Korean War Veteran Remembers Life In Orland Park During The 1930s

ORLAND PARK, IL — For some, life truly does come full circle. That's certainly the case for Tony Heim, an 89-year-old Orland Park man who lives just a block away from the home where he grew up at 143rd and Greenland.

"I love Orland Park," Heim said. "I'm an Orland Park person and always will be."

Surely, Orland Park circa the 1930s was a far cry from what the village has become in the present day.

"There were only about 500 people in Orland Park when I was born," he said. "My street was just a gravel road. West Avenue was just a gravel road.

"There were actually more taverns back then than there are now," Heim said, remembering how he would walk to the one at the site of what's now the Irish Patriot to pick up pails of beer for his father.

But it's what Heim has done in between his two stints living in the village that makes his story so incredible.

A Korean War veteran who served in the United States Marine Corps 1st Division, Heim was one of the "Frozen Chosin," a group of vets who fought under freezing conditions in the 1950 Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Temperatures in the region would regularly dip to 25 degrees below 0.

"It was cold. Super cold," he remembers. "I was sorta fortunate to be in a tank, which had about a half an inch of ice and felt like a refrigerator. I felt sorry for the marines who were on the ground. Those are the guys who really suffered."

Heim said it was his duty inside the tank to start the engine every 15 minutes to prevent the diesel fuel from freezing.

His service in the Korean War lasted for a year-and-a-half at the beginning part of the war. He was one of the Marines to make the initial landing at Inchon, traveled up to Seoul and remained in service after the Chinese entered the war, he said.

He remembers being wounded by the enemy while coming down a hill during a battle.

"A sniper got me," said Heim, the recipient of two Purple Hearts.

While Heim did not receive much appreciation upon his return to the United States after the war, some honor did come some 70 years later when a parade of cars was held through Orland Park to celebrate his 89th birthday back in May.

Four motorcycles (including Marines), three veterans garage military vehicles, two Orland Park Fire Department trucks and an Orland Park police car were among the automobiles recognizing the service of the local hero.

"That was really a surprise," Heim said. "Never in my life would I expect something like that."

After Heim returned to the Chicago area from the war, he began a career that spanned several decades. First working for General Motors in the Clearing district making car radios, he then moved on to Inland Steel and then finally for Bronson & Bratton, where he served as the head of maintenance until his retirement in 2000.

Other than the Purple Hearts, the award for safety he won while at GM is one that he considers most rewarding.

"They gave me a wristwatch, and it is a good, good wristwatch," Heim said. "I still have it."