>> Right, my name is Emmett Smith. My date of birth is the 21st of August, 1933. At the age of 18, I joined the Welsh Regiment in Cardiff. This is the barracks I joined at. I went to Hong Kong to ship me to Korea, but while in Hong Kong, I was transferred to the King's Regiment, King's Liverpool, and I went into Korea in September, 1952, and on April the 13th, I was killed in Korea. There's a story behind that. I was blown up with mines. It was in an attack, and we were blown up with mines. Anyway, I went into hospital, and I always wrote home every week. I wrote to my mother that I have twisted my knee, so I've got to go into a hospital, but I had shrapnel went straight through my thigh, and the surgeon come to my bed, and he said, "I'm going to take your leg off," so I said, "If that's what you got to do, sir, you've got to do it," and they had an operation then. They'd quoted 11 in the morning, and I came to at 10 past 5, and he come to my bed, and he said, "I saved it by 1/8 of an inch," so the shrapnel, as I say, went straight through my leg. Have you ever seen shrapnel? No, I've got a piece of shrapnel. That's a piece of shrapnel, and this is not the one that went through my leg, but this is one that I was in the trench and a bomb come in and landed within 2 feet of me, and the trains collapsed, and I was buried in the trench, so I got a little piece of shrapnel [INAUDIBLE], and that's my story, but I'm not dead. I assure you, but I wrote him, as I said, to say that I had injured my knee. At the same time, my mother [INAUDIBLE] I was dead, but what had happened, they'd mixed the reports up. The ones who got killed, they told them they wrote injured, and the ones that were injured, they said they were dead. >> Wow. >> And I was there until the end of the war, which was in 27th. It was July, as I said, and on the 28th of July, [INAUDIBLE] there, the Chinese, and they was calling us down, so off the hill. It was no-man's-land, and he was handing me with that, if you can see. It says, "Life exists once for all value and love it," and that is from the Chinese volunteers in 1953. >> That's the original? >> He hung it around my neck. >> That's the original? >> Yes, yes, yes. >> Wow. >> "Life exists once for all value and love it." >> Wow. So you remember July 27th well? >> Yes, yes. >> What were you doing? >> [INAUDIBLE] the night before. The Armistice was signed at 10 o'clock in the morning, but it didn't come until 10 o'clock. It had to be 12 hours, so everyone knew before it began, so I was on patrol that night, and at 10 past 10, we asked over our radio, "Can we come back now the war is over?" and the North Koreans answered, and they said, "All over and out. Go home," but talking about North Koreans and Chinese, the Chinese again, I was on the patrol Christmas Eve [INAUDIBLE] 3 foot of snow [INAUDIBLE] he come on, "What are you boys doing here on Christmas Eve? Why aren't you at home with your wife or girlfriend [Indistinct] fire. Come to think of it, who is on the [INAUDIBLE] with your wife or girlfriend?" making your mind sick. Have you been back? >> No, no. >> I would like to go back now, but at the time I said, "No," but as I say, fortunately, I've got my leg, and I'm still alive. >> Exactly, God has spared you. >> Yeah. >> God really did. >> Yeah. >> This is ... I can't believe they sent this. >> Nice of them. >> Yes. I don't think I've ever met anybody close to ... >> Yeah, hung it around me, five officers. There was a doctor amongst them. >> Amazing. >> And I went through ... >> And you came back to Wales after? >> Yeah, yeah, and there were headlines in the local paper, "Dead Man Returns Home From Korea." >> Really? Because everybody presumed ... It was reported you were dead. >> But my mother knew before then, of course, my mother and father, but ... >> What was your full name game again. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> Can you spell that? >> Pardon? >> Can you spell that? >> B, R, I, N, L, E, Y. >> Brinley, uh-huh. >> [INAUDIBLE], but everyone says Bryn, B, R, Y, N. >> B, R, Y, N? >> B, R, Y, N, Bryn. It's only if I've done anything wrong as a child. >> L, E, Y. >> L, E, Y. >> Smith. >> Smith, yeah. >> And your birthday is el >> 21st of the 8th, 1933. >> 21st ... >> 86 years tomorrow. >> 1933, and you were born in ... >> Pontypool. P, O, N, T, Y, P, double O, L. >> Ponty ... >> Yeah, pool. >> P, O, N ... >> And it's in Wales, right? >> Yeah, in Wales, yeah. >> And you were part of the Welsh Regiment and the King's Regiment. >> What is the difference? >> Well, the Welsh Regiment ... Excuse me. The Welsh Regiment was coming out to Korea. Excuse me. The King's Regiment was going in, so they said, better transfer to the King's and serve the full 12 months because they're serving only 2 months. >> So the King's Regiment was the rest of the British? >> Yes, yes, and they've all been issued with a badge last year. >> Got it. >> Yeah. It's a peace medal. It's a peace medal. >> Yes. >> Well, thank you so much. >> Thank you very much.

