The Comeback Kid

By Lauren Perry

Ernest “Ernie” Contrearas

May 6, 1930 – February 22, 2006

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Ernest “Ernie” Contrearas was born to Mexican immigrants Anthony and Grace Contrearas in 1930. For as long as he could remember, his family was poor; his father worked as a coal miner in Ravenwood, Colorado while his mother stayed home to raise him and his sister, Stella. In 1940, the family moved to Denver and Ernie and his sister attended Cole Junior High. He graduated in 1945 and completed one year at Manual High School before dropping out to join the military.[1]

Contrearas was rejected by the Navy and Coast Guard, due to the fact he was underage, before finally being accepted into the Army, just after his seventeenth birthday. His parents, unable to read, signed Ernie’s enlistment papers, thinking they were school papers.[2] He then served sixteen months in Guam until the Army found out he lied about his age and he was returned home. He reinlisted in the winter of 1950 and a few months later married the girl next door, Albertina Sandolva, the day after his 20th birthday.[3]

On June 25, 1950, the North Koreans, supported by the communist Chinese, crossed the 38th parallel and entered South Korea, sparking the Korean War. Within a week, Ernie said goodbye to his new wife and headed to Yokohama, Japan on Army transport with the Able Company, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. A month later, his company was en-route to South Korea, making landfall in Pohang on July 18th without incident. The Able Company, along with several other companies, headed west to assist regiments at Taejon but soon changed course when they learned Taejon had been abandoned.[4]

1st Calvary Division, 1950 [22]

Ernie first saw combat at Suicide Hill, near Yongdong, as an assistant BAR man, in charge of the Browning Automatic rifles. For him and most of the company, this was their first experience in combat and these first few battles would become very memorable. For months, the Able Company measured their progress by mere yards, constantly short on food and suffering heavy casualties. Ernie was promoted to Corporal and began running messages between command posts. It was no safer than being a gunman on the front line as artillery, mortar, and shrapnel flew through the air. General Walton Walkers issued his famous “hold-or-die” order, creating a hellish scene for the American G.I.s. They were forced to hold their lines while under heavy fire and suffered tremendous casualties. In October of 1951, Ernie’s regiment was ordered to reinforce troops at the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. When they arrived, they were paraded through as the 1st and 2nd battalions cleared out the city. With this victory, everyone thought the war was won—the Korean forces had seemingly been defeated and the Americans had taken the communist capital.[5]

This victory was short-lived as rumors of a Chinese force heading south began to spread. The troops were ordered to march north to stop them before they advanced any further. This was the first concrete evidence of Chinese forces in Korean territory and could completely change the course of the war. It wasn’t long before the Able Company found the Chinese troops and began the fight. From their vantage point on a hill, the odds were in the Able Company’s favor, and the Chinese didn’t even attempt returning fire. It was a very one-sided battle until nightfall where, under the cover of darkness, the Chinese surrounded the hills where the Americans were camped and opened fire. The Americans fell right into the trap and were unable to escape until reinforcements arrived. During the confusion Ernie dove away from cover and fell into a ditch. As United Nations tanks began to arrive, Ernie tried to climb out of the ditch to seek cover with the tanks. As he was following other G.I.s, he was shot in the back of his knee by a Chinese soldier, shattering his kneecap. He managed to crawl out of the ditch and catch hold of a passing tank. As he tried to walk alongside the tank, his knee gave out and he was dragged along. The tank hit an unexpected corner, and the tank tread rolled over his already severely injured leg. He fell back into the ditch and was abandoned by the other G.I.s who managed to climb out. Chinese soldiers patrolling the area, after the UN and American troops had moved on, found Ernie, along with several other G.I.s and began the long march north to the Yuan river.[6]

Ernie was imprisoned in the Communist Chinese prisoner of war camp for 30 months. During that time, he was fed rice with maggots, tortured and abused, and watched many of his comrades die.[7] On April 15th, 1953, Ernie was told he was finally going home. He was officially released on April 24th on the fifth day of an exchange called Operation Little Switch, where 684 United Nations troops were exchanged for 1,030 Chinese and Korean prisoners. This was one of the first successful attempts at peace with the Chinese and the Koreans and was one of the first steps towards an armistice.[8]

When Ernie landed in Denver on May 18th of 1953, he was welcomed home a hero. His mother threw a huge fiesta[9] for him and several local businesses sponsored the honeymoon he and his young wife never got to have.[10] There were multiple dinners and events honoring Ernie and other Korean veterans, a dramatic change from just a month earlier where he was eating rotten food. He was sent to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital to treat his knee and was given a 30-day furlough. While in the hospital, he was promoted to sergeant effective one month after his capture in North Korea.[11].

