s important we preserve these stories.”