Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Korean War
More than 40,000 people from 30 nations worldwide died in the Korean War (June 25, 1950 - July 27, 1953). We honor them as we hope for peace.
Click on a pin on the map above to visit a Korean War Veterans Memorial near you and pay tribute to the veterans and their fallen comrades. You can also explore these featured memorials and stories:

Featured Memorials

Featured Stories

>> Hi. My name is [INAUDIBLE] from American Samoa.

>> Louder.

>> I retired from the US Army after serving 30 years. I’m a lieutenant colonel, and being in the military has been a great privilege for me to serve the country and also here in American Samoa. I’m here to let you know that when the people coming from the states looking for Samoan who have served in the Korean Way, as my half brother was in Korean Way. His name is [INAUDIBLE], and he’s passed away last 3 years, but he was born and raised here in American Samoa, and then he went to … He joined the Korean War, but I think he did not retire, but he was.

>> When did he serve in Korea?

>> I cannot set the date, but I’ve seen his pictures.

>> What does it mean for you that he served in Korea and you served in the Army too?

>> It means that he has been very pro military, and when I joined the Army, I think he’s done a great decision serving the country not here in American Samoa, but the USA, and I remember when we have a conversation with him. He was telling me when he was in the Korean Way, he showed me his pictures up in the mountain in Korea. I was surprised to know that he was indeed pro military, and he loved the time that he spent in Korean during the Korean Way.

>> So he remembered it with positive, good memory?

>> Yeah. It was a good memory, but the last few years he was in the Maryland, so he passed away was he Virginia, state of Virginia, and so I can tell him …

>> But I’m so glad …

>> … he’s older. He’s older than me.

>> I’m so glad you’re here to honor his memory.

>> Oh, yes. I do respect him and the right decision that he did make serving our people, not only American Samoa, but in the USA, entire USA. As you know, what’s going on in the military and other countries in the war, some people are afraid to join the military because maybe they will get killed when they go in the military, but anywhere you go whether it be a civilian or in the military, you never know when you’re going to go away, when you’re going to pass away, but he did serve the USA and the US military, and I honor him, and I do respect … Not including my brother, but all Samoan people he served, not only Samoan, but all the USA people who he did serve through that particular time.

>> And you too.

>> Okay.

>> And you too.

>> Thank you very much for the opportunity …

>> And thank you for your service.

>> … to hear some of the words of my brother who served Korean War [INAUDIBLE].

>> And thank you.

