-Yo me llamo Hely Agamez Villarraga. Me fui voluntario para la Guerra de Corea porque el batallón que yo pertenecía aquí en Colombia nos solicitaron: que quién quería ir a Corea, y yo me ofrecí que iba voluntariamente para Corea. Entonces nos transfirieron a Bogotá, nos entrenaron en Bogotá, nos trasladaron a Cartagena, de Cartagena a Yokohama. De Yokohama en tren a Sasebo, y Sasebo-Corea del sur. Entonces, allá nos entrenaron, pasaron, nos llevaron al cementerio de los, de los compañeros caídos, nos dieron todas las instrucciones del caso, y pertenecía allá al batallón Colombia en la compañía A, primera fila, era el relevante de la escuadra. Cuando nos tocó a ir al combate, no… la cuadrilla mía, la patrulla mía, se llamaba la patrulla Tigre. Y entonces cuando estábamos delante, delante del pelotón dos que era el puesto de avanzada del batallón Colombia, nos tocó hacer un patrullaje de escucha. Allá se presentaron el enemigo, entonces el cabo, mi cabo, no recuerdo el nombre bien, le comunicó a mi teniente Galindo, que era el comandante de la compañía, y le dijo, nos dijo: ustedes lo que son son unos cobardes. ¿No querían venir para acá? Combátanlos. Entonces nosotros combatimos al personal que eran como 40, los eliminamos. Entonces yo como era el reemplazante del cabo, digo: mi cabo, ¿por qué no llama a mi capitán, a mi teniente, y le dice que nos metamos por el, la patrulla, puesto avanzado, y nos evitamos…? Y dice: no. Entonces: ¡Costeño cobarde! Me dijo, a mí me dio rabia y salí, salí caminando, me fui caminando como unos 15 o 20 metros, y ahí empezaron a caernos las granadas. A mí me cayó aquí entre las piernas y me elevó, me elevó más, y de ahí para atrás, como venía de una bajada, ahí casi nos eliminaron. Entonces cuando ya yo vi que ya se, se acabó, se terminó, me regresé, y entonces conocí al comandante de la patrulla, lo voy a levantar, lo conocí por el reloj, lo voy a levantar, y cuando le metí la mano hacia atrás, le metí la mano por detrás, pero le pegó el pecho por dentro, la cabeza ya no la tenía. Entonces ya ahí ya entonces empezaron… Como ya se dio cuenta el comandante, entonces estaba pura luz de bengala para que el enemigo nos ayudara. Hasta ahí fue mi historia ya, fui herido y… Fui herido en la pierna y estoy ya aquí esperando lo que Dios quiera. No tengo más que hablar. ¡Ah! Otra cosa: también fui, también fui el 2001 a Corea, también invitado por el… Y lo que dicen mis compañeros es que era un país sumamente pobre, inclusive hediondo, olía mucho, era muy hediondo. Y nosotros como soldados, nos volábamos para estar con las chinitas, con las coreanas, y dormían como en..., y tenían la, la calefacción era como un horno que le metían, le metían como, digamos, leña para el calor de, de, de la persona que estaba durmiendo ahí, y nosotros como no estábamos acostumbrado a dormir con ese horno, amanecíamos con la piel arronchada porque... del calor porque como no estábamos acostumbrado, entonces hasta nosotros nos conocían porque nos volábamos del batallón por las, por la piel. Y total que fue muy muy bonito Corea, y lo atendieron a uno de mil maravillas, y no puedo… yme están ayudando a mí porque me están dando un auxilio a un nieto.

