The quiet hero

The medals, gleaming in a little plastic case, were all that was left to solve the mystery of an Auburn man's service in the Korean War.

Joseph Babiarz, a corporal in the Army during the war, did not boast of his heroic deeds or eagerly discuss his adventures of trudging through the mud and snow under a hail of North Korean or Chinese bullets. Instead, he took all of his secrets with him when he passed away in 1992.

James Babiarz, Joseph's son, said the only thing he knew about his father's service was that Joseph was on the front lines and that he was proud to have served his country from March 5, 1952, to June 30, 1953.