Hubert Heidkamp

Hubert “Bert” Heidkamp passed away March 3, 2014, at home. He was born March 4, 1929 in Derby, CT. He is survived by his loving wife, Sada, and their son Bret. Bert grew up running a family chicken ranch operation in Connecticut, and later enlisted in the Army. He served in Korea in the infantry and was issued a BAR. He recalled the most vivid memory of the war: seeing a MIG fighter up close and living to tell about it. While defending a fuel depot, the fighter came in low for what seemed like a strafing run. He remembers seeing the red star clearly on the plane, and the pilot's face and earmuffs. Instead of bombing and strafing the site, the pilot looked down and saluted. The pilot was on his way to defect to the US forces! One time he told of capturing a North Korean. He caught an enemy troop sleeping and put his 45 very close to the enemy's face. The enemy troop started laughing! Bert said he almost shot him because it was so unnerving to have this guy laughing at the situation – Bert wondered what he hadn't noticed and if he was in a trap. After capturing the soldier, he turned him in and expected 3 days R&R for his work, the standard reward at the time for an enemy capture. However, he never got his vacation from the front, the enemy troop turned out to be a South Korean in enemy uniform! Another day he was saved by his extraordinary good luck. Right after walking away from a latrine, a single mortar round landed right on it. Later on, he went back to look at where the round hit. The boards that were between his feet earlier when the latrine was “in use” held the spent fuse from the mortar round. He was convinced that if he was inside the latrine, it would have gone straight through his head. That wouldn't be the only time lady luck was on his side. Once while laying prone observing an enemy controlled valley, a sniper fired a shot and hit a metal stake post next to his head. Just an inch the other way and I would not be writing this. One of his other close calls sounds like something from the movies: He went into an abandoned enemy bunker, and there he saw a GE World Multiband radio. The kind that actually could receive radio from home! He was so excited! So he grabbed it and made a dash outside. There was an enemy position that opened fire at him, and he said the rounds were hitting the dirt just like Hollywood – stitching a line right towards him. It all happened in slow motion, and one of the rounds zipped through his pant leg but didn't hit him. When he got back to safety, he saw the radio didn't fare as well. It was shot and was ruined – he was so mad he risked his life for a stupid radio, and then it got destroyed to boot! As a BAR gunner, he had another soldier that helped carry extra ammo and stayed with him. One night when the enemy started shelling them, he dove for a foxhole. The other soldier did too, landing on Bert's back. He was really mad and cursing at the guy and then... boom! A mortar landed right on the edge of the foxhole. He remembered waking up outside the foxhole, laying on the ground. The mortar round had blown them both out of the foxhole. He noticed how beautiful the stars in the sky were that night, and then realized his back was in pain. The mortar round had unfortunately killed the other soldier. It also blew off a big chunk from the back of his flak jak. The mortar had missed going into the fox hole by less than a foot. There were more stories; many of them had worse outcomes for the enemy. As the war wound down, he recounted the final day of the war: our troops got orders to cease-fire at 9pm, one hour before the official end of hostilities. The war would be over at 10pm. While the US forces stopped firing as ordered, the Chinese kept going. They fired right up to the 10pm deadline, using everything they had. After the war ended, he went to the west coast where he met Sada in Oakland, California. Sada became his wife and they celebrated 51 wonderful years together. Bert loved to hunt and fish for his entire life, and shortly after his return to the states that is the first thing he did. Lady luck stayed right next to his side, because the first time he went deer hunting in Northern California, he had another harrowing experience. While glassing, he saw another hunter across a valley. Bert waved to the other hunter with his hat. It was answered with a rifle shot impacting next to him! Bert dove from the rock he was perched on, breaking the stock on his rifle in the process. He was so mad that he had survived Korea only to have some nut job take him out while deer hunting. Well that other hunter was lucky the rifle broke and Bert couldn't get a return shot off. Bert had a lot of fun fishing for lake trout. He landed a 26 1/4” lake trout out of Lake Temescal, 8 pounds, a new lake record. That was a darn big fish! Bert stayed very busy with many different business ventures. He launched a company to log rosewood, pine, and ironwood out of the Nicaraguan jungles. He started a plumbing company. He worked in outside sales for large companies such as Scott's fertilizer, Pfizer drugs, and Cody's perfume over the years. The family moved to Montana in the early 90's and greatly enjoyed their time here together. No services are planned at this time. The family asks that if you knew Bert please take a moment to celebrate the memories of his full life.