국가

다양한 국가와 도시를 클릭하여 세계 곳곳에 있는 한국 전쟁 기념비를 탐험해보세요.

캐나다 토론토 (7)

>> My name is Duncan Finney, and I spent 14 months in Korea. I was attached to the Signal Corps. I was in Sig Corps attached the 81st Field Regiment, and I ride in Korea in ’52 and came home shortly after the ceasefire. I’ve been very involved in the Korean Veterans Association and have been back to Korea a few times, and I’m amazed at how much the country has progressed and how it looked the last I was back in 2013 and feel very proud for you people, for you have accomplished so much.

>> Well, what do you want younger Canadians and young generations of Koreans all around the world, what do you want them to remember of this war? How do you want them to remember this war and the Korean War veterans?

>> Well, I guess same as my own children. They know about the war, and they are grateful that Canada participated in the help of South Korea, and I’m sure your children will do the same too, and they should have that privilege and not have that dividing line between South and North.

>> Now you took me to the memorial earlier and showed me the names of your comrades who never made it back home.

>> Yes.

>> And I know the association, many of the grandpas worked hard to get that memorial built.

>> Yeah.

>> What do you feel when you go there?

>> Well, I know about the fact that we lost 516 guys, and our association has been very strong in letting the families know that we support them and let the government of Canada understand that when we put that wall up, because we really didn’t get any assistance from the government at all, and Bill Allen was the one that spearheaded this, and Dave was on the committee, seven or eight guys who formed the committee, and they did a darn good job, and we have had a number of dignitaries from the Canadian government. They’re proud to go there and see it, and they know what we accomplished. When I was there in ’52, there wasn’t much there and how much the country has progressed, unbelievable. It makes you happy to think that you were a part of it.

>> Well, I can tell you that not only the country of Korea but the people of Korea and Koreans all over the world, including me, and that’s why I’m here today, and my friends and family, are all grateful to you. Thank you.

>> Thank you. It was a pleasure. Maybe some day our paths will cross again.

>> Oh.

>> I’m going to go to Korea some day, but you’re living in the States now, in LA?

>> In Washington DC.

>> Oh, Washington, I haven’t been down there for a while, but I did see the monument they have down there.

>> It’s beautiful.

>> We have more of an augment. It’s a duplicate of one that they have in Korea. All right.

>> Well, thank you so …

캐나다 토론토 (8)

>> My name is Victor Fini. I served in Korea. I went over in 1952. I was there from 1952 to 1953. I was there approximately 14 months. I was a replacement from a first battalion, and I landed in Busan. That’s the first place we landed in, and before I got there, we sailed from Seattle, Washington, and that’s where we landed, in Busan. And then from Busan, we went up to the front at that time. We went up in freight cars. [INAUDIBLE] when I went over there, I was in advance party, which was 65 [INAUDIBLE] it was very rough going over there early. An awful lot of them got seasick from the water. The ocean was just up and down, like a bubble. And we went up, up in the front, we were up there for about 2 months, and then the rainy season started. And when the rainy season started, we moved. That’s when we moved back to Incheon for approximately 2 weeks. Then after the 2 weeks, then we went back up to the front again, and from then, I was up there until September of 19 … in ’52, and then I a transferred to transport, and then in transport, I was … My job was, at that time, was driving a cadre around, and we had to go up to the front every so many days to see if there was … How the troops were doing and which I’d lose someone while I was up there. And whatever else you want to know, I lived in it. For what we had to live in there at that time, I always kid people and say it was like a motel, but what it is is a square hole in the ground, 6-by-6, and there was an awful lot of rats in that part of the country at that time, and also, I seen where we was, and when we had to go up there, the roads were very dusty, and they would see you, enemy would see you coming, and they would try to knock you off with … They see the dust, and then they try the mortar and see if they can they can knock you off. By the grace of God, I was always safe, and that’s my interview.

>> By the grace of God, you were protected, but thanks to you, here I am.