Adapting to civilian life proved harder than expected for the war hero. The first few years went by quickly and peacefully. He and his wife Tina had three children while he was in and out of jobs. He attempted to start his own business but it only lasted nine months before closing. He worked as a stock manager at the army hospital and other various odd jobs, but he slowly began to fall into financial crisis, which put his marriage under stress. In 1960, she filed for divorce.[12]

Feeling lost and desperate, Ernie turned to the Department for Veteran Affairs for help. They gave him an aptitude test to help him come up with ideas for a career. He was matched with hairdresser. He soon received his GED and began going to Mile-Hi School of Beauty and Culture.[13]

Not long after, Ernie met Phyllis Lehman, a receptionist at the Army hospital. After a few short months of friendship and flirting, they married. She was also recently divorced and had four kids of her own. Now supporting seven children, Ernie looked for additional work, striving to be a good provider for his rapidly growing family. He found a job as a security guard for the William J. Burns Detective Agency. He was quickly promoted and joined the staff full time. By 1963, he was made Captain and oversaw over 100 security guards. With his new career, a hairdressers’ license, and a desire to be a good father, he quickly worked off his debt.[14] His stepson, John Kalista, called him a great man and a great father. He had worked very hard to support all of his children.[15]

Contrearas was very dedicated to supporting his fellow veterans, even years after he was discharged. He joined every support group imaginable, not just for emotional support, but to support other veterans as well.[16] He became a prominent member of the Denver chapter of the Purple Heart Society,[17] helping other veterans get through what he had to go through years earlier. He was also a big supporter of Vietnam veterans. In previous wars, veterans were welcomed home with parades and celebrations, but veterans returning home from Vietnam were not so lucky. Very few people wanted to support a losing cause and anti-war protests were a common sight.[18] Ernie didn’t take a political stance on the war, but rather dedicated his efforts to provide a support system for those returning home. This was a very brave and noble thing to do in the political climate at that time.

Like the hero he was, he also was a proud supporter of immigrant rights and communities. In 1957, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) prohibited a Mexican boy from carrying the American flag at a ceremony stating: “I wouldn’t want a Mexican to carry Old Glory—would you?”[19] Ernie was quick to speak up against this woman and her racist views. In the local press, he responded by saying “I figure we are all the same, even if we weren’t born in this country as most Americans of Mexican descent were.” Her actions made him feel as if he had “fought a war and spent time in a prison camp for nothing. If she doesn’t classify us as Americans, why do they bother to call us to fight in a war?”[20] At a time when the civil rights movement was just beginning to gain traction, this was a bold statement to be made by a member of the Mexican American population. Racism was rampant and wide-spread and although statements like those of the DAR official were largely frowned upon in the Denver area, speaking up in favor of equality was equally as challenged. It took a lot of courage to stand up for Mexican American rights when members of Mexican community rarely received first class citizenship and equal rights.[21]

Throughout his whole life, from growing up in an immigrant family, to surviving the Communist Chinese prison camps, to solving his financial issues, and to challenging social and political norms, Ernest Contrearas was a true American hero. He fought for freedom abroad as well as for minorities and disenfranchised groups at home. He embodies the American dream and the true meaning of an American hero.

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Footnotes ↓

[1] Ernie Contrearas and Bill Honokawa, “Denver POW’s Own Story of Prison Life,” The Denver Post (Denver, CO), May 10, 1953.

[2] Gary Massaro, “Ex-POW Contrearas, 75, Strengthened by Hardships,” Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), March 2, 2006.

[3] Contrearas and Honokawa “Denver POW’s Own Story.”

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Massaro, “Ex-POW Contrearas.”

[8] History Office Staff, AFMS History Office, “This month in AFMS History: Operation Little Switch,” April 18 2017, accessed September 10, 2020, https://www.airforcemedicine.af.mil/News/Display/Article/1155529/this-month-in-afms-history-operation-little-switch/; “Operation Little Switch,” accessed September 10, 2020, https://koreanwarexpow.org/operation-little-switch/.

[9] Robert Byers, “Fiesta Rivaling Mexico Will Honor Contrearas,” The Denver Post (Denver, CO), May 7, 1953.

[10] “Delayed Honeymoon Starts for Ex-POW,” The Denver Post (Denver, CO), May 15, 1953.

[11] “Ex-POW Ernest Contrearas Learns He’s Now a Sergeant,” The Denver Post (Denver, CO), June 5, 1953.

[12] Bill Hosokawa, “The Comeback of Ernie Contrearas,” The Sunday Denver Post (Denver, CO), June 23, 1963.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Massaro, “Ex-POW Contrearas.”

[16] Ibid.

[17] Randy Witte, “Aid Offered to Viet Wounded,” The Denver Post (Denver, CO), Aug. 15, 1968.

[18] “Coming Home to Less Than a Hero’s Welcome, NPR, November 11, 2011, accessed September 20, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2011/11/11/142096696/coming-home-to-less-than-a-heros-welcome; Patrick Hagopian, “‘Something Rather Dark and Bloody’: Atrocities, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the Pathologization of Vietnam Veterans” in The Vietnam War in American Memory: Veterans, Memorials, and the Politics of Healing (University of Massachusetts Press, 2009), 49-78.

[19] Robert Byers, “Mexican Boys Barred as DAR Flag Bearers,” The Sunday Denver Post (Denver, CO), Feb. 10, 1957.

[20] “DAR Ousts Officer in Flag Boy Incident,” The Denver Post (Denver, CO), February 11, 1957.

[21] Brian D. Behnken, “Civil Rights, Mexican American,” in The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 24: Race, edited by Thomas C. Holt, Laurie B. Green and Charles Reagan Wilson, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013), 45-49.

[22] "The Battle of Unsen," 1st Calvary Division. Accessed November 11, 2020. https://1cda.org/history/battle-of-unsan/

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