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Actually, this story begins in 1965 when Golski, then 25, was in the U.S. Army. "When I graduated, all medical and dental personnel were sent to Fort Sam (Houston) in San Antonio," he said. "I missed Vietnam by a month. In August of '65, all single guys were sent to Vietnam. In July (of the same year) all single guys were sent to Korea." Golski said goodbye to his then-fiancee, Rose, who lived in Baltimore, and headed to Korea. "I had been dating Rose for about a year. I didn't realize I could bring her with me." Several weeks later, they decided to get married in Korea. "It took about five months," Golski said. The Army didn't make it easy for overseas soldiers to wed. "I had to go through all the red tape as if I was marrying a Korean girl." And he had to buy a round-trip ticket for Rose in case he changed his mind about marriage when she arrived "and had to send her back home." That's why he couldn't afford to give her a diamond ring then, he said. The couple would first have to be married in a civil ceremony before they could have a religious ceremony in a military chapel "north of the 38th parallel in Korea," Golski said. He was the only dentist on post and lived in the Bachelor Officers' Quarters with the pilots. Across the hall lived a young captain, "Buz" Snyder. "He was commander of the air detachment there," Golski said. Buz knew of Golski's wedding plans and offered to help and made several flights to Seoul -- "25 minutes by plane, two hours by Jeep or three hours by bus," Golski said. "Rose was going to have a dress made, but the night before, PX workers went on strike," Golski said. "Buz flew down (to Seoul) and picked up her wedding dress." He chaperoned Rose the night before the wedding, taking her to a movie at the Officers' Club while her groom-to-be celebrated the end of bachelorhood. He made the arrangements with the priest in Seoul, picked up flowers, organized a saber arch for the wedding and stood as Golski's best man at both ceremonies, in March and April 1966. Golski remembers the cake topper on their three-tier wedding cake was made of potatoes carved into bell shapes and covered with aluminum foil. A few months later, Buz was ordered back to the states and then to Vietnam. "I was in Korea until September, then went to Germany for two years," Golski said. Rose accompanied him and their children were born there. "(Buz and I) had no real contact after that. We just kind of lost track of each other." In 1973, Golski came to Frederick to open his periodontal practice. The 'Buz' connection About a year ago, Golski was considering cutting back on his clinical practice hours. Hal Snyder had recently purchased Dr. Jones' practice and was looking to expand. In 2007, he had retired from a 23-year career in the Army and had settled in Laurel, near his last duty station of Fort Meade. Ironically, his father's last assignment was there, too. "I remember living in Laurel as a kid," Hal said. Now there with a family of his own, he searched for a practice in the area "and Dr. Jones was looking to sell her practice here so she could work part time. I bought the practice in 2007." The periodontists talked about merging with Golski's practice. During one of their conversations, Golski asked Hal a seemingly random question: "Did you have an uncle or a relative who was an aviator in the military?" No, not an uncle, but his father, Hal told him. "Buz?" Golski asked. "That's what they called him," Hal said. "It was really a 'wow!' moment," Golski said, connecting the dots and realizing that Hal is Buz's son. "I knew (Golski) had been an Army dentist, but never thought to ask if he had been stationed where my dad was," Hal said. "My dad was infantry branch or helicopter pilot. It didn't run across my mind to ask. "I called my dad that night and said, 'Dad, you'll never believe this. Does the last name Golski sound familiar?'" he asked his father. Buz recalled a dentist in Korea by that name. Hal showed his father, who now lives in Richmond, Va., a couple of the Golskis' wedding photos and he immediately recognized them. Golski and Buz have reunited and resumed the friendship that began 40-some years ago in Korea. Recently, the Golskis found a letter Rose had written to her mother about the wedding preparations. "(Buz) had about four or five books out on etiquette, so he would have everything just right for our wedding," she wrote. "They even had invitations printed up and these were sent out to the officers." On an office wall at Frederick Periodontal Associates, three photos in one frame capture the story -- the Golskis' civil and religious ceremonies in Korea with Buz looking on and the first reunion of the old Army friends when they met at a local German restaurant. Fitting, since all three men were stationed in Germany during their military careers.
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