>> Thank you.

캐나다 토론토 (9)

>> Excuse me. My name is Bill Pavel. I was in the Korean War 1953 to ’54. I joined the 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, airborne regiment, although they weren’t used over there, and I was approximately 19 years old when I went over. I joined up in Toronto, took my basic training in Petawawa. That’s Northern Ontario, and once you become a Private First Class, then you qualify to go overseas into a combat zone, but you must have so many months of training, you know, in hand grenades, rifles, grain guns, et cetera, before they send you. You don’t just join up and 3 days later, they ship you out. It doesn’t work that way. You have to go through this basic training, they call it. It’s the same as most armies. There’s a basic-training period where you experience … You get behind tanks. Tanks are firing all the time, and I was in the infantry, and you follow them, and you root up gullies and dig a slit trench, and you get trained. You never get really enough training because once you get to the front line and the actual circumstances, everything changes, but it does help. Where I had one advantage, not only me but most guys from down from the maritimes, you were never far from the woods. When I was 15 years old, I bought my first .22, and I lived in the woods, shooting rabbits, stuff like that, and I was also in the Sea Cadets and the Air Cadets, and I learned map reading and how to use a compass even at that young age, so I guess what I’m trying to say is, when I went to the Army, I had a lot of advantages that other people didn’t have. And I’ll give you one example. When I joined up, we went to Petawawa, and I laugh when I say this, but we all got together, a platoon of 32 people, soldiers, and the sergeant said, “Okay, everybody build a fire.” Simple little thing, build a fire, so I go in the woods, grab all the dead twigs, break them all up, start my fire, no problem. Probably 10 minutes, smoke coming up, and these city slickers, I used to call them, they had green branches with green leaves on it, and they’re trying to light it, you know? So what I’m trying to say is, coming from Nova Scotia, like an area like that where you’re more or less brought up in the woods because my uncles and cousins, they went into the bush, and I’d see them coming home, and you’d have thought they were John Wayne. They all had a shotgun and a bullet belt on. You kind of looked up to them. As soon as you got to that age, you did the same thing and followed suit, so that was a big advantage for me when I was in the Army, very big advantage. And why I got in, like I say, I was hitchhiking across the country 2 years in a row, ’50, ’51. The war had broken out in 1950. I think it was June, and I thought about it, you know, but after hitchhiking 2 years, I worked on ranch in Alberta, for example. I wasn’t going anywhere, seeing the country, of course, getting a little bit of an education, but one day, we just got fed up, and we said, “Look, let’s go to Korea.” Never heard of Korea before, but we knew it was somewhere in the area of Japan and China, et cetera. So the call went out, and they got 26,000 volunteers, all volunteers, and, like I say, I went the last year of the war, very last year, 1953. And I joined with two or three guys, and one thing about the Army, it’s a very lonely place. You know, you always like to have a buddy, and I was lucky. One guy made the grade, and he came across with me, and because when you’re in the Army, even when you’re in a platoon with 32 guys, you only make maybe three or four real close friends. You do a lot of drinking, et cetera and stuff like that when you’re on the Army base, but as far as the whole battalion, which is about 1,200 people, you might know a few officers. That’s all, and so what I’m trying to say is, when you went to Korea, it was good to go with somebody that you knew quite well, had something in common, so that was kind of a break for me, and I joined up, and I’ll never forget, long as I live, but you see families that hug and kiss all the time that are real close. Well, we weren’t like that. We were kind of standoffish, and one thing that sticks in my mind is, when I got older and had children that got my age, they could’ve been going overseas, but when I went overseas, my mother was standing there. The door was here, and I was waving. I just said, “Good-bye, Mom,” and that always bothered me when I got older. At that time, it didn’t. It was just normal. We didn’t run over and hug, kiss and cry and all that stuff, but I often wonder how she felt when I’m walking out that door. That was hard to take later on, not then but later on. And I said, “Good-bye,” and we left. We didn’t have cell phones then. Might write her two letters a year from Korea, and now, the sounds, by the way, people contact each other. It’s kind of sickening to me because they walk out the door, and they’re on a cell phone, talking to their boyfriend or girlfriend or something. I don’t know who the heck it is, or they’re texting. So they often wonder what we were like. I probably wouldn’t have texted anything. There wasn’t a phone guy at the time either. So my mother had five children. My father died in 1935, so she had five kids, you imagine. It was in the Depression, and we were very, very poor. I didn’t think anybody was any poorer until I went to Korea, and then I see real poverty. It was just unbelievable. It’s unbelievable, and it was a real eye-opener for me that there was another world out there, and we were spoiled rotten, just like today even. The Western World is spoiled rotten. There’s people that … You can’t explain it. And so I left, and I went to …