-Mi nombres es Víctor Manuel Nuñez Gamez, perteneciente a la Armada Nacional. Me retiré con el grado de jefe técnico. Estuve en Corea durante el año 1954, 55, viajé en la fragata Almirante Paella en su segundo viaje que participó en la Guerra de Corea. En la experiencia que tuve allá fue de tristeza, de melancolía, de ver la pobreza que existía en ese país, de ver sus… No se veía calles, sino pura tierra, puras montañas. Y hay una anécdota muy especial que tengo que es la que me ha marcado a mí. Por orden del comando de la Tarea 95 de los Estados Unidos, nos dieron la orden de arrasar un campamento que había en tierra. Con el dolor de nosotros, de todos los tripulantes, del comandante del buque, César Reyes Escanar, tuvimos que destruirlo, habiendo niños, mujeres, hombres, ancianos habían. Pero por orden del grupo de Tarea .95 de los Estados Unidos. Estábamos en guerra, había que cumplir las órdenes, como dice el militar: el orden que no se cumple, se va la persona. Entonces teníamos que cumplir ese, ese, ese mandato. Fue doloroso para nosotros, fue doloroso. Igualmente, tengo otra anécdota: nos tocó que llevar cuatro prisioneros de guerra, transportarlos de Corea a una base… a una base de, de, de Japón, cuatro. Nos hicimos amigos de ellos. Y la tristeza nuestra al desembarcar ellos, tuvimos que desembarcar en ellos en Sasebo, los tuvimos que desembarcar para entregarlos al gobierno de Japón porque eran prisioneros de guerra. Después de esa amistad que tuvimos, nos dio dolor ver que partían y se iban en una lancha, y se los llevaron para allá. En forma resumida: volví a Corea en el año de 1900… 2015, volví en agosto, volví en Corea. Sorpresa para mí grande de ver una ciudad maravillosa, todo cambió. De esas calles de arena, de esas calles de tierra, están convertidas en avenidas. Esas, esos, esas casuchas que habían se habían convertido en edificios, pero edificios altísimos. Eso para mí, ver ese cambio, pues, me agradó tanto de ver la pujanza del coreano, especialmente Corea del sur, de ver esa valentía, de haberse levantado de la tierra para encontrar a una ciudad pavimentada, una ciudad con edificios, una ciudad moderna. Su gente, maravillosa. Me vino muy muy muy encantado de ese país nuevamente. Y la diferencia que hago entre esos dos, eso es, como decimos, algo, algo que, que no puedo narrarlo, porque la diferencia de ver la pobreza, de ver la forma en que fui por primera vez, a cuando regresé por segunda vez. Fue algo maravilloso por la segunda vez que fui. La gente muy amable con nosotros los colombianos. Estoy maravillado y doy gracias al gobierno de Corea del sur en este momento por la invitación que se me hizo y que se está llevando a cabo anualmente, anualmente está viajando un veterano a Corea, le están dando pasaje, le están dando alojamiento, le están dando todo, en agradecimientos por nuestra participación en esa guerra que nosotros, inclusive, nosotros los colombianos, no teníamos ni arte ni parte, porque no era un país, no era algo que perteneciera a Colombia, era un país extraño para nosotros, completamente extraño. Sin embargo, fuimos voluntariamente, fuimos porque quisimos, quisimos, como se dice, pelear por la democracia y la libertad de ese maravilloso país como lo es Corea del sur. [INICIA MÚSICA]. [FINALIZA MÚSICA].

