No complaints - Country music legend Leroy Van Dyke drafted into U.S. Army in Korean War

In February 1954, while serving in Korea with the U.S. Army, Leroy Van Dyke performed a 15-minute opening for Marilyn Monroe. It was the first time he performed his future hit song “The Auctioneer” before such a large audience. Courtesy of Gladys Van Dyke

Editor’s note: This is the final of two articles highlighting the military experiences of performing artist Leroy Van Dyke
 
By Jeremy P. Ämick
 
On July 30, 1953, three days after an armistice ended the hostilities of the Korean War, Leroy Van Dyke arrived in Seoul, South Korea. The 23-year-old enlisted soldier had recently been trained by the Army’s Counterintelligence Corps (CIC) and was embarking upon a military experience that would in the coming years lead to his becoming a celebrated country music artist.
 
“I was assigned to the 308th CIC Detachment in Seoul for a few days until the Army figured out where they wanted to place me,” Van Dyke recalled. “Eventually, I was sent to the 40th CIC Detachment and assigned to support the 160th Regiment of the 40th Division located along the DMZ (demilitarized zone between North and South Korea).”
 
He continued, “One of my primary responsibilities was working to eliminate the unauthorized acquisition of intelligence and other sensitive information by enemy forces. We had some South Koreans coming up to find work and North Koreans coming down into our area for other reasons, and I would interrogate them. If they seemed suspicious,” he added, “they were sent back to 8th Army for further processing.”
 
To assist in his work, Van Dyke was assigned a South Korean interpreter, who had been a medical student at the University of Seoul before the war. This interpreter, he explained, spoke not only Korean and Japanese, but had learned English from Swedish missionaries years earlier.
 
Having enjoyed singing and playing guitar prior to his deployment, Van Dyke had left his new electric guitar at home to ensure it was not damaged during his travels. Since he wanted to practice his music, he sent his mother a letter asking her to find him an inexpensive acoustic guitar in the Sears and Roebuck catalogue.
 
“A short time later, I got a $34.00 Silvertone acoustic guitar that she mailed to me,” he explained. “I still have that guitar and it still sounds good,” he said with a beaming grin.
 
Van Dyke had been given his own tent and often sang country music songs and strummed his guitar while in the company of his interpreter. Other times, when they were traveling the dusty roads along the DMZ in their Jeep, he and the interpreter passed the time by singing.
 
“It was pretty humorous to hear my Korean interpreter singing those old country songs at the top of his lungs in English with a Swedish accent,” he laughed.
 
While traveling to one of his destinations, Van Dyke began hearing in his mind both the lyrics and music for a song. Though not immediately recognizing the significance of the moment, the same situation continued to occur until he finally went to his tent and wrote down the music and lyrics resonating in his thoughts.
 
“It turned out to be my song ‘The Auctioneer,’ which was acutally about my second cousin, Ray Sims, who is now in the National Auctioneers Association Hall of Fame,” Van Dyke explained. “It took me about two weeks to learn the song, because an auctioneer’s bid calling doesn’t repeat itself like a common chorus of a song,” he added.
 
His skills and abilities as an entertainer were greatly appreciated by his fellow soldiers and he was often asked to help entertain at small group gatherings. But one day, a visitor came to his tent offering an opportunity to be part of a special performance.  
 
“It was the assistant regimental commander asking for a favor,” he said. “He explained that there would be a special guest coming to do a show for the troops and asked if I would be willing to do a 15-minute opener for them.” He added, “I said ‘sure,’ and then found out the guest was Marilyn Monroe. I asked him, ‘You want me to go out in front of 30,000 sex-starved GIs and open for Marilyn Monroe?” he mirthfully questioned.
 
Van Dyke did the performance, not only becoming the only country music artist ever to open for Marilyn Monroe but performing for the first time “The Auctioneer” before such a large audience—and only with his $34.00 guitar!
 
When his one-year overseas tour ended in mid-summer of 1954, he returned to Seattle aboard a troop ship. After completing some “paperwork,” he was then sent to Camp Carson, Colorado, receiving his honorable discharge from the Army and returning to Missouri.
 
“The Auctioneer” was released almost two years after Van Dyke’s discharge and propelled him to widespread renown as a country artist, followed by his smash hit “Walk on By.” But it was a career that may not have been possible absent the inspiration received decades ago when traveling the dusty roads of the Korean countryside.
 
With many fond memories and moments to reflect upon his golden years, Van Dyke’s face lights up when he discusses his experiences with the U.S. Army during the Korean War. It was an unexpected juncture in his fascinating life that has gifted him with many glorious benefits throughout the years.
 
“If I hadn’t written “The Auctioneer” over there in Korea, I’d probably gone on to a career in agricultural journalism or auctioneering because that’s what I was doing before the war,” he said. “When I look back on it all, and some of the details elude me now, I can say for sure that I don’t have any complaints from my time in the military—I really enjoyed it.”
 
Jeremy P. Ämick is the author of "Together as One," biography of Tuskegee Airman James Shipley
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Van Dyke has gone on to earn several professional accolades during his career as a country performing artist. However, it was a career he recognizes may never have been possible if he had not served with the U.S. Army in the Korean War. Courtesy of Gladys Van Dyke