>> My name is [Indistinct]. I was born in [Indistinct] in the village of [Indistinct] What else?

>> When?

>> December 1st, 1929.

>> Ooh, so how old were you when you joined the Army?

>> How old was I? I think I was 22 years old.

>> Mmm, so what year did you go to Korea?

>> I believe I got to Korea in 1953.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> ’52? No, ’52.

>> What do you remember?

>> Huh?

>> What do you remember?

>> In Korea?

>> Mm-hmm. You were a rifleman?

>> Yes, I was infantry.

>> Mmm, artillery.

>> No, infantry, foot soldier.

>> Mmm.

>> Koreans are very beautiful people, good-natured people, and we got along with them very well.

>> Which division did you belong to?

>> I was in the 2nd division.

>> 2nd ID? Oh, Indianhead!

>> Indianhead.

>> “Second to none.”

>> “Second to none.”

>> “Second to none!”

>> Yep.

>> Oh, wow, you know, the Indianhead is still in Korea now.

>> Huh?

>> They still are in Korea. Indianhead 2nd ID is still in Korea …

>> Yeah?

>> … even now, yes. So did you see combat?

>> Oh, yes.

>> Oh. Do you remember any battle?

>> Pork Chop, Battle of Pork Chop.

>> You were in Pork Chop Hill? Can you tell us about that? It’s a very famous battle.

>> I was in outpost Tom, Dick and Harry.

>> Outpost Harry with the Greeks?

>> Yeah, I was in three different outposts, Tom, Dick and Harry, and I hate killing, but we had to do it [Indistinct] go to war. They’re very nice people. I think the North Koreans were nice people. Even though they were Communists, they were a very nice people.

>> Everybody had to do their job.

>> Yes. I can’t talk enough goodness about the country. The country is good, beautiful country, beautiful people.

>> You’ve been back? Have you ever visited?

>> No, never went back. Even if I had a chance to go back, I wouldn’t go back.

>> Why not?

>> Bad memories. I used to … I’ve been diagnosed with post-traumatic …

>> PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.

>> Post-traumatic stress disorder.

>> Because you had to kill?

>> But I did pay for that, though. That’s … little good about that, not too much good.

>> What does it … How does it make you feel now, though? Because now South Korea is very prosperous. You know?

>> Well, if I had another chance, would there be another war?

>> I hope not.

>> I hope not. Senseless killing, I didn’t like it. They’re humans like everybody else.

>> Well, I know that even if you killed somebody, you know, God understands because it was during war, and it wasn’t, you know, it wasn’t evil inside you. It was you were doing your job so that you don’t get killed. You know?

>> It’s a job.

>> Yes, and I hope you know that what you did was to defend freedom, for people like me to be born into freedom, you know, instead of Communism. I was … I’m enjoying freedom, you know, and you defended freedom for the entire world, not you alone, but many of you. Right?

>> Yeah.

>> So you should be so proud, and I hope that you find healing and peace …

>> That’s the bad part, some friends didn’t come back.

>> I know, and so I’m here to honor them, too. You’re right. Some didn’t come back, and so I came here to say thank you to them.

>>Mm-hmm.

>> Thank you. Do you have any other things that you want to talk about, maybe a story?

>> Well, it’s a very good country, very good country. They just got caught in a world event and things like that. There was no sense in it. When I come back, I decided to be a minister.

>> Oh!

>> But you know what happened when I walked in the church? All the angels flew away.

>> So did you really … Did you become a pastor?

>> Pardon me?

>> So did you really become a pastor?

>> No.

>> He was the head over our church for a little while.

>> My father is a pastor. My father is a minister.

>> Oh, yeah? Oh, good.

>> But, again, but God protected you. God loved you.

>> Yeah.

>> He saved you from the war, and He gave you blessing of health, yeah.

>> You know, it’s hard to forget the buddies that didn’t come back.

>> That’s why we have to keep remembering them and honoring them.

>> Yes, I know, and I’d like to go visit their folks, but I couldn’t, too much pain.

>> Well, thank you for your service.