- Me llamo Antonio de Jesús Alba Rojas. Viajé en el Almirante Padilla en 1950, 1 de noviembre, rumbo a Corea, a la península coreana. Como ya usted lo decía, fuimos a defender a Corea del Sur de las garras de, de Norcorea que estaba ayudada por Rusia y por la China. Bueno, y llegamos allí, participamos en, en bombardeos, en desembarcos, custodiamos buques de todas las nacionalidades como, especialmente norteamericanos, porque sabemos que, que Norteamérica participó con el 60 % del material bélico para esa ayuda a la República de Corea del Sur. Duré allí, duramos tres años. Yo, personalmente, duré tres años. Un año en el Almirante Padilla, otro año en el, en la Capitán Tono. Volví en la Capitán Tono y fueron, más o menos, tres años. Nuestra labor fue esa, precisamente, custodiar buques, custodiar buques cisterna, bombardear ciertos sitios de Corea del Norte, que los consideraban peligrosos, donde habían emplazados cañones de alto calibre. Eso es lo que yo recuerdo de, de, en la guerra de Corea, esa participación. Como un acto muy especial, en, en ese trajinar nos dieron orden de, de bombardear una aldea de Corea del Norte, donde se divisaban, cerca de, de la playa, casitas muy pequeñas. Se veía que era una, de un, de una aldea muy pobre. Entonces, dieron orden de, de acabar con esa población, pero nuestro comandante, el comandante del Almirante Padilla, pues, consideró que, que era un, cometer un genocidio matar a tanta gente que no, inofensiva, porque creíamos que era gente inofensiva la que estaba en esta aldea. Entonces, el comandante nuestro dio orden de no disparar. Todos los demás buques dispararon menos, menos el Almirante Padilla, por considerar que no era un acto… que no, no, pues, no estaba en nuestra conciencia destruir a ese, esa aldea. Fue una, una cuestión, pues, que a nosotros nos llenó de satisfacción porque no cometimos ese acto de terrorismo con esos, esos norcoreanos. Esa es la experiencia que tuvimos como combatientes.

>> You saved. They remember you too. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He's really happy, and he's hoping that South Korea stays strong. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He's telling you that ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... when he went back to Korea, he realized the kids these days are taller and bigger [INAUDIBLE]. >> Aw, don't cry. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Oh, thank you. Do you remember me from 2009 when you visited Korea? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He went to Korea in 2012. >> Oh, '12. >> He didn't go in 2009. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When they were coming back from Korea, they went really fast. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When the plane landed really hard on the ground, all five of us lost our balance really hard, and it did to us something that [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> People who see us might look at his age, but he's still [INAUDIBLE]. >> Oh, thank you. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Thank you. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Okay.

>> My name is Adrid Fieren. I am a man of 85 years old. I served in the Korean War with NORMASH in '52, '53. NORMASH was Norwegian contribution among the nations that helped South Korea to defeat the North Korean War from North Koreans. NORMASH is a mobile army surgical hospital. The main purpose for NORMASH is to take care of soldiers directly from the front line, wounded which has to be X-rayed and to be operated by surgeons. NORMASH therefore was placed approximately 10, 12 kilometers from the [INAUDIBLE] front line. We were a part of 8th Army and had, as far as I remember, three divisions to serve soldiers from. Soldiers coming into NORMASH was treated there and had to leave before the 3 days. Then the patients had to [INAUDIBLE] other hospitals. NORMASH was served by, I think, approximately 600 people from Norway. Each continent each period of 6 months, and then 106 persons on each period. I was in the guard, controlling all together with then all the Norwegians, and our duty was to guard camp to serve the borders. What do you call it [INAUDIBLE]? >> Barbed wire. >> Hmm? >> Barbed wire. >> Barbed. >> Wire. >> Wire but [INAUDIBLE] to be in the main gate all 24 hours. Together with [INAUDIBLE] Korean soldiers, a soldier from ROK Army. AMASH, the main thing in AMASH is of course the hospital itself, but it has many service functions around [INAUDIBLE] transport service in the camp, guarding and so on, and we had, I think it was approximately 30, 40 ROK Army Koreans [INAUDIBLE] guarding people. I think there were approximately 15, 20 and [INAUDIBLE] to maintain the camp itself. Then the nights especially in the guard, we were two then, one Korean and one Norwegian. We had difficulties, of course, with language, but we tried to communicate a little. But one thing we learned each other, that was a song. The Korean has a folk song called [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] and the Korean colleague on guard, the Korean learned us [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] and we learned him [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] a Norwegian folk song, and the [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] we