>> Hi, everybody, from inside the St. David's Chapel ... >> Correct. >> ... of the Llandaff Cathedral. >> Correct. >> Yes. I am here with Mr. John Kenyon, who is the archivist for the Cathedral, and I'm here to honor the 32 Welshmen who died during the Korean War. Yesterday, I met the veterans of the war and the regiment, and many of them knew a lot of them, and I just ... so again, they're not just names, but they are ... and we're. >> Still remembered. >> Yes, and someone's sons and friends, so I do come here and think of them. When was this built? >> Well, it was dedicated in 1998, and the inscription is engraved by Yein Reece, who is based in West Wales. He's a superb calligrapher, carving lettering on the stone, and this is one of four examples we've got of Yein Reece's work, the most recent work that he's undertaken, so I hear this place, this entire place is dedicated to ... Oh, here it is, the Welsh, the Royal Welsh. >> It was built after the devastation in the second World War when the cathedral was damaged by the war parachute mine. >> Yes. >> This new chapel was built linking the cathedral to the new offices [INAUDIBLE] regiment were inscribed by Mr. Cayon on the east wall there. >> Yes, we'll take you to over there, where it says ... I mean, it lists all the conflicts, but I couldn't help but notice Korea right here. Korea, 1951 to '52, and while the war lasted until '53 and technically still at war, the Royal Welsh was involved in it. >> In those years. >> It was in those years. They suffered heavily, but I just loved how all the pew has the Welsh battalion, different battalions, the first, second, this. >> [INAUDIBLE] Wales [INAUDIBLE] commemorative plaques of the colonels of the regiment, some generals, but known as colonels of the regiment, and that all is going back into the 1700s. >> I do want say because I brought my brother, Jan, on ... Today is Wednesday, so on Monday, during the [INAUDIBLE] cheese and prayer for the Korean War veterans, so I was so happy, so thank you, Chris. You must have shared our feeling with her, so thank you so much, and we're going to show you inside the cathedral, and Mr. Kenyon is going to lead us to another place where it honors Korean War veterans. >> That's right. >> So we'll follow ... >> Which way? >> Either one. >> We'll go this way. >> When was this chapel built? >> It was in the 1950s. >> 1950. >> '50s, yeah, all done by George Pace, who was the architect charged with restoration of the cathedral [INAUDIBLE]. >> It's such a hallowed place, and it couldn't be a better ending to my journey. Oh, wow, are those ... >> Yes, these are all ... >> ... original flags? >> Yes, yep. They're just left there, and they're unconserved, so they'll slowly deteriorate until [INAUDIBLE] church grounds, so they're left unconserved. >> So this church ... >> And hanging here as well. >> This church is how old? >> The church as we see it, the earliest part of it is 1120s. >> Wow. >> But it was a church here long before that going back 1,000 years or so, but the building we got is 1120. The big arch we see ... >> I'm in a place that is 900 years old, and I shared with Reverend Jan, but one of the veterans when we were reciting ... The citations of the Medal of Honor recipients, he said something that I will never forget, so look how beautiful this is, but he said as we were reciting ... Reading their citations, he said sounds travel all throughout the universe eternally, and as I was praying earlier, I felt I wanted to change that a little bit to fit this occasion, and I said also travels, and it remains in eternity as well, so think of all the prayers that were made in this hallowed place for 900 years. >> This is the big arch [INAUDIBLE]. That's the earliest one, and then this piece is postwar [INAUDIBLE] similar one on the church's new [INAUDIBLE] to the 1500s. >> Beautiful, so everyone, if you come to Cardiff, Wales, please, visit this cathedral. It is just absolutely beautiful. >> So we're walking on the south aisle now. >> And I have to say for ... I've never visited a cathedral that honored veterans. Some people think veterans, war, but as the reverend prayed, they defended peace. >> You'll find [INAUDIBLE] earliest thing. This stone is even earlier. This is probably about the year 1,000. It's known as the only the Christian monument. It's part of a cross. >> Year 1,000? >> Yeah, about year 1,000. >> Wow, and [INAUDIBLE] because even one death is precious and far too many. There is ... You can see right here, Mr. Seaton killed in Korea, and you think that he was ... >> He was a member of the Old Llandavian, so the Cathedral School. I don't remember whether a member [INAUDIBLE] but he was an old boy, but he wasn't serving in a Welsh regiment. Otherwise, he would have been commemorated in the David Chapel, so he must have been serving somewhere else in the British Army in a different regiment. >> So again ... >> So those are the two main areas, David Chapel and this memorial here. >> So again, everyone this is the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardaff Wales and the last stop in my 10-day journey across both Ireland and Wales to honor veterans and promote peace. I thank you for joining me on this journey. It has been extremely humbling and gratifying. Like I said, yesterday, one of the veterans told me that it was his first time in almost 70 years somebody in-person thanked him for his service in Korea, and that really devastated. I think we cannot say thank you enough to our veterans, so please, if you see a veteran, go and say thank you. It really does brighten their day and make everything worth it. >> And thank you for your visit as well. >> Oh, thank you. >> It's been a pleasure to welcome you to the cathedral. >> Thank you, so bye-bye, everybody.