– Mi nombre es Carlos Guillermo la Torre Franco, pertenezco a la Asociación Colombiana de Veteranos en la Guerra de Corea. Me fui en el año 52, salimos de Colombia y llegamos a Corea en el año 53 en el mes de enero. Estuvimos en entrenamiento hasta el mes de marzo y luego entramos al primer batalla de, de ese contingente en el marzo del 53. El 10 de marzo de 1953, asaltamos el cerro 180 ocasionándole a los chinos y a los coreanos del norte grandes bajas. Salimos de ahí y entramos al Old Baldyel 13 de marzo de 1953 hasta el 23 de marzo, que fue cuando hubo la batalla más grande que ha tenido el batallón Colombia hasta la fecha. Y de ahí salimos a reserva, yo fui herido el 23 en las horas de la noche y salí al otro día el 24, caminé hasta la 1:00 de la tarde, hasta que me recogió un tanque y me echó para el batallón, donde me enviaron en ambulancia hasta Seúl al… hospital, allá en Seúl. Allá duré, aproximadamente, un mes, y me iban a devolver para Colombia, pero me devolvieron para la primera línea, porque, como fue tan delicada la batalla, el batallón quedó diezmado, y hubo necesidad de reforzar con los heridos que ya estaban alentados. Estuvimos hasta el mes de noviembre del 53, cuando regresamos a Colombia, llegando aquí el 24 de diciembre de 1953. Yo continué en el ejército y estuve en tratamiento ambulatorio hasta el año, hasta el mes de septiembre del 54, aproximadamente, donde me trasladaron para el departamento Tolima, donde estaba la violencia, o sea, el problema de las FARC, en esa época muy delicado en esa zona del país. Permanecí hasta el año de 1955, donde solicité mi… baja, y me dieron de baja el primero de enero, primero de febrero de 1955. Y ahí me retiré, estuve trabajando en la contraloría de la república, después entré a trabajar a Cervecería Andina, una de las empresas cerveceras que había aquí en esa época, fuera de lo que es Bavaria. De ahí salí y trabajé durante 18 años en, en la Cervecería Andina, y luego, pasé a la fábrica de muebles Artecto, que era una de las fábricas más grandes que había en Suramérica. De ahí me retiré y entré a trabajar al Hipódromos de Colombia. Ese es un hipódromo que queda en el norte de Bogotá. De ahí salí y me contrataron para Costa Rica, la república de Costa Rica. Estuve de, de jefe de seguridad industrial allá en Costa Rica. Después de ahí entré a trabajar con el COE, Cuerpo de Ingenieros de los Estados Unidos en la elaboración del aeropuerto antinarcóticos en el departamento del Tolima, en la ciudad de Mariquita, Tolima. Trabaje ahí 6 años, hasta que terminamos el aeropuerto. De ahí salí, de ahí la empresa me mandó para el… a la hechura de unos puentes que se hicieron allá, y después ya estuve en una petrolera en Agua Azul. ¿Deseas algo más?
– ¿Qué recuerdas de Corea?
– Yo… nosotros éramos muy jóvenes… yo cumplí los 19 años allá. Nosotros, la mayoría, yo fui trasladado porque yo era suboficial. Nosotros, la mayoría fue voluntario. Después de que estuvimos acá, sí nos preguntaron quiénes queríamos ir y quiénes no. Ya estando en la escuela de infantería todos fuimos voluntarios. Cuando nosotros, el batallón Colombia, estaba fundado, nosotros pertenecíamos a la compañía de reemplazos del batallón Colombia. Cuando nosotros salimos de Bogotá, ya estábamos directamente a órdenes de las Naciones Unidas. El batallón Colombia era una de las unidades de los 20 países que fuimos a Corea que pertenecíamos a las Naciones Unidas. El batallón Colombia trabajaba independiente, únicamente recibían las órdenes del comando batallón y la transmitía a, pero directamente, los oficiales comandantes de nosotros colombianos. Nosotros somos… cuando estábamos en reserva teníamos el acompañamiento de intérpretes coreanos. Me acuerdo que le decíamos Oscar al nombre de él le decíamos Oscar.
