>> My name is Chester Brennan. I joined the [INAUDIBLE] went to Korea in 1951.

>> What do you most remember about it?

>> Lots of things about it, really. I remember riding the train from Busan up to near the 38th parallel. I remember it being hit by bullets, windows blowing out of it, and my first year was on Hill 355, and then, from what I understood, that my unit was at the point with the line going across Korea, and it was a very important position. If they got behind us, they got behind everybody, so we really worked hard to hold that position, and I was in a few real tough battles up there. We had an old post call back from [INAUDIBLE] that was it pretty hard during the day by the North Koreans, and I went over there at 3 o’clock in the afternoon and rescued three live guys, went back out and found three buried guys, and rescued them as well, all in the same afternoon, in broad daylight.

>> You have so many medals.

>> Yeah, it seems like every time I turn around, somebody is giving me another one, and I went from 31255, Hill 355, and I was moved from there over to a place called the Hook. I was on the Hook for 2 or 3 months, and I was in a couple major battles there, and then I moved to 187, and we had a terrible couple of battles there. We lost 40 of our boys in one night on 187.

>> And there’s a Korean War memorial, Wall of Remembrance, and I know there are names of those who were killed in Korea engraved.

>> I have them all listed on my briefcase, every one of them.

>> I saw that. I saw that, and you must recognize a lot of the names there.

>> I served behind the lines, where I knew all those guys. I was on 355. About 10 o’clock in the morning, we had a guy on the stretcher by the name of Bradshaw. We had a [INAUDIBLE] on the front, and the corporal, he was on the front, a lance corporal on the back and me on the back, and a shell hit the [INAUDIBLE] and killed three of them. I got blackened but didn’t get hurt, so somebody was looking after me, I guess. I don’t know.

>> Well, I’m sure God was looking out for you, and you see the names on the walls, and they all died, but you see South Korea, the prosperous nation that she is, and Koreans all over the world know, whether Korean Canadians, Korean Americans, like me, we’re so grateful. What do you feel when you see that?

>> See?

>> Korea, Koreans, what do you feel?

>> Well, I was there, and it brings back memories, brings back memories of what I did, what I went through. I’ve been decorated several times by the presidents of Korea. I did that big [INAUDIBLE] the big stone downtown [INAUDIBLE], and I went to … They called me to a big special meeting in Toronto with Korean people. They decorated me with that, and it really … It’s something else, really.

>> What do you hope for the future of the Korean people, or …

>> I hope they don’t go through it again. When I was there, there was nothing for them. Seoul is not the Seoul that I went through there, and there was kids with no clothes. People come along and beg you for something, to give them a pair of socks or something, and they were … They had nothing that they needed. They needed clothes, and it was a very sad situation. The only highlight I got at all, there was a little boy, we called him Willy, RCR Willy, and I was with him when he was just smaller than him, and he came to Canada with me, and he’s in Canada now. RCR Willy is what his name is. He’s in Canada, and he was just a little guy, and we rescued him. He was all by himself and nobody to take care of him, so we took him with us, and he’s in, I think, he’s in Ottawa here, a little Ottawan [INAUDIBLE] RCR Willy.

>> How did you guys meet again?

>> We just happened to run into each other, and I just got talking. When I heard his name, I said, “Kid, are you RCR Willy?” “Yeah.” He said, “I know you.” “Yeah, I know you, too.” We rescued him. We named RCR Willy because I was RCR, Royal Canadian Regiment, we named him RCR Willy. He’s in Canada somewhere now, in Ottawa somewhere.

>> And he kept his name?

>> What?

>> He kept his name Willy?

>> RCR Willy.

>> Wow.

>> Yeah, he’s in Ottawa somewhere.

>> That must have been very emotional.

>> What?

>> That must have been very emotional.

>> Oh, yeah, yeah, he was quite a little guy.

>> Well, I can guarantee you there are many, many Koreans all over the world enjoying the freedoms and success that we are thanks to your sacrifices.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Thank you.

>> Yeah.

>> My name is Victor Smith. I'm part of the committee of the British Korean War Veterans Association. My position is National Treasurer who looks after the finances. We have approximately about 250 members. This was after the collapse of the original British Korean War Veterans Association, and we formed out of the members that wanted to carry. It's very successful. We're growing year-by-year. The old organization closed in 2013. That's when we started, and over ... We've made great steps in the 5 years that we were ... 4 years that we've been in operation. What else would you like me to say? >> Just how many served from Britain. >> Oh, the servicemen from Britain that were killed in action was 1,078. I think there was over 1,000 that were captured, and altogether, there was about 30,000 went to Korea from Britain. The reason that we only did one winter because of the cold winter, extreme cold, whenever you got there, you could only go 12 months that included one winter. The conditions were pretty basic. Spares ... I was involved with maintenance of vehicles and tanks. To get spares and equipment was very, very hard. We cannibalized one vehicle to keep another vehicle going. Any that we couldn't deal with, they were taken to Inchon and shipped to Kure in Japan where the Japanese had workshops that repaired all the vehicles. That was under the REME. I was actually a member of the REME, which is the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. They're mainly workshops, but within each unit, there's always a REME craftsman attached to the unit. I was attached to the Tower [INAUDIBLE] Infantry, and then I was passed onto the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. On my end of service in Korea, I then moved around to the Suez Canal and spent 6 months on the Suez Canal, and then I ... My 3 years was up. Anything else? >> Have you been back to Korea? >> I have been back the once. I hoped to go back this year. It was a wonderful experience to return there, and I'm looking forward to going back again. >> And I'm sure when you went to Korea, many Koreans expressed their gratitude, right? >> Oh, yes. They treated us like gods. They're absolutely wonderful to us. They're so kind, the Korean people. >> When you see that, that the South Koreans and Koreans all over the world are experiencing, enjoying freedom, and North Koreans are not, what do you hope for the people of the Korean Peninsula. >> Well, I hope they'll unify. I believe there are still people that work from the South work in the North and from the North work in the South. I think they travel there daily. I'm not sure, but it wants complete unification and peace, and absolutely, it's a wonderful country to visit, wonderful people. I thoroughly enjoyed my time out there.