>> My name is Jolke Rijsdijk. I born in [INAUDIBLE] in 1928 and served in [INAUDIBLE] versus the Korean ... >> Volunteer. >> Volunteer. >> Volunteer >> ... Volunteer in 1950 after 2 years in Indonesia service. I awarded the Medal of Honor from Indonesia and Korea, [INAUDIBLE], the medal of [INAUDIBLE] ... >> United [INAUDIBLE]. >> United Nations. >> [INAUDIBLE] Korean War Medal. >> And I was in Korea in 1950 with about the [INAUDIBLE]. After shooting in the range where there's the American troops, they say to us, "You can come to the front. You are ready for shooting everywhere every day." So we started in 1950 to go to the front line, first to Taegu, afterwards to Suwon and later to [INAUDIBLE]. >> Kusongpo-ri. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Above [INAUDIBLE] Hoengsong. >> Hoengsong. >> Hoengsong. >> Hoengsong. >> Hoengsong. >> Hoengsong. >> Hoengsong. >> And [INAUDIBLE] by the Chinese troops. We started to go to help three to five because the Chinese held the North Koreans in force, so on the upper side of the street [INAUDIBLE] died [INAUDIBLE] ... >> Preacher? Preacher? >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> ... priest died, and the paid boss died with 15 other guys, two corporal sergeants and so on. So [INAUDIBLE] little bit. >> What does this mean? Were you an artillerist? Right here. >> Combat rifle. >> Combat rifle. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Several days on the front line. >> Yeah. >> Ah, oh. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> If you are 90 days in the front line, you get from the Americans the Combat Rifle. It's the one. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> Means that you have 90 days on front ... >> Ninety days on the front line, yeah. >> ... on the front line. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Straight? Ninety days straight? >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> Straight? Ninety days straight? >> Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Straight on the line. >> Yeah, yeah. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Radio man. >> Uh-huh. >> [INAUDIBLE] people I go with in the radio, and afterwards, North Korea, I came back in [INAUDIBLE] 40 years by the [INAUDIBLE] things. >> [INAUDIBLE] things. >> Connections. >> Connections, yeah. Telephone. >> Connections. >> Telephone, ah. >> Radio. >> Wireless operator. >> Oh, wow. >> I was wireless operator ... >> [INAUDIBLE] wired radios. >> ... and made steps in different ranks. >> Wow. In the Armed Forces? >> In the Armed Forces, yeah. >> He stayed there. >> For 40 years? >> Yes. >> For 40 years, yeah. >> Hmm, just like Grandpa [INAUDIBLE]. >> Every 36 years, you get a golden medal. >> Mm. >> Thirty-six years. >> Did he say that he received the Medal of Honor? >> No, that's ... What he's talking about is the medal that you are 36 years in the army. >> Army, 36 years, wow. >> But he stayed longer than that. >> You stayed longer? >> Yeah. >> Wow, so what are you proud about the Dutch in the Korean War? >> Wait a moment. I was in 1998. They came revisit in Korea with my son. >> Mm. >> And he works in Korea with the [INAUDIBLE] ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... oil platforms, to build oil platforms. >> In Korea? >> In Korea. >> Wow. >> And he brings it to start ... to Africa and all over the world. >> Does he still live in Korea? >> The Koreans platforms. They build in South Korea. >> So he lived in Korea, your son? >> And now he lives here in [INAUDIBLE]. >> Okay. >> But he goes everywhere with the platforms. He brings it back, and then during the start, they test it the [INAUDIBLE]. >> Wow. >> And the platforms bring to the power of the place. >> So you remember serving with many comrades because you were in the army for 40 years, long time. >> Yeah. >> So looking back, Dutch in the Korean War played a very important role, right? >> Yeah, yeah. >> Name couple that you feel are very important for young people to know about Dutch in Korea. >> Oh, yeah. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Yeah? [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Yeah? [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I don't do that, but there are others today do that. They talk in schools, classes, over Korea. >> Mm. >> And now my four [INAUDIBLE] go in ... >> Grandchildren. >> ... go in May to Korea. >> Mm, good. Peacetime ... >> [INAUDIBLE]. Yeah. >> ... to learn ... >> Four. >> ... to learn about the Korean War. >> Going for a week now, Korea. >> Oh, okay. >> It's nice, isn't it? >> Yes. Do you ... Did you go back to Korea? >> No, I not. >> To 1998 ... >> Maybe I go to [INAUDIBLE]. That's far enough. >> You went to Korea with your son ... >> In '98. >> ... in 1998. How about recently? >> No, there were [INAUDIBLE] British over there now. >> Did you go recently? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Yeah. >> And what's the last time? In 1998. >> Yeah, yeah. >> I hope you enjoyed it. >> It was very nice ... >> Very nice. >> ... to be there. >> Well, thank you so much for your service. Thank you. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Oh.