– Sí.
– …no solamente hacían las veces de intérpretes, si no también controlaban al personal de trabajadores coreanos y nos ayudaban en el, en el aseo en el campamento, y otras, otras, otras cosas que hacían. De ahí para acá, cuando regresamos hasta la presente, pues, yo veo muy agradecido con Corea, porque la única, el único país que nos ha ayudado a nosotros, porque creo que Colombia es el único país que no ha ayudado a sus veteranos. Puedes preguntar a Etiopía que hay más pobres que en Colombia y ellos tienen muy bien las ventajas. Nosotros no teníamos, ni siquiera, el servicio médico del hospital militar. Colombia no nos ha reconocido completamente nada. Hemos pasado varios proyectos al congreso y nos los han echado para atrás. Entonces, nosotros queremos a Corea, porque Corea nos está ayudando en la educación de nuestros nietos. Cuando lo mismo que Samsung, Samsung, la república de Corea y otras empresas coreanas… nos colabora. La asociación vive de lo que nosotros mismos aportamos mensualmente. Porque, si no fuera así, ella habría desaparecido. En este momento tenemos muchos compañeros, porque todos estamos viejos y enfermos, y aquí no ha habido un gobierno que nos haya colaborado en lo más mínimo. Nosotros tenemos muchas ilusiones, y yo estuve hace cuatro en Corea, estaba visitándola. Está transformada totalmente, de lo que conocimos a lo que es hoy en día, es unas ciudades extraordinarias, muy bonitas. La gente coreana es muy agradecida con nosotros, en la calle, donde nos encuentran nos abrazan, nos dan las gracias siempre en todas partes. Ahora, nosotros nos sentimos hermanos de, de ustedes los coreanos, y siempre decimos el hermano coreano, porque eso, eso, eso es lo que sentimos nosotros. El cariño que les tenemos al pueblo coreano, y creo que el pueblo coreano también nos tiene mucho cariño a nosotros.
– ¿Y qué quiere del futuro de Corea? Porque la guerra no termina.
– Yo sé, el problema que hay todavía con Corea del Norte no se ha terminado, porque la firma del Armisticio, que no fue la paz, entonces, yo estaba en la época que se firmó el Armisticio, y el día que se firmó el Armisticio, nos saludábamos con los chinos, “Hey, China”, “Hey, Colombia”. Por fuera de las, de las casamatas y todos encima de ellos nos saludábamos, los teníamos cerca. Y de las 2 veces, el primer intento que hubo de cese al fuego, también me cogió a mí allá, y el segundo también, que fue la firma del Armisticio, que fue en Panmunjom. Allá entregaron a los prisioneros colombianos y Colombia entregó, las Naciones Unidas entregaron a los prisioneros coreanos del norte. Son unas ciudades extraordinarias, el comercio es muy grande, Corea tiene un futuro extraordinario, hay muchas empresas, mucho empuje, la gente es muy educada, porque el papá de la presidenta que fue un presidente un poco duro, impulsó mucho el, el, el comercio y la industria allá en Corea. Para nosotros es muy interesante y me siento muy orgulloso de ver que Corea ha progresado demasiado, porque nosotros nos dimos cuenta cuando nosotros llegamos, que Corea era muy pobre, demasiado pobre, entonces, el pueblo fue el que pagó las consecuencias de la pobreza que tenía, hasta hoy en día que es la tercera, la décima potencia industrial del mundo. ¿Qué más se puede pedir de ustedes?
– Gracias por muchísimo. Perfecto, perfecto.