learned goes like this. [Lyrics] [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. A little like that, we learned, and perhaps in Korea, an old man of 80, perhaps he's singing [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] maybe. Why did I go to Korea? Well, I was already 20 years old. I had finished first military service in regularly in Norway, and we were all volunteers, and on that time, I nearly didn't know where Korea was, but I had to look up on a map and find the little country called Korea, but it was the adventures, one thing, to travel all around and half around the world. I'd never been in plane before. I'd never slept in a hotel before. It was new adventures waiting, maybe a little to take part in a battle against communism, but I wouldn't say that was the main thing for a young man on that. However, it turned to be a very fine trip. Six months after the War, Korea is one of ... We used to say that no other country in the world is so clever to say, "thank you," [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] as ... You know [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]? Norwegian ... as the Korean. I am so happy that I have been four times back on revisit trips. >> Show us that picture where you went to Korea and that story of the nurse and the patient. >> Yes, that's a good story. You see here we have a book which we, the veterans in Norway, has made possible, and it is also translated to Korean, and here, I can show you one picture. No, it's not here. It's in the magazine from one of the revisit. This was celebrating the 60 years of peace. >> Armistice. >> Huh? >> Armistice. >> Armistice, yes. It's not peace yet. There we had a nurse who served in the very first continent in '51, and she was taking part in that trip and [INAUDIBLE]. You see this? That's a lady. Her name is Gerd Semb. She is now a lady of 95, I think. When we someplace on that trip, I think it was in Uijeongbu, we had a lunch there, and when finished her lunch, going out, there came a man, this man to Gerd and saying, "Ah, I must thank you. I was young man, and I had destroyed my face, and you treated me." After more than 60 years, it seems this happening. That was a very funny and a very good story. >> You're on the cover of the magazine. >> Yeah, this is the magazine for the Norwegian forces. >> With Gerd. >> Yeah [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] is the name of this. >> Who are the other two ... >> Here is also the lady there, yes. >> And who is the other lady? >> And if it is of interest, this is me, and this is the Minister of Defense in Norway at that time. She also followed this trip. >> So what did you think about Korea? >> Now or on that time? At that time, Korea was more or less a ruin. In the place where we were situated, the battles had gone four times through, so it was no houses, no buildings, all destroyed. The people who were there lived in houses built of soil and equipment they held after the battle. Especially fort making ceilings on their houses, they took boxes of beer and open it so it was more like this. If you took the bottom and the top of a box of beer, you will have a flat metal, and many of those was how they built the ceilings, top of the ... >> Roof. >> ... roof, yes. Nowadays, Korea, the first time I visited was in '84, I think. It was a new modern country. It was unbelievable for me to come back and see this wonder, and the Korean people, I love them. I really love them. >> Number one. >> Number one, they are number one. >> That's number one. >> And we have been so happy. We have this veteran association to have a very, very good connection with the Korean ambassador. He is number one. So I think me and all the other Korean veterans also are very fond of the Korean people. >> Well, we thank you. >> Thank you. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Enough.

– 2004, ¿no?
– Un poco…
– Más alto.
– Sí.
-Doménico Adorno.
– Sí, cuando, cuando, ¿participaron en la guerra?
– Nací en el pueblo de Trujillo Alto. A los 21 años fui reclutado por el ejército. Me enviaron a su país, Corea. No tengo buenos recuerdos. LO que tengo es un sentimiento porque muchos han ido ahora y dicen que Corea está muy pero muy alertada, muy avanzada, pero todavía en mi vida no capto, todavía yo tengo a Corea de 66 años atrás. Yo estuve en Chon todo el tiempo. Estuve en una oficina del tercer batallón. La oficina pertenecía al 65 de infantería. Estaba localizada en una universidad que había sido destruida por los americanos para sacar al enemigo, a los coreanos… metidos. Tuvieron que bombardear ese edificio. En ese edificio había partes que se podían usar, y ahí estaba yo en una oficina. Yo estuve 13 meses, un año y un mes. Mi trabajo allí era que me enviaban el informe, informe todas las mañanas de los muertos, de los desaparecidos, de los heridos durante la noche del cuerpo del 65 de infantería. Había mucho conocido mío. Todos eran puertorriqueños. Para mí era un dolor, aunque no los conociera físicamente, pero eran mis compatriotas. Eso es un dolor que llevo, ¿entiendes? Porque todavía conozco descendientes, descendientes de esos muchachos que perdieron la vida allí. Cada vez que los veo me traslado a Corea. Esa es la parte primordial del viaje a Corea. Bien, tengo otros recuerdos mucho más tristes del pueblo coreano.