>> ... the door who had been captured and could walk over the UN forces with them, but the UN troops, the Astor Rifles and the others who were with them, who had been killed were just left to lie, and they weren't buried by the cruiser, and they went out, and in this hard, harsh ground, they buried the bodies because they felt they needed to give respect to these people from overseas who'd come to fight for them, so it was very poignant, and then we were told how after the ... What we were shown were the ... Albert showed a picture earlier of the bullet holes on the bridge, which another Astor Rifleman ... I think it was a lieutenant then, Merv McCordy, went on to become a brigadier eventually. He got an MC, a Military Cross. Himself and somebody else protected a sort of area and ... two of those who had died in Korea, and they ... I discovered when I was back recently in Korea that near that side of Seoul is where all the monumental memorial makers were, and so that's how they managed to find ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah. The Padre found ... was told to go and get a stone, and he found a stonemason as well. Apparently, they were in the back of an army truck. I assume he was paid, and they drove around with the ... wherever the battalion was going, and he was told to carve on this memorial to remember the Royal Astor Rifles and the others who'd been there and then in Happy Valley and who'd died there and others of the Regiment, who'd died nearby or elsewhere in battles that included Imjin because the Astor Rifles had heavy casualties at Imjin as well, and that was dedicated July 1951. My dad wasn't there because at that stage he was in Japan training people to go to Korea and things, so he wasn't there but some very famous, very poignant pictures of that. That memorial, we will see later. It came back to Northern Ireland in the 1960s, put up in Palace Barracks ... not Palace Barracks, sorry, the barracks by Mina where the Regiment, the Astor Rifles, had their depot, and then that closed in 2010, and it got moved to outside the city fort here in Belfast, and my father, Merv McCordy got the MC in career, and a lot of the others of the Regiment were very instrumental and moving in that getting it placed outside the city hall, and it's been recently refurbished, and we've now got access to it from the Cenotaph area, the city hall, and they're looking after it well. So my dad and I went back to Korea in 2011. Mr. Kim showed us around Happy Valley, and my dad, I think he never totally said this, but I think, to me, but I think he always felt guilty that he'd survived, and so many hadn't, and he really wanted to do something to remember those who'd died in Korea of the Regiment, and initially we were thinking about putting up a wee plaque or something in Happy Valley. We spoke to the British Ambassador when we were there. We spoke to Mr. Parker when we were there. When we came back, we spoke to members of the Regiment because obviously it would have to have regimental approval, and then when we were sort of just ... We were just thinking of doing something quite small, really, maybe in Happy Valley itself, and then I got ... We met Andrew Salmon out there. He'd already met my father. He'd been to Belfast 2 or 3 years before to interview my dad for his book, "To the Last Round." He interviewed quite a lot of the Royal Astor Rifles for that, and he was delighted to see my father in Korea. They got on very, very well. They enjoyed going out and both good storytellers, so they could sit around and drink and tell stories, top teacher, he was, with the stories. But anyway, Andrew Salmon sent me an e-mail and said that the Irish Association of Korea and the Irish Embassy in Korea were thinking of putting up a memorial in Korea to those from Ireland who had died in the Korean War, and because although Ireland wasn't a UN nation, it ... People from Ireland had thought and for the Americans, the Australians, and then many of people from the south of Ireland were part of the Royal Astor Rifles, which was a British Army Regiment, so it was part of the UN. So and they were also wanted to remember some Padre, some missionaries who died in Korea as well, and there's a link there with the Royal Astor Rifles too, which I'll explain in a wee minute. So anyway, we then started liaising with Ambassador McKee, and again, we had to get approval from the Regiment and from the British-Korean Veterans Association, and there were links between Dublin and Belfast and everything else because obviously, we have these politics involved in this country too, and in among that, that's when Mrs. Carol Walker came on board because my mother used to ... my mother? My father used to be ... He was very much behind the setting up the Somme Association, the Somme Museum to remember those of the First World War from the north and south who'd died at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and he knew that Carol had a lot of experience in memorials. She put up memorials for the First World War in France, in Turkey, in visitors places. I'd asked her initially for advice on that, and then discussion began about taking back veterans from the Royal Astor Rifles and from Ireland. Generally, Carol has had experience of taking back First World War veterans to First World War battlefields, and so that's how she become involved in the ... on the team, basically, and then a representative of the Royal Irish Regiment, the modern regiment for the Royal Astor Rifles, which the Astor Rifles, my dad's regiment in 1968 