>> So how many veterans are in Scotland. >> There are only two that are going to be there. >> Two? >> They had the meeting on the 29th, and I was informed that basically the following day that there'd only be two. >> How many are there ... >> How many is there in the branch? >> Yes. >> Oh, a lot more than two. >> How many? >> Probably about 20. >> Twenty. >> [INAUDIBLE] and the other Scottish unit members. >> So many other units are there? >> Up here? >> Mm-hmm. >> Actually, there's none. >> Well, it's not ... It closed down, but they keep it going as a tea and coffee social. >> So there's right now only about 20 Scottish Korean War veterans. >> No, there's more, but a lot never joined anything, never made any effort. You'll meet one hopefully tomorrow morning. He's from Govan, and he phoned me [INAUDIBLE] Canada that contact me, and some of his workmates in the army have moved to Canada, but they kept in touch, so they told them to contact me, and he did. He phoned me and explained the situation, so I explained it to me, so Govan is about 20, 25 miles from here, and the ... We'll be pressed a bit for time tomorrow. We could take you to Govan and other places and get you back to [INAUDIBLE], so ... >> I know that I organized the event July 27th to commemorate it. >> I know. Yes, I know. Korea Day. >> But I do it on Saturday before because no one can come then if it's on the weekday, but you do it on a Sunday? >> The nearest Sunday to the 27th. >> Yes, I do a nearest Saturday. >> Aye, well, the reason for that is on Sunday, well, it's a day of rest. >> Yes. >> So the roads are a lot quieter, and then people my age, we're older, and so a lot of them can't drive themselves. They're disabled, so it's family. We drive them, so the drive up to [INAUDIBLE] on Sunday. >> How many gather? >> What? >> How many gather? >> Oh, it can be 100, 150, something like that. >> Oh, wow. >> Can be that. >> But they're not all veterans, right? >> No, there's the relative and associates, things like that, but it's a nice gathering. We have a nice service. >> The one in Bathgate, the memorial in Bathgate? >> They have that in Bathgate every year, and I think ... >> So July, to commemorate July 27th. >> I've been ... >> What is it called here? >> Pardon? >> What is it called here? Is there a name for the day? >> Is there a name for ... >> The day. >> No, no. >> Because now in America, we call it the National Korean War Armistice. >> No, there's nothing like that here at all. >> So only the Korean War veterans know what it is. >> The government, newspapers, they want to know it at all. >> Okay. >> They ignore it. >> So nobody from the government. >> Oh, the government hopes we're all dying off. They hope we die soon. They're annoyed. One of my friends is in the Lords in London in the houses, the House of the Lords, Earl Slim, John Slim, and John I've never heard of him speaking. He never speaks. He just goes there, collects his money in the bank, and that's it. You've heard offer. >> You've heard of Earl Slim. Have you? >> No. >> Earl Slim of Burma, who commanded the British forces in Burma during the war. >> During the Korean War? >> No, at the 1945 one. >> Oh. >> And they made him an earl, who is a general, and they kicked him up to be an ... >> When did you serve in the Korean War? >> 1953. >> Oh, towards the end. >> Yes. >> The last 6 months. >> Oh, before the war? I mean, before the armistice? >> Yes. Oh, yeah. I'm a veteran. >> So you were there when the armistice ... >> Oh, yes. I was in the [INAUDIBLE] in the last battle of the Hook, the battle of 355. >> Kumsong? >> The last battle of the Hook. >> A lot of people have been talking about the Hook. Can you explain that? >> Yes, it was a piece of ground, shall we say, in the valley shaped like a hook. It stuck out into the valley, but it prevented the Chinese passing and the North Koreans from passing, and they wanted it very badly. They commanded that area, and they wanted it, so they always attacked it in force, and they always get beaten off with an effort. >> What was your assignment? >> I was a driver. I drove trucks. >> Wow. >> I was also signalman. >> Oh, so was Grandpa Hoy. >> And I was also a gunner. >> What? They made you do all of that? >> I didn't do all of that in Korea though, but that's what I was qualified for. I volunteered. I was in the regiment fairly early, regiment, the Royal Horse Artillery, the third regiment, the oldest third regiment [INAUDIBLE] in the British Army. It was raised in India. >> You were raised in India? >> No, the regiment was raised in India. >> Oh, the regiment. >> Yes. Oh, way back in the times of the Indian uprising and all that, and it was taken over by British government originally and incorporated into the Indian Army and then into Britain. My great grandfather was a general in the Indian