– ¿Visitó a Corea el año pasado?
– No.
– ¿No?
– No, voy a visitarla.
– ¿Vas, vas visitar el mes de septiembre?
– Sí.
– Ah, ¡ok! Sí.
– Pues aquel tiempo ustedes no habían nacido.
– Sí, sí, sí.
– Fue un tiempo triste para Corea. La guerra destruyó la manufactura, destruyó la agricultura, y Corea vive… de la agricultura, de la pesca, bueno. Recuerdo, por la tarde cuando yo salía de la oficina, se había todo empolvado porque los edificios son hechos de un material, no recuerdo ahora, que es como tiza. Salía afuera. Había un, una reja para no entrar al edificio donde estaba la oficina. Nosotros pegábamos allí… y eso… triste ver cómo las mamás…
[HABLAN EN COREANO].
– Sí, sí, sí.
– Lloraban pidiendo comida, y muchas veces hacían cosas indebidas, cosas indebidas con sus hijos. Yo tengo mis hijas ahora, mi nieta, y eso me lleva, ver un pueblo destruido físicamente…
– Sí.
– Y moralmente.
– Sí, pero ahora es muy…
– Eso es distinto, pero yo no lo he visto.
– Sí. Gracias.

>> My name is Mick Kilhov. I live in Australia now. I served in Korea with the British Army, the 10th Regiment. I had never heard about Korea. I didn't know where it was. I couldn't even point on a map where Korea was, but anyway, I was serving in Germany and was sent from Germany back to the UK to familiarize ourselves with the Centurion tank, which is the heavy tank used with the armor, and after 6 weeks, we were put on a ship, the Empire Halladale, at Liverpool, and it took us 6 weeks to get from Liverpool in England to Pusan. When we got to Pusan, there was an American band on the docks. They were playing, "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake," which we thought was hilarious. We were then unloaded, put on to flatcars and sent on these flatcars from Pusan to Uijeongbu. We went to Uijeongbu. That's the only Korean place I can remember going up to. I remember Seoul. Yes, I remember that, but it was in the middle of the night, pitch black. We were given a bag of rations. The first ration we had was homemade sandwiches, an apple, which you couldn't eat because it frozen solid. During the middle of the night, the train stopped because they said there was going to be an air raid. There was no air raid, but we did stop there, and a little voice came out of the dark, and it wanted to know if we wanted to swap some food for what they had. All they had was apples. We gave them what we had, just sandwiches and a piece of fruit cake. That's what we were given, and they gave us these apples, and we could not bite these apples. We had to hit it with a bayonet, and it shattered like glass. It was frozen solid. Anyway, when we got to Uijeongbu, in the case of taking over from another regiment who were pulling out from Korea, and we took over their positions, and we had Alpha, Beta and Charlie squadrons. Three squadrons were sent to three different areas, some on the Imjin River. I don't know the name of the Korean location. I just know that it was Hill 355, Green Finger, Winston Churchill, Jane Russell. These were all features in Korea, and by then, we weren't told very much about what's going on. We just got what we called a sitrep every morning, a situation report. We were told what action was going on during the night, what action, what we had been through, and I remember being hit by 99 mortars one night on the tank. It didn't make much difference. It blew all the camouflage nets off and the antenna for the radio. It wasn't a very pleasant place. It was just a case of very, very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. Rations were very meager unless you got combat rations, which were supplied by the Americans. Normal British rations were bully beef and hardtack biscuits, and these tins of bully beef were 7-pound tins that were leftover from the Second World War, and when you took the top off, we had a hiss of gas coming from the meat, and the meat was black. So you had to cut the outside off with your knife and then get to the real piece of meat underneath, the bully beef, and we had hardtack biscuits full of weevils. We had to tap them on the side. We also had what they called pom, which is powdered potato, dehydrated potato, and I can distinctly remember the cook used to ask us, "What would you like today? Would you like a bit of steak and chips?" And you'd say, "No. Just give us the usual," and he'd say, "Oh, do you want your potato mashed, fried?" It was all the same. It was just boiled, boiled, boiled, powdered potato. That was what we had. Combat rations were good. Whenever we could, if we could get to an American camp, they were very generous. We could get from Marines anything you could pick off the table. Whatever they were eating, they'd give you, and at the end of the table, there was stuff donated by American firms. There were things like Hershey bars, writing material, torches, pens, writing paper, and right at the end, you put your name down, and you got a Chicago Herald Tribune sent to you once a month. Very handy because you had nothing else to read, and it was very useful at the end of that period to use as toilet paper as well. The thing that left me my lasting memory of Korea was the suffering of little children. It really left a mark on me. Normally, I wouldn't shed tears, but after seeing little babies and little girls and