amalgamated with three other regiments into the Royal Irish Rangers, and then in 1992, that became the Royal Irish Regiment, and they're very supportive of their heritage and interested in their heritage. So lots of discussions about the memorial, lots of liaisons between Korea and Ireland and phone calls at 7 o'clock in the morning and to work with the time difference, and then in 2012, Carol, myself and Trevor Ross, who was representing the Royal Irish Regiment, went out to Korea at the time of the Commonwealth Veterans revisit the following year and met with the British Ambassador, the Irish Ambassador, members of the MPVA in Korea, went to see possible memorial sites, and it was then that it was decided the memorial should ... the key memorial should go up in Seoul because it'd be easier to look after it there by the War Museum and things, and the Irish Embassy said it was look after it and that there would be a panel put up in Happy Valley as well to remember the battle in Happy Valley too. 2013, and you'll hear more about this from Mrs. Carol Walker, the memorial was dedicated in Seoul. My father and I were meant to go to be there for that dedication and for all the other events and be there with the other veterans from the Royal Astor Rifles and from Ireland. Unfortunately, my mother had a very severe stroke just a week or two prior to us going out, and we, anyway, my father and I couldn't go. She died shortly after the veterans returned from Korea, but we were very close in contact with what was going on. My dad was very keen to know. He kept saying, "Have you had a signal from Carol?" because he's not quite into e-mails, but a signal, and so Carol, Trevor and the others sent back information of what was going on, sent photographs of the memorial being dedicated, being put up and everything, but me and my father were ... My father and I were very evolved with Carol and others, and everything had to be approved with the wording on the memorial and everything else. Then with regards to the memorial, my dad ... One of the sides of the memorial, one of the sides is the Royal Astor Rifles and reflects this memorial here in Belfast and the wording on the memorial here in Belfast, and it particularly mentions Happy Valley. Another side mentions those Irish birth and heritage. Another side is ... talks about seven missionaries from Ireland, who died in Korea, and one of those missionaries, my father actually knew. Father ... I think he's known as Father John O'Kane, is it? >> It's O'Kane. >> Yeah. Father John O'Kane, though, my father knew him as Father Jack. Quite often in Ireland, people who are called John are known as Jack, very confusing. Anyway, so my father knew Father Jack. He'd been a Royal Astor Rifles Padre in the Second World War. We think he might have been at D-Day with them, but we definitely know he was with the Royal Astor Rifles in the Second World War. He was older than my father, maybe 10 years older than my father, and then after the war, my dad was in Palestine and Egypt, and he was the Catholic Padre with the Regiment there. The Royal Astor Rifles has a Catholic Padre and a Protestant Padre, and he was Catholic Padre in Egypt, and he remembered him because he was a Padre. He was part of the officers' mess. He had a tent, himself, I think, because he's a Padre ... had his own tent because my father had to share a tent with somebody else, which are all the boys who are over there, had a lot more in the tents, and he remembers them being very good at cards. He remembers them being a lot of fun. He remembers them riding around the camp on a motor bike, and all the guys thought he was wonderful, so my father was very sad when he'd heard that he'd been killed in Korea. He knew he'd gone out to Korea as a missionary, and so that's a link between the Astor Rifles and the others in the memorial as well. Then in 2015, this ... the ...
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I'm Pete Fond du Lac, born 21st of March, 1927. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Which year? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Went to Korea in October 1950. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> It was for that, infantry. >> Infantry soldier? >> Yeah. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> How long did you [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> You were there for 1 year, came back in November. >> It was a very difficult winter. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah, [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yes, of course, it was a very difficult time. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Cold, very, very cold winters. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Several of my comrades were killed and my foot froze. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> No. >> Yeah. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Okay. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> PTSS. >> PTSS. >> Stress Syndrome. >> Stress Syndrome. >> Yeah. >> Hmm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Our commander was killed. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> When I came back, I was just a civilian. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> It wasn't difficult. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Had you not had [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] from the [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We were just the front, so I didn't meet any civilians. >> What do you remember about the 2nd Infantry Division, your comrades? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I don't remember much about them. >> Well, show us your ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I don't know the translation. >> No, no, no, not American. I said about the Dutch being part of the 2nd Infantry. >> Yes. >> I want him to show ... >> The ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] the 2nd Infantry [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah, show, show. >> Show, show them. >> And you were put together with them? Were you in barracks together? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] okay. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> The Netherlands unit, we were fighting for the same thing, of course, but we fought separately. >> You volunteered? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah. >> Why? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I was first in service in Indonesia, and then I came back to Holland, and then I wanted to go to Korea in order to stay in service. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I had a difficult situation at home in my youth, and when I heard that they were enlisting soldiers for Korea, I thought that would be a good chance ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... together with Dick Hermanns. >> But it was a brutal war. It was war, and you were young. >> It was [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah, [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I was 23, 24. >> Twenty-three years, yeah. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I never went back there. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> No, I didn't. >> Why? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah. He said, "I was never shipped back there. The war was nearly finished anyway, and I experienced enough to want to stay away after that." >> But did you go back to Korea Revisit Program? >> No. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I didn't want to go. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I had the chance to go back a couple of times, but I don't feel the need to go and visit the cemetery, and I don't want to go back. >> But today in Korea, Korea is a very successful country. >> Korea [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... successful land, and that's seen on the television. >> Yeah. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Dick Hermanns told me so because he's been back. >> Mm-hmm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I hope that you are at least proud of your sacrifice. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yes, we're very proud. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> But I don't advertise the fact. Of course, it is [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah. >> Yeah, it's the forgotten war, and he doesn't talk about it often. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He has sort of recurring memories which are too emotional for him. >> Nightmares? >> Nightmares? >> Yeah. >> Even now? It's been such a long time ago. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> When Dick Hermanns comes to visit, he's a good friend, and he comes regularly, then they talk about old times, and he has a difficult time later. >> Mm, well, I hope that I could bring you some peace because I don't want you to remember the horrors of war, but I am here to show you that thanks to you, I'm here. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] [ Chatter ] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We always get a good reception when we go to the Korean Embassy too, and he understands fully that you are grateful for his services. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He goes once a year. >> I come here not as just myself but all my family, my friends in America and Koreans all over the world ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... but not only Koreans but everybody because you defended Korea and the world from the threat of communism. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah, I know it. >> So I know maybe it's difficult thinking about it, but I will pray that you find comfort. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Okay.
>> I think it was either [INAUDIBLE] and we stayed and ate there. Now when we stopped, during the summer months, these people [INAUDIBLE] and the ground [INAUDIBLE] stacked up during the summer to dry, and then at the end of the summer, they bring it in and stack up, say, the houses. Now these would be cottages [INAUDIBLE] and they stack them up. That's the fuel for the whole winter. Now having said that, the same applies in Korea. You know about the [INAUDIBLE]. You know the [INAUDIBLE]? >> No. >> [INAUDIBLE] famous thing in Korea, two hands to make a forklift, and the person has a stick with a hook, and when he goes out, he pats it on the ground, and he puts a hook on it and sits there, and he goes around, and gets all sort of stuff, jungle grass or twigs. Anyway, at the end of the day, a pail of stuff, and he'd go back to his cottage, and he'd put all that stuff beside the house. Now that was the winter fuel. Now cooking, they just have the one room, and at the back, they have a kitchen, as you would call it. Now the kitchen comprised of a roof and two sides. The rest was open. Now let's just say the house was [INAUDIBLE]. They