>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We have those Korean Veterans. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Ah. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm-hmm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. Mm-mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm-hmm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We are ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> You asked him one question and forgot to answer one. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> What kind of commemoration date or ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> The 22nd of October ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... the commemoration day of the Korean War veterans ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... we will have a ceremony ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] ceremony. >> ... ceremony. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] the 21st Regiment Queen [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And 87 ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] king ... >> The king who you all ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] king ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] the king, you said, the personal chief and [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] the ceremony. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Ask him [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] I know the answer you told me, but I want him to say it. What is the significance of 10, 22nd? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> It was the very first day Thailand sent army to the ship and into Korea. >> Mm. Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Busan. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Busan. Busan [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Mm. Mm. Mm. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> My name is Katarina Ericsson, and I'm at present the President of the Korean War Veterans Association, which is actually part of the Korean Association here in Sweden since a few years back. My father was in Korea, so I'm a child to a Swedish Korean War veteran. When my father, who was very active in the association, when he passed away 2012, unfortunately the association then had no capacity to continue, and that's when I stepped in, and we joined the Swedish Korean Association. So my father was there. He was young when he was there. He was 22 years old. He came to Korea in July 1953 just before the armistice and was there for 6 months, so I grew up with all these stories about Korea, about Asia and stories from the war, which at that time was more like fairy tales but very thrilling stories about transporting things close to the front line of the war and hiding and hearing gunfire and operating wounded soldiers, and then of course my father loved to see "M*A*S*H" and told us that this is exactly what it looked like, and so I grew up with all of this, and I ended up in Asia myself for some years. I was working in Beijing, and just before my father passed away, he joined one of the revisit programs to Korea, and I had the possibility to accompany him and learned a lot more about the Korean veterans from all over the world, about how Korea still so many years after the world still appreciates and still thanks the veterans, and I realized the importance of keeping this group together to ... that there has to be a contact point in each country that still has veterans and also to bring together all the networks of children and grandchildren of the veterans, so this is why I'm engaged in this because I think it's really important to keep the memory alive and to take this on to new generations, and again, Korea still so many years later still invites veterans, those who are ... who still manage to travel and their children and grandchildren to come to Korea. But we also have ways of acknowledging the Swedish contribution here in Sweden. We have started since a few years back to celebrate the 23rd of September, which is the day when the first group of Swedes arrived in Pusan and started to work, so 23rd of September, 1950, which was very early. Sweden reacted very early to decision to support Korea with a field hospital. In the end, it became a stationary hospital in Puson, and again, this is where my father worked and the Swedish veterans worked. When I took over this responsibility of representing this group, we had a list, which was not that long, and I wanted to see if there were other veterans or families of veterans in the country that were still interested. So I managed to ... I wrote a little article and managed to get it published on the 27th of July, which is the armistice day, and as a response to that article actually, we got to know many more veterans that were interested and also family members, so our list became a little bit longer, and we do what we can to keep this group together to try to meet once a year on the 23rd, but also, we organize other events for the veterans, and the Korean embassy here is very generous and in helping us to organize these events and also to help us to fund these events, so the 23rd of September is very much appreciated. We've ... The last 2 years, we've been invited to the [INAUDIBLE] castle for a very, very nice dinner but also organized some presentations and seminar part where we listen to either one of the veterans telling their story, or, like, last year, we had a researcher who is now doing some research about Swedish medical assistants in wars, not only the Korean War. He came to talk about his research. We've also, of course, had presentations about the documentary project now ongoing. There's a short promo film that we have shown, and we hope that maybe this year or if not this year maybe next year to be able to show the whole documentary when it's finished in one of these meetings because of course the idea of a documentary is to spread knowledge about the war, but I think it's also fantastic for the veterans themselves to see it, and I can tell you, not one eye was dry. It was many tears when ... And just thinking about that little promo, I almost cry because it's very emotional to see the veterans talk about this and to think about what they did, the fact that they were all volunteers and went there just because they wanted to help. They wanted to use their medical skills to help a country in war. And I've been to Korea a couple of times, also business trips, and when you tell people that you're from Sweden, they ... and that you have a parent who's a Korean veteran, people are very, very ... I mean, it's to the point you almost feel embarrassed that they think me. I wasn't there. But they very much appreciate the Swedish veterans. We weren't many there, maybe just over 1,000 people, 1,100. No Swedes died in the war, but they were all volunteers, and I think that matters a lot.