boys in the condition they were in, it really affected me. I did more than a year in Korea. I was then claimed by my older brother to his regiment. It was an artillery regiment. So I went over to spend another 3 months with them. We then went from Korea. We said farewell to our friends in Pusan who were lying sleeping in the cemetery. We went from there to Hong Kong for another year or just over, and by that time, because we had come from Germany with our own seas for 3 years, we went back to UK. And within 5 months of getting back to UK, I was then called up again for Cyprus. We were sent to Cyprus for a year. In the meantime, I got married on one day, the 22nd of October, 1955, and on the 24th of October, I was on an aircraft carrier on my way to Cyprus, where I spent a year. Having done that, I came back to leave the Army for a few months and got called up again, honored to be called up for Suez Canal trouble. So anyway, that's a part of my life, and I'm quite happy I've been married 62 years now to the same woman. I've got one daughter, and I live in Australia now. I'm quite happy with my lot. I've never been back in the UK. I have no desire to go back there. I've just been involved with the Korean War Veteran Association here. I've been their president for over 10 years. I'm still the president emeritus and their quartermaster. So I just do what I can to help my fellow man. I do a lot of hospital visits. I visit people who are in nursing homes who have had sickness, strokes, dementia. That's as much as I can do for my fellow man, and I hope one day, and I've also decreed that when I pass away and I leave this mortal coil that my body goes to research. I don't want a funeral. I don't want anything left of me. It'll go to the University of New South Wales. And I'll say my goodbyes there. Thank you.

>> My name is Phil Altemus Ludovic Highmund. I was born in 1931. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Born February 18th, 1931. >> Yeah. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I joined the Limburg Military. >> I then to the war in Korea, and then it got [FOREIGN LANGUAGE], and I was 6 weeks in Korea until the cease-fire came. >> I was only in Korea for 6 weeks when the cease-fire came. >> I have 1 year in Korea with the patrol [FOREIGN LANGUAGE], Lex. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] I can't think of the name. I said, "Okay." >> After the cease-fire, I stayed in Korea for 1 year, and I was on patrol. I had a half-Korean boy who was my helper. I forget his name. It was a Korean name. >> I cannot speak a Korean name. I speak to the boy. I say to you, "Lex." >> I called him Lex, and he accepted that name. >> I have 1 year with Lex in Korea, and it was [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Lex and I spent 1 year together, but when I had to leave, of course, he stayed there. I also had a little girl in Korea called Long-Kyung. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] no same people can go ... Only the American military, military, military and [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. [ Chatter ] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. [ Chatter ] >> Lex was my best comrade. I spent a lot of time with just military people, but I really liked the Korean people who lived there, and they were very kind to me. I liked them. They were open and friendly. >> Lex had learned [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. Lex [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] no people, no people. It was [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He was at the fort post with Lex, and he said, "I can hear people," and Lex said, "That's not people, that's frogs." >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I left Korea. I went home, and I forgot to ask Lex for his address. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Now, I think of Lex a lot of the time. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Next year, I'm going back. >> Maybe you can find him! >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah, [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Oh, I had photos but not of Lex. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I gave those photos, and they're now in the museum. >> Well, you were there for 1 year, right? And you were there after the Armistice. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Dinner is ready. >> Dinner is announced. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> You were there after the Armistice, after. >> Yeah. >> So before and after, what were some of the major differences? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I had changed. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I was very angry. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] I became very easily angry later. >> At one time, [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It was difficult to contain it. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I would relive my problems at night. >> Well, I hope that when you go visit Korea that you can let it go ... >> Yeah, maybe I go to [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... and that you can find peace in your heart. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]