>> What do you mean, they were so poor? Can you explain what you remember, how poor?

>> Well, we didn’t know. We never seen money. I never seen a …

>> You said in Korea.

>> I remember once, I got a nickel for a …

>> No, in Korea, you said that …

>> Oh, Korea was the most outstanding.

>> Can you describe?

>> Actually, it was in Japan where I’d seen it first. We were stationed in Japan, and we got there, and there was … The officers tried to tell us not to fraternize with the girls. There was too much VD, et cetera, and there was lots of it. But one day, I’m at the gates. The gate was locked. There’s a guard there. This mother was coming with her little child, oh, maybe 13, and enticing us to take the child into our home and have sex. You’d have to pay some money, but it wasn’t that much, and I’d seen that. It kind of gave me a jolt, and that wasn’t uncommon. That was a very common thing in Japan and in Korea, I didn’t experience that because I wasn’t around the population too much except once when I was in Pusan. I seen literally, say, this street here, goes straight down to the beach there, and there was just thousands and thousands of people just walking up and down. That’s all it was, and I had a camera with me.

>> You had a camera in 1953?

>> In ’53 because Japan was starting to make cameras and watches cheap. Japan had a very bad name then. They’ve changed, of course, they’ve progressed, but at that time, you could buy a camera, oh, maybe for $2 to $5, so I bought one. I think it cost me $10, and just me and my buddy were going up this street in … It was Incheon, not Pusan. It was Incheon, and he rolled out a stack out of tens, and he went like this. “I’ll give you $30, $40 for that camera,” and he went flip, flip, flip, and it looked like $40 to me, but I was still suspicious because he’d done it so fast. I took the camera off, and I gave it to him, and he gave me the money, and I didn’t want to let the camera go. I didn’t even look at it yet, so he got the camera, and he took off, and sure enough, there was one $10 bill there. The rest was paper. I don’t know how he’d done it yet. It was just amazing, but we got angry, so the next day, and this is hard to believe too. Next day, we’re on the same street, and I look up, oh, maybe 10 rows of people, and I see him again. He’s coming towards us, the guy is, so I said, “Here he comes. You stand there, and I’ll stand here, and we’ll grab him.” So we tried to grab him, and we couldn’t. He ran up the street and went into an alley, so we ran up the street into an alley, and in that alley was … It was like this, like a semicircle, and every house was a prostitute house. There were girls there, all young girls and everything.

>> In Korea?

>> Yeah, this is in Korea, yeah. They were all brothels, the whole bunch of them. But that didn’t bother us, and all of a sudden, out of the alley comes this guy with two other guys, and they both had a knife about that long, and they were coming. They’re not charging us, but they’re walking towards us, and so we backed out of there very diplomatically. We didn’t tackle them or nothing. We just took off, and that was my first introduction with people that were … That really couldn’t go any lower. And the word was that a family in Korea at the time, a fairly prosperous family, made about $300 a year, and we used to get our shoes shined by them. Little kids would be there shining shoes, and we’d give them $0.50 sometimes, and we’d use it quite frequently, and they’d do our laundry and everything. But at the time, I didn’t realize they were making good money. We thought it was just peanuts, but to them, I guess it must have been manna from heaven, which is unbelievable. So anyway, that was that part of it, and …

>> You went in 1953, right before the armistice was signed in 1953, July 27th.

