Decorated Virginia veteran Andrew Jamison remembers the Korean War 'like it was yesterday'

RICHMOND, Va. -- It's been 71 years since a cease-fire officially ended the Korean War. A day and time Virginia veteran Andrew Jamison will never forget.

"I remember that it was 9:45, they told us to stop firing, that was 9:45 at night, said it’s all over," Jamison, 91, recalled about that day in 1953. "Well, none of us believed that either."

Jamison joined the Army in 1950 at age 17. He began in Europe before he joined his brother in Korea in 1953.

"Korea was Hell on Earth. Korea was Hell itself," he said about his time in war. "I don’t know whether I’m ever going to get to Heaven but I don’t want to be in Hell because I’ve been to Korea and I know what Hell looks like."

Jamison left Korea in September 1954. He returned to Virginia where he married in 1955 and started his family.

But by his early 60s, the war would come back to haunt him.

"It started creeping back into me and I started having dreams. The war was back in my head again," he said."

The VA helped Jamison sort out the bad memories and allowed him to remember the good, including new memories made through veteran organizations.

Jamison is proud of his military service, his post-military career, and his family.

He remains steadfast in keeping the memories of those he fought beside alive, along with the memory of the brother he lost in the Vietnam War and nephew killed during a third tour of Afghanistan. He also continues to make new memories with his eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.