– Me llamo Josué Orlando Bernal García. Soy de Bogotá. Viajé a Corea con el séptimo relevo del Batallón Colombia. Tomé parte en la Batalla de los 180 y el 23 de marzo, de lo más durode los Boeing. Fui siempre radio-operador desde la llegada hasta la salida de Corea. Estuve en varias patrullas o redes de escucha y de reconocimiento, y de combate. La experiencia, porque nosotros realmente no sabíamos ni dónde quedaba Corea. Para nosotros era totalmente desconocido ese país. Y también “hubieron” momentos muy felices, porque hicimos, con todos los compañeros, una sola familia. Y sentirse uno tan orgulloso de haber aportado ese granito de arena para la libertad de Corea del Sur, nuestra hermana república, que la consideramos así. Yo tenía 16 años cuando viajé. Regresamos en septiembre del año 53, habiendo viajado en el 52, ¿no? Y tuvimos buenas experiencias, también, digamos, con, en patrullajes siempre “hubieron” algunos sustos, digamos. Casualmente, en una patrulla que estábamos de escucha, nos encontramos con una patrulla coreana, norcoreana, ¿no? Y al encontrarnos, pues, creímos que nos íbamos a, a combatir, pero nos dijeron: “¿Qué pasa?”, uno de ellos. Nosotros dijimos: “Colombia”. “Ah, Colombia, numberone”. Y ya no pasó nada, afortunadamente. En esa época, antes de, de, del ataque que se hizo a 180, a nosotros, verdaderamente, yo creo que nos, nos tenían como algo de estimación los enemigos, a los colombianos, porque realmente yo quedé sorprendido esa vez que, que, que esa patrulla nos hubiera preguntado quién éramos y al contestar que éramos colombianos, dijo:“Colombia,numberone”, y, y ya, no pasó de ahí. Entonces, para mí era una experiencia muy bonita, porque me fui, fui muy joven, pero lo hice más que todo por aventura,¿sí? Unos fuimos a aventurar, otros nos fuimos,fueron por necesidades. Y también porque en esa época tenía uno que seguir el, el servicio militar aquí en Colombia.Y yo entré al Batallón Colombia y de ahí me, me propusieron que porqué no me quedaba aquí en Colombia, pero en esa época había la guerrilla, era sobre todo en los llanos orientales.Y yo que pensé:“Si me quedo aquí en Colombia, lo más fijo es que me, me envíen a los llanos orientales”, ¿sí? A pelear con los mismos colombianos, con mis paisanos. Pero, entonces, ya decidí más bien irse al Batallón Colombia,aunque mis padres se opusieron y, en esa época, estaba el ministro de Guerra, José María Bernal, que era medio pariente de mi padre, y mi madre, pues, fue a pedirle a élque, por favor, no me llevarán para Corea. Y en esa época el coronel Manuel Agüero, que era el comandante de Infantería, me llamó al comando y me dijo que había recibido una orden del ministro de Guerra que yo no podía viajar a Corea, que qué pensaba yo. “No, yo pienso viajar. Si ustedes no se oponen,yo, yo viajo a Corea.Quiero ir a Corea”. Esa fue una de las cosas que me recuerdo mucho.Y mi madre,pues, dijo:“No”, que no, que no fuera. “Sí voy a ir a Corea.Tranquila, que yo regreso”. Y vea, afortunadamente, regresé, aunque tomé parte, como te cuento, en muchas patrullas, pero, afortunadamente, siempre salí avante. Y vivo muy agradecido con la República de Corea porque, por intermedio de la embajada, hemos recibido muchasatenciones. Son los únicos que nos han apoyado. Y de acá,del gobierno, desafortunadamente, no, nohemos recibido nada.Ahora, últimamente, que nos han enviado,invitado a desfiles, a que una reunión, que esto,que lo otro, pero ya cuando no, estamos ya volteando la hoja, ¿sí?Entonces, nosotros vivimos muy agradecidos con el pueblo de Corea. Y los sentimos como nuestros hermanos.Es nuestra segunda patria. Y esa es mi situación. Ahora, yo me casé a los 21 años. De, de familia, tengo cinco hijos, tengo 12 nietos,tengo seisbisnietos. Tengo un, un nieto que está en Corea, se fue a estudiar allá electrónica, ya se graduó y está trabajando en una compañía muy buena allá en Corea,que lo acogió. Entonces,de eso me siento muy orgulloso, porque Coreanos ha…A mí, especialmente,me ha ido muy bien, ¿sí? Nos ha brindado mucho, pero mucho estímulo, lo que no ha hecho el país nuestro, ¿sí? Y haber peleado por la democracia de Corea es un orgullo para todos nosotros, los veteranos de la guerra de Corea. Gracias.