8. The World’s Toughest Critics?
In 1953, Ludwig Hoge and his band found themselves entertaining American troops in Korea, within hearing of the enemy. Usually, the communists tolerated, and perhaps even enjoyed, Hoge’s music. However, the Chinese were tough critics, who made their disapproval known in no uncertain terms. As Hoge described it decades later: “As soon as you started playing music they did not like to hear, they started sending [artillery] rounds in“.
After Korea, Hoge took a fifteen-year breather from danger, until Uncle Sam sent him to Southeast Asia. His reaction? “I said to myself, oh mannn“. In 1968, Hoge, by then a bit long in the tooth, served with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam. He ended up in charge of a service club band, but still came under fire on numerous occasions. In a 2016 TV interview, Hoge was astonished – and grateful – for his good fortune: “I walked away from all three [wars]. I don’t know how many people can say they did“.
