Chaim Potok (February 17, 1929 -- July 23, 2002) was a Jewish-American author who served in South Korea from 1955 to 1957 as a chaplain in the US Army. The experience was a profound one for him, and shaped his religous views the rest of his life. His novel I Am The Clay chronicles the Korean War from the point of view of a young boy who must survive as a refugee.