>> Yes.

>> So how long did you stay in Korea?

>> How long?

>> How long did you stay in Korea?

>> Oh, I stayed in Korea. There was a great, big battle on Hill 187. The 3rd Battalion RCR fought that battle, and I was supposed to go on that draft, but I didn’t. I didn’t make it because I didn’t have enough training, so there, they had their battle. I think there was more people killed and captured in that battle than all the other battles in Korea, 187. However, they had to get reinforcements because they needed more troops, so what, they … When you’re a volunteer to go, they line you up in a place where … And they ask you. They say, “Bill Pavel, do you want to go to Korea, volunteer to go to Korea?” “That’s right. Yes, sir,” just like that. In other words, you just stay in line. Don’t step over, and you didn’t have to go, so everybody that went to Korea had the same question, “Do you want to go to Korea?” And you only had to say yes or no. I guess a lot said no, but the majority of them said yes. They went, and …

>> What did you expect? By 1953, didn’t you know that there were many, many who fought or died?

>> Oh, yes, yes.

>> And you still said yes?

>> So, yeah. The word was filtered back. “Hey, Charlie so-and-so was killed on Hill 187, RCR.”

>> Because I would think I wouldn’t want to go, seeing people that I knew or people from my country dying in a foreign land.

>> Well, you’ve got to understand Canada to know why. Canada was going to war since the World War. They went to World War I, and it was a slaughter. They went to World War II, and it was a slaughter, but all the generations probably looked up to their fathers and their uncles, like I had an uncle killed in World War I on December the 25th, 1914, just Christmastime, and it almost killed their parents. They never did get over it, but you got friends on your street that were in World War II. I remember, I was sorry I missed the World War II. I was just too young. Lot of guys lied to get there. They were 17 years old. They went, same with Korea, and you seen that thing I gave you about the first night? We landed in Korea, and after that battle, they had filled up the battalion. The battalion was way understaffed even to begin with, which is a tragedy, really. I didn’t know it at the time, but I know it now, that there was supposed to be 120, 25, 30 people in a company, and when I was over there, it was only 70, and then I found out later, later on, like I’m talking 40 years later, that even those guys that were in that battle, they only had about 75 or 80 people. In other words, they didn’t have enough people there, and I don’t know whose fault that was, but that’s the way it went. But when I went to Korea, we landed in Japan after 20 or 21 days on the ship, sailed from Seattle and landed in Yokohama, and we went through Kuri, the other side of Japan. Then we got on another ship to take us to Korea, and we landed at Pusan. So when you landed at Pusan, then you … First thing was the smell. As you’ll know, the Koreans used human excretion for fertilizer. We never experienced that before. You could smell that. Wasn’t too bad when you got on the front lines because you’re way up in the mountains, but all the way up in Korea, we’re on this train, very narrow train. It was a narrow, little bit narrower than ours. Every time the train would stop, it was a steam engine. It had to stop for water. There would be kids out there with their arms cut off, legs cut off, begging out the window, and we’d throw chocolate bars, et cetera, and stuff like that, and I started saying to myself, “What the hell is this?” And then again, the same thing happened. At that age, it didn’t really mow you down or nothing. We felt sad, but later on, now, you really feel it because I got PTSD and everything from a few other instances like that, and so we went up there, and we went to the front line. That page I gave you, you read that, and that’ll tell you every soldier that ever came from Canada. When he went to the front line, that’s exactly what happened. We went up there. It was dark, and you’d see the odd flare, and you’d hear machine gun fire off to the right, and the sergeant said, “Don’t worry about it. That’s miles away.” It travels, sound, very far in those valleys. And as the car was opening, guy is over here, and he says, “Find yourself a place to sleep.” I said, “You got to be joking.” I said, “Nobody can sleep here.” The fear, and then you realize that at that moment, you realize you’re in a war. All the other times, you’re laughing and joking and drinking and having a ball. No matter where you