– I… War… of the island. I joined the army when I was 23 years old. That time, I had my training here in Puerto Rico and I was in all the places throughout the island serving on the World War II. There… Puerto Rico to South Africa, North Africa and then to Germany. In the… there wasn’t so much to do there, just clean pockets of the Germans. You know? Germans… clean the pockets of. From there I return to the island, then I, uh, I was out of the army. Then I went to study because before I had only eighth grade… the country. And the… I coursed my high school in another town in the center of the island called Barranquitas, … I had my high school diploma and then I moved to the nearest city of Puerto Rico. From there, I graduated and I went to the, to teach in Puerto Rican schools of Puerto Rico. But since then, I have my sedentary done and then out of… They happen to be I didn’t know about, but I was in the reserve when this… 1996 went to Korea. I was called into the field. I was sent to Korea. So, there, I fought in Korea. I was wounded in Korea. I returned to the streets and I was… help because… and I was sent to Germany to serve for 23 years. I was sent to… I served there one year. At that time, I had two sons, they were out of the… same place they died there. That’s the only thing that I will regret all my life. So, I know what the father and mother know and think about their son going to war. So, I went to war and my father said, “It’s time to war”. So, that’s life, what can I say? I am grateful to God, grateful to people that are around me now. People that are… there… Right now I’m 95-and-a-half years old and I still…
My only daughter died two months ago. One month back. And she comes here to be buried here. Today and talk to people here… So, I’m glad I don’t die. I don’t want to die, but… in the… another time… somebody will follow you. I’m very grateful, and thank you, people, for being here and taking care of us, and say hello to us and appreciate what we did in Korea. You probably know that… Korea… What I saw there and the people there. What the people did to us, I appreciate it very much. …and to people… not only myself, we were 19 of us, right? And we appreciate it… Korea. We appreciate that. Thank you again. I went to the country, how it was. Wartime. Everything destroyed. Very dead people. People dying by me. Many things. Very hard for me to tell, very hard to me to tell things like that. It’s another fight. No, no. The only thing I remember was I was there in … And walked all the way down to Seoul. And we fought and that was it. Until I was wounded and taken to home. I had no time to see the country or talk to the people in the country, meet the people in the country, nothing whatsoever. Which now I am very happy to… know the people. The Korean people now. I really appreciate it. And to say to other people what the Korean people were at that time and the way they did… Korea… this today. It’s very different. Very different. But I…
– Do you remember the name of the battle?
– No, we didn’t have time to that. We fought all the way through and the enemy was upon us. Nothing done. You’re fighting, fire. That was that. Bad. Terrible. I say that there should be no wars. Because everything… When there is a war, everything is destroyed. Including the people. Everything is destroyed. The city. The… Everything is destroyed. I hope… our island Puerto Rico for United States. I want to be clear…
– You too?
– I thank the Korean people, because when I visited there, the way they treated me or the people that went there. Good. Nice. And they showed us the way Korean is today… The country of Korea is today… Nothing… So, I, uh… I feel that when I lived in Korea. Little… The people of Korea… for Korea…

[HABLA EN ALEMÁN].
– English.
– Okay, this [inaudible] says, “Welcome to the 65th Infantry Regiment.” This insignia here [inaudible]. [Inaudible] everybody, because the Puerto Ricans, our 65th infantry was [inaudible], and it’s still commemorated for the Korean War. And let me tell you, I talked [—–]. After 50 years, I went back to Korea, and I was so happy, because Korea today looks so [——]. [inaudible]. [inaudible[, and are waiting for people to remember us and talk about the 65th infantry regiment. It was amazing. I feel so good we have this display here. [inaudible]. It is me. And I’m proud to be a Korean veteran. And to the Korean people, Salaam-Alaikum. [Inaudible].
– … of us, you know. We’re so grateful to you as well, you know? I’m so happy you said that we [—–].
– God bless.
– Thank you.
– Anita?
– Anita, my granddaughter.
– ANITA. SÍ, SÍ, ANITA, SU NIETA.
– MI NIETA.
– SÍ.
– COREANA.
– SÍ.
– QUÉ BUENO.
– So, snow… I have, because [inaudible] in the United States, but we had two enemies. The enemy and also the snow, because it was really, really cold, and some of our men had to be amputated, because they got gangrene for the cold. And I tell you, it was terrible. But we made it, and, some of them… we have the man in Puerto Rico, who’s half maim. We had to amputate his legs.
– Frost bite.
– Frost bite, yeah.
– How many died, how many were killed in action?
– Wow. Too many.
– 70%.
– 70%?
– 17.
– 70. 7 – 0. 70% of the Puerto Rican heroes were killed in action.
– 70?
– 7- 0.