have their cooking utensils, like two or three pots, and that was permanent there. That's where they cooked. Now all that stuff is there for the fuel to light the fire and do their cooking. Now I observed this before, seeing what they did, and luckily I had matches, and I got some of the fuel and put it on and lit the fire, and what happened was, the Koreans were very well advanced on the floor heating. Well, as soon as we lit that fire, all the heat went underneath, as well as cooking. It went underneath and heated the floor. Now the floor was big clay again and big clay I say. Holes were there for heat for ages afterwards, and what happened was, the smoke that went out through the back of the chimney, whatever it was, and inside about 1/2 an hour, and it was freezing while were in there, 1/2 an hour. We'd take our jackets off [INAUDIBLE]. It was so primitive but so very good, and that just shows you the ingenuity of the Korean peasants. I'll never forget it. You have your cup, which was aluminium, and you also had what they call a Tommy cooker. A Tommy cooker came in a wee square box of cardboard, and we took this wee metal thing. We [INAUDIBLE] could put either your mess tin ... I don't know whether you know what a mess tin. It's what you cook in, individual cooking. There's two parts, and you do your cooking and that sort of thing on the wee stand with something like if you remember fire lighters to light a fire. Well we had wee small tablets, and they didn't create any flame [INAUDIBLE] just a like a glow, and you cooked your food in that, and that's how you have on the field. Everything was there for you. The Americans' rations was far superior to ours, oh, yeah. >> How about the cold? Do you remember the cold? >> Oh, yes, very much so, yeah, mm-hmm, yeah. Not only that, when we went out there, we just had ... It's hard to explain, so you'll need to see pictures. We just had what they call a [INAUDIBLE] a tunic and trousers [INAUDIBLE] sort of thing, and the Americans and all these other things and Canadians, they had their combat suits and their liners inside, if you remember liners. You could zip them out in the summertime and put them back in in the winter. We didn't have that. All we had were ... You'll see a picture of a red coat. We called it a red coat, like a topcoat and your battle dress, and that's all you had, and whenever we got wet, that was just too bad. [INAUDIBLE] in good weather but nothing in the winter. We were ill-equipped, and not only that, but we only had weapons. [INAUDIBLE] was our main weapon, a very good weapon, automatic fire, and then we had a rifle, .303 Lee–Enfield, a very famous weapon, but it was one action. You have quick-fire. You had to keep loading and unloading every time, and you had a magazine of failed rounds on the rifle. No, no, I never had any Korean food. >> Oh, even now? >> Oh, I have tried it on the way out to Korea [INAUDIBLE]. I thought it was [INAUDIBLE] asked me, "Well, do you want English or Korean?" So I tried Korean, but it was a bit too complicated. It's too much little tubes of different things to add, but I got through it. Having said that [INAUDIBLE] on the last day of our last visit in May there, I forget the name of the [INAUDIBLE]. As I recall, it was a woman, and she had a seven course meal for us on the [INAUDIBLE] before departure and through seven courses, and you would hardly see what was on the plate, and it was very good. It was different what I got on the aircraft. >> Korean food at the time, but did you try Korean liquor at the time? >> No, the only thing we got was two battles a day of Asahi, Japanese beer. >> Oh. >> But having said that [INAUDIBLE] as it seems a terrible ship. You had a hole in the wall, just like the hole, square hole, a square in the wall, and you were issued out two bottles of Asahi beer. That's what we got. >> Oh, I would have never guessed that. So no soju, huh, no Korean alcohol? >> No, no, it was all Asahi beer. >> Oh, okay. Do you think you'll see a unified Korea in your lifetime? >> It's hard to see. I would like to see it. I would definitely like to see it because it's a [INAUDIBLE] having the knowledge of what has went on there, the starvation. Even the soldiers not being able to get [INAUDIBLE] and the feeling of the children and all those big pompous parades with their machinery and rockets and what have you. It's a terrible site. >> Well, I'm hoping for peace not only on the Korean peninsula but in all of Ireland as well. >> Uh-huh, thank you very much. Ten o'clock, 22 hundred hours, and what happened was, as we were going out [INAUDIBLE] and we're going across, and I remember going up this hill here, and I went in the dark and the windscreen I could see ... Sorry. It was heavy gunfire, consolidated gunfire, and you see the tracer bullets on the reflection of my windscreen, and I said to the guy who was with me, "This is good." [INAUDIBLE] our tanks, centurion tanks, and I said to the guy with me, "This is good. They're giving us covering fire to get out." What happened was, I found out later that the medical officer and his driver [INAUDIBLE] was quite some distance behind me. Apparently the Chinese had did a horseshoe movement. Instead of coming across, they came that way, a horseshoe movement, and closed it, and the people behind me, that was them trapped and taken prisoner of war. I'll never forget that. I'm surprised you don't know about the [INAUDIBLE] is famous.

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