Army. >> Oh, in the Indian Army? Wow, what year? >> Pardon? >> What year? When? >> Oh, in 1800s. >> Wow. >> Yeah. He was a friend of Queen Victoria. >> Wow. >> Yeah. She liked him very much, and ... >> What his name? >> General Sir William Riley. >> Wow, the Indian Army. >> Yeah. >> I know the Indians ... Because the 68th Parachute Ambulance. >> Yes. >> Right, is that right? >> Yep, yeah, yep. >> Correct, 68th. >> They were there. >> Do you remember them? >> Yes, yep. They stuck needles in me from time to time. >> The medics? >> Yes, yeah. >> So explain the armistice and the battle and just right before the armistice and after because you stayed until when? >> I was there [INAUDIBLE] in November. Well, we set sail Christmas Day in the Indian Ocean. That was December. >> December, 2000 ... I mean 1953. >> You were there for 1 year? >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> But you saw the ... That must have been so interesting. You saw the height of the war and the largest scale battle, right, right before. I don't understand. I heard that the armistice was signed, but they thought that they would negotiate a peace treaty soon after, right? >> The peace treaty never ever took place ... >> I know but ... >> ... just a cease fire, an armistice. >> But they were going to negotiate it, no? >> No, they wanted to replace it soon. >> Maybe the American government wanted to do that, but certainly the Chinese didn't want it, the North Koreans. No. There is actually ... There is so much been written about the Korean War. >> You said so much? >> Which does not get any publicity in Britain. As I've said to you, British government would rather we all die. A lot of our members got or was exposed German warfare. I don't know if you know that, but the government [INAUDIBLE], and probably that is the reason why most of our casualties are all dying off with cancer. Yes. The incidents of cancer in the Korean War veterans is higher than in the general population. >> Really? >> Yep. >> What kind of cancer? >> Every kind. >> Really? Because I know in Vietnam because of Agent Orange ... >> Oh, yes, Agent Orange. >> ... that a lot of Vietnam war veterans have cancer, but I've never heard of Korean War veterans having cancer. >> Oh, yes. >> In Australia, Canada and America and New Zealand, if I remember correctly, they all acknowledge it. The British government will not acknowledge it. There was a British woman whose husband died, and she had heard about the Australian people making compensation, so she started a case up, and she won. Took a while, but she did win compensation, but they never agreed that it was caused by the Korean War. You can imagine if everybody had cancer started claiming. What kind of money would be we be talking? It'd run into millions. >> I wonder what about the Korean War caused cancer. >> You need to ask the American government. When you go to Australia ... You'll be going to Australia, won't you? >> Yes. >> You must contact Haning Spicer. >> Okay. >> Have you got the name? Haning Spicer. He's gone all over Australia which has [INAUDIBLE], and that's because of his service for the veterans [INAUDIBLE] but ask Haning about it. He'll tell you a bit more, so the consequence, I reckon, of it, and when I was in Canada, one of the men who became an officer was talking about it with an American general there, and they were [INAUDIBLE] was cleaning his boot with it, and I wandered over to see what it was about and saw them [INAUDIBLE] screws, and they said, "Yeah, we know, but the sides are all wood, and that's why we're going to construct some metal, and we're thumping it in with a hammer," so that was introduction, and we became friends, actually, and he said to me, he says, "Arnold, [INAUDIBLE]." I said, "Yeah. I've got tons of it. How much do you want?" He says, "How much can you get me?" I said, "What do you want?" He said, "I've got [INAUDIBLE] war, and I've got no ammunition for it?" >> Do you keep in touch with him? >> Oh, yeah. I still keep in touch with him. >> Oh, wow, and still lives in Nebraska? >> Yes, Central City. >> Why is the memorial here in Bathgate? >> Well, it was built or organized and paid for and built by the Bathgate branch. It was a much bigger branch then than it is now, so no government money was ever applied to any memorial, although the defunct organization, the BKVA, when they quit, closed, they gave £1,000 to help refurbish it. >> Oh, when was it built? >> Pardon? >> When was it built? >> Oh, I don't know exactly. It was some time ago, a few years ago anyway. Yep. >> Like in the 2,000s, like in the 1990s, '80s? >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would probably say late '90s, early 2, but up on MacKenzie up here will be able to tell you all that. You'll have a difficulty in stopping him telling you actually.