– My uncle, which was a soldier with the 65th infantry.
– How many…?
– I’ll look it up.
– 70%.
– But the round number… 70%.
– The funny thing is about my uncle, we never found out what happened to him, because…
– He’s MIA?
– I don’t know if he was a prisoner of war, but we never found his body.
– So he’s missing in action.
– Of course. As I already said, I’m going to dedicate my life for our veterans, because I miss my uncle.
– The records’ keeping at that time, remember…
– I know.
– There was a language barrier.
– I know.
– So… and there was a war going on.
– And there aren’t…
– So records got lost.
– And because the war hasn’t ended, you know, it’s difficult to identify the remains, or retrieve the remains. And so there are 8000 MIAs, POW in Korea, which is… you know…
– There might be some alive, but I doubt it, cause it’s such a long time. But I hope one day… they’ll return all these people to us. [—-].
– It’s something that’s very dear to my heart, so… Because the families will never know what happened to them.
– No closure.
– Yeah, no closure.
-Okay, my name is Thomas Lopez. I’m Puerto Rican, of course, and I’m part of the 65th infantry regiment. And let me tell you, they call me a hero, because [—-] the 65th infantry complete. [—-], because [—-] in Puerto Rico, they sent me some kind of… like a plaque, considering me a hero. It was not only Tommy Lopez, it was all the 65th infantry, represented. And when I went to Korea of course I’m going to talk about the cold, because it was really… the Puerto Rican, we’re not used to that kind of weather, and we had two enemies. The enemy and also the cold. And as a matter of fact, we have people, as I told you before, that became… A man in Puerto Rico that was half a man, because we had to amputate his whole legs. And a lot of them suffered the cold. [—-] being an infantry man, because we had to communicate in English, in Spanish. They sent me to school in Seoul, and I learned communications in Korea, and when I went back, I was [——-] for the big, big, big [—-] in charge of the 65th infantry regiment in Korea. And that made me feel so proud. But I’ll never forget those who still were fighting in Korea, because they were my people, and as A Puerto Rican I love [—-]. And thank you, thanks to you, Anita, because you make me feel so good, so happy. I wish you to continue learning with the 65th infantry, because we have to recognize [—-]. Personal recognition to Anita [….], thank you so very much. God bless. Okay, first of all, we should go up to the schools and teach our kids about the 65th Borinqueneers. A lot of people don’t ever recognize, no, when we’re in Korea, and in this personal memories that I still have should be distributed within the kids, to have an idea what it is to defend this great country, which is America. It’s my country too. I was born in Puerto Rico, but I became a citizen. When I was born in 1917, it was tough to be citizen, because we used to belong to Spain, and when they came to… the war between America and the other countries, we became citizens. [——] made us citizens. So I’ve been a citizen all of my life, since I was small, that’s right. But there’s one thing I’ll say. There was a smart kid [—–] and lifting the flag. There’s the [—-] reason the Puerto Rican flag, and wherever place I go, I make sure I take my flag too, because it represents the 65th infantry, the Borinqueneers. And this is why I want the kids to learn and to know the history, and love this great country. First, I’ll say thank you to the Korean people, because I love you. And also, such a big change made me feel so proud and so clean about Korea. The people dress so nice, everybody, [—-] people. And of course, [—-] before, we did the other… [—] and many evangelistic churches, and we’re happy we had a chance to some of them. [—–] was so happy that we were there.
– Well, you deserve to be treated like kings.
– Thank you.