were, you were having a ball. But once you’re up there, you had your rifle, and you said, “Okay, you go to sleep now,” and there was no way you could go to sleep, and you read that one page, you’ll get an impact from that, and basically what it says is, you did sleep. But I’m there laying in a hole in the ground, and I hear this whimpering. I hear this guy, “I want my mama. I want my mama.” I said, “What the hell is that?” And it was right over here. It was one of us. So I crawl over, and here’s this guy. I’ll never forget as long as I live. He’s curled up like this in the fetal position, and he’s saying, “I want my mama,” and he’s bawling, and he was 17. He told me, “I’m only 17 years old,” so I got the captain, and I said, “Listen, you better get this guy out of here because he’s not supposed to be here anyway,” so they shipped him out and sent him back because he lied about his age, and they didn’t check that carefully in those days. And that was my first night in Korea. That was it. And I’m still looking for that guy. I think I found him, but I don’t want to tell him. You know what I mean? Because one guy told me, he met a guy that they sent him home. He was crying for his mother or something, and he’s a good friend of mine, but he doesn’t know I know that, and I don’t want to tell him. It’s too embarrassing for him, I guess. Now, I don’t even know it’s him for sure, but everything fits. So when you got to the front line, it was night time. It was black, and it was extremely dangerous because the Chinese, that’s when they used to attack, after dusk. If they didn’t attack, they would come up and say, “You, you and you and you.” You’d get five or six guys to go on a night patrol, which was a big mistake when I think back on it because a lot of guys got killed on that. And you would get up, blacken up your faces and all that stuff, and the sunset, you walked out into no-man’s-land, trying to catch a prisoner, something like that. It’s kind of silly. I think it worked about four or five times in the whole war, and guys were going out, 26-guy patrols. But the valley out there usually was all paddies, rice paddies, and you were sneaking your way through there, and you could hear the Chinese talking. They’d be somewhere in the hills somewhere. They’d be talking, but they’d also have patrols out too. They’d have these patrols out there that would ambush you. They’d be waiting. They knew we were going to go out there that night or something. They had their own intelligence, and there’d be a firefight right out there, and maybe last corporal and maybe six regular soldiers trying to retreat, trying to get back to the lines because there was minefields all over the place. You only had to walk certain ways. If you stepped on a mine, you were going to get killed anyway, and that was it. And so there was quite a few casualties in the valleys because of these patrols, but I guess the powers that be felt they had the intelligence to know if they were still out there because other times, now, in the bigger battles, the ones that I missed, thank God, they’d come in by the thousands, and you got to remember, they’re coming up the hill, and the Canadians are on top of the hill shooting down, and they’re coming up the hill, and they also had tremendous artillery behind us, our artillery, and even the Americans sometimes, and they had a spotter up there. When those Chinese were coming by the thousands, they’d shoot a few flares up in the air, and they’d phone back the coordinates and the artillery, and before you even fired a shot, these shells were coming in and all that. First of all, the shells would come in from the Chinese, and you had to dig down into the ground, and you just hoped your name wasn’t on one of them, and they would blow the whole … There was no trees up there. It was all shrub because no trees could grow, and we called in air artillery, and we could see them down there, thousands of Chinese, some with no weapons. They’d run until somebody would get shot with a weapon. They’d pick up his weapon and keep coming. They’re fanatics, but I found out later that when the Chinese first came into battle, first, it was the North Koreans with the Russian tanks and all that stuff, but when the Chinese came in, in the southern province of China, they just grabbed everybody that was a farmer’s kid, and he was in the army, untrained, “You’re coming.” That’s it. It was like slave labor, but they’ll never admit that. They called them the People’s Chinese Army, but I found out later after reading quite a few articles on it. So these guys would … If they went that