>> Okay. I’m Alan Everett. I’m not Australian. I came from England originally. I served in the First Essex Regiment, and in those days, in 1952, all the British men at the age of 18 conscripted, and so I was conscripted, and I elected to stay in the army for 3 years rather than just 2 years National Service because that was half pay, and I served in Germany, then Korea and then Hong Kong, so that was my 3 years which was spent mainly overseas. I was very fortunate in my training because I was trained to be a signalman, so I went to the School of Infantry in England, and in that School of Infantry, all the officers and NCOs all combined in their exercises, so it was quite an all-embracing training, so I then went to Germany, and then my battalion got moved to Korea, and we arrived just after the ceasefire, so I’m not a peacemaker. I’m a peacekeeper. So we were stationed on the southern bank of the Indian River for 12 months, and that was incredibly cold and incredibly hot, and we didn’t get to see much of the people because we were in a defensive position, and so most of the stories we heard were from the previous people who had been through the war itself, so that was quite a challenge, and I found since I left the army and I was trained in Hong Kong, as a national servicemen, you’re allowed to get some retraining to get back into civilian life. I wanted to go to agriculture college, and I had to study chemistry to meet my qualifications, so I went to the Royal Agriculture College at Cirencester in Gloucestershire, and I did my course there. Farmed in England, met my wife Nicole who you’ve met, and we had been together for 8 days, and then I came out to Australia, so that was quite [INAUDIBLE], and when I arrived in Australia, I got myself a job. It was great. A year later, I rang up and proposed to Nicole, and she came out with her mother, and we got married over here, so quite a different story to what you expected, I guess. So my servicing career, I did so much there because I was working in the signals office, and being part of the brigade and the companies that reformed our defense positions, so I was in contact with people all the time, so when the opportunity here came available for to be a secretary for the Korea Veterans, I offered to take that job on, so I’ve been National Secretary for 8 years, but I haven’t been involved in the war side of the whole thing. The impact of the Korean War hit me when I had been here some time because the Australian soldiers that came back from Korea were not recognized as having been part of a war, and they were actually refused entry, particularly in New South Wales, to go into the returning servicemen’s clubs. They said they weren’t eligible to be members, and that took some time to overcome which is very sad, but that’s the sort of reception the Australian soldiers got when they came back to Australia. We didn’t have that in England. We just went back, and we just got on with our jobs, and it was no problem. Here in Australia, in Maldon, every year, we have a church service run by a Korean church in Maldon, and we have one of our biggest attendances of the year. We have about 90 people turn up, and about a good half of them will be veterans, [INAUDIBLE] one, and one day I was standing next to a father with his little Korean boy, and the little boy talked to his father and said, “Why are all these people here?” His father thought for a bit, and he said, “Well, without these people, I wouldn’t be here. Your family wouldn’t be here, and you wouldn’t be here.” I think that says it all. It’s such a moving experience to me. I found that quite fascinating, and the Korean community here are so helpful and want to look after the veterans as we get less and less, so it’s a beautiful encounter, that was. Now, we’ve given you the background to the memorial in Queensland, in Cascade Gardens. To me, that is the most beautiful memorial that anyone could make for any country. It’s a tribute to the people of Korea as well as the veterans from all nations who served, and when you see it, there’s a whole history that goes with it, but it’s well worth it, set aside in a beautiful park, and it depicts everything that is Australian and Korean. It’s just so well … And then, there’s another little memorial in Alexandra Heads, which a small association got formed in Queensland and the Sunshine Coast, and they made it specific for their veterans, so they’ve got this wall, and when one of their members dies, they put a brass plaque on the wall with his name and his service record on it, and I think that’s another one of the best memorials I’ve ever seen, so that’s my story.