– Hi, thank you, Hannah. Yeah, so, the 65th infantry regiment of Puerto Rico fought in every major campaign of the United States wars, from World War I to World War II and Korea. But they distinguished themselves during the Korean conflict. The Korean conflict was 3 years. The Puerto Rican regiment was a regiment sized military unit. So, they fought in 9 major campaigns, from the battle of the chosen reservoir, where they were the frozen chosen, to the evacuation of Hungnam, and most famously was the bayonet charge of February 2nd, in 1951, where 2 battalions of the regiment encountered the Chinese 149th division. Now, a division is made up of 10,000 men, and a battalion is made up of approximately 1,000 men. So, there are your contrasts. So the numbers were basically, you know, 10 to 1, right? 100 to 1. So they fought valiantly for 3 days. They fought so valiantly, that the order came down to fix… the order came back to fix – the memories came back – the order came back to fix bayonets. The bayonet was fixed to their rifles. The order was given to charge, and they fought almost basically hand to hand in a very ferocious battle. As the culmination of that battle, there was the sound of a bugle. The bugle sounded withdrawal. It was the sound of the Chinese bugle, which called their units to withdraw. Now, there were 7% casualties. They left no men behind. They brought back all of their wounded. They brought back the story of what occurred to their commanders, the commanders brought that back to us, and now we bring that story back to you. So, as a culmination of that distinction, that gallantry in the field of battle that even the enemy had to bow in respect to this kind of worthy opponent. So it took us approximately 65 years to bring attention to… the military, where they had to prove themselves, they had to contend not only with the elements and with [—-], but with a ferocious enemy. They proved themselves time and again in their ingenuity, in their gallantry, in their bravery in battle. And then even after such, here, 65 years later, I gather together the remnant of these veterans to be in the 65th infantry on a task force, to help educate the public, help educate the congress, to help bring attention to their magnificent story to the American landscape, which culminated in the award of the Congressional Gold Medal, which is the highest award that the people to the United States can give any military unit. and in their gratitude as well, the people of Korea, and the government of Korea, awarded each of the Korean veterans this friendship medal, and also the Ambassador for Peace medal, so…
– Smile! Look here!

>> My name is Roger Astley. I live in Finchley, North London, and I was in the Royal Navy during the Korean War. I joined the Navy as a boy of 15, and I was obviously there during the Korean War on an aircraft carrier, HMS Unicorn, which transported new planes and brought back to Singapore the old ones that had all been smashed up or crashed in, whatever. We also provided new pilots for them, and we took everything up to Japan anyway, to Sasebo, including two London buses. I think it was a morale booster for the troops to see a London bus driving round Korea. That's it for me. Wait. All right? Wait a minute. Anything else you want? >> Well, so what did you experience there? I know what you did. >> All right. What did I experience? >> Anything that you saw, kids, orphans or other units, Americans? >> No, we took everybody. We even took American sailors up there on our ship, and they loved our food, which I'm afraid that the English didn't like our food, but the Americans liked it, which was quite unusual because I went on American ships, and I always thought their food was better than ours. We got on all right, and even when we went ashore drinking, and we'd had a few drinks, a few beers and was beginning to talk, we got on well with the Americans as we did with most of the others. >> Like who? >> Well, there was Australian troops there, Belgium. There was a Dutch hospital ship. In other words, there were quite a few other nations. The harder ones, obviously, was the Oriental nations that was there. That was harder for us to get on with them. >> Because of the language barrier. >> Yes, basically, whereas with the ... Obviously the most people in the world speak English away, and us English, especially myself who has an accent from the North of England, we don't speak English as good as we should do, but it was an experience. I don't think we was ever frightened. We was only attacked three times by aeroplanes, and we chased them off, but we didn't have any trouble. Apart from that, you just did your job. You just carried on doing what you did. >> So what do you feel about Korea right now as compared to what you left it? >> Well, I'm glad it's getting more affluent than ... It's a machine country now, I should imagine, from what it was then. In fact, I think it was the making of South Korea in a way because it's very modern in everything. It's good that they do, and their exports is good whereas I don't know so much about the North, but I don't think it's doing anywhere near as good. Even the Chinese seem to be a bit sick of them. But apart from that, yeah, I've got good memories of it. >> You do. Have you returned? >> Pardon? >> Have you ... >> I have never returned, and I always used to be amused at one of the ports we went to, I think it was [FOREIGN LANGUAGE], one of them, there was a great big notice on the roof of the warehouses, "Through this port passed the best damn fighting men in the world." That was the Americans, of course. Well, of course some of our people climbed on the roof and put, "And the Brits." And it was just a job at the time. I think because we never really got ... saw action like the Army did, to us, it was a job with a bit of restrictions in it. The ship could never broadcast its name. We all had different call signs. You couldn't let the enemy know what ships was there, so we had different call signs, but for the Navy, I don't think ... It was a few early on got killed, but most of them didn't. Most of us was too far away. It was the Army took the brunt of it, and of course they weren't professional soldiers anyway, a lot of them, as you see, there's lads had to go in for 2 years training. Well, there's people like myself and the majority of the Navy was all time-serving people. And of course when I got out of the Royal Army, where I lived, a seaside resort, I went back to sea again in the Merchant Navy where I could go to the West, to Americas and South America and the West Indies, and in other words, I had a good life.