way, they didn’t go up the hill. They’d get shot by their own officers, so they had no choice. They’d come up and try to kill us, and it was a bloodbath, really, because we had flame guns, 30-caliber machine guns, and everybody had a rifle, and we had hand grenades. We’d be throwing hand grenades down, and one thing about the Chinese, though, they had a … It wasn’t a bad habit. It was a good habit of, they tried to get all of their dead before daylight. They’d take them back, and you go out in the morning, you see the odd guy on the barbed wire bleeding and bullet holes in them and all that stuff, but that was their method. They just kept … The Chinese would send them in knowing that there’s going to be high casualties, so I always felt sorry for the Chinese because I had one guy in here from China, and he was injured, we interviewed for the newspaper article, and I asked him. I said, “By the way, did the Chinese people understand how much, how many innocents were slaughtered because of the people’s, their commanders?” And he said, “Well, it’s getting better,” he said. Maybe he was a higher. Maybe he didn’t want to say it, yet I know it, but I tried to tell him. I said, “Well, you guys got slaughtered up there.” Nobody will know how many Chinese got killed. It was probably over a million. Can you imagine a million people just slaughtered? And it was tough. Especially, you had two problems. Well, actually, you had five or six, but three good ones: It was mosquitoes and the heat in the summer and the unbelievable cold of the winter coming down from Siberia. It’s 25 below zero, and you’re laying in the ground there like this. And I read an article one time where once the Chinese got really involved, and they pushed the Americans back on the east coast of Korea, one of the Americans, he wrote in this book. He said, “We went to the Chinese positions,” and they’d be laying there like this, the Chinese young recruits. They’re probably 16 years old, maybe younger. And he said, “The only way we knew they were alive is, we could see their eyes glisten sometimes.” So they would pick them up and try to save them, but I guess a lot of them never made it. So, anyway, that’s the way it was. It was like you imagine, 25 below. The Americans are retreating, the Chinese on that side and on this side. Once, they were surrounded, even, but they persevered, and the marine corps got a big name for that. They backed up, and they saved the army, and at that time, MacArthur got fired, I think. But the armistice came, and there was unbelievable euphoria. You’re still alive. You’re still alive, but you weren’t going home, like in my case, in over another year. More than a year, I had to stay. So they pulled us back from the front lines. They signed an armistice, but, see, a lot of people aren’t aware of this. The people that signed the armistice, they signed it for 3 months only. Not 3 months only, they signed it, but it had to be ratified 3 months later by higher-ups, and they told us that, so we had to move back a mile and a half from the front lines. The Chinese did the same thing. So 3 months later, we had our positions, and we only had 70 men to accompany instead of 120. We were really low, so I said to myself, “Well, if the war starts again, there’s no way I’m getting out of here.” So we had to stay there. In the meantime, back across … The Imjin River was 5 miles away. On the other side of the Imjin, the allies, Americans, Canadians, everybody, they were building these huge bunkers in preparation that maybe the war would resume. You’ve got to understand that we’re here. They’re back here, millions of Chinese up there, and then, when was that? July, August, September, October 27th, Sergeant comes up to me. He says, “You, you and you,” bring the same gun and a radio on my back, and the two other guys, he says, “Okay, you want you to walk 2 miles out in no-man’s-land, and if you hear anything, you’re supposed to radio through,” and it was a black, black night that night, cold. So we walked, and we walked, and we figured we were out 2 miles, but the war hadn’t started. The spring wasn’t going to stop anyway, and midnight came, 1 o’clock. So at 1 o’clock, if you don’t see anybody or hear anything, radio in as all okay, so 1 o’clock comes. I had the radio, “All clear out here.” He says, “Okay, guys. Come back in.” So we’d come back in again, and like I said, the war … If they had came again, there’s nothing we could do, maybe fire a few shots and got killed or something. But anyway, it was a terrifying night, and we got through that. It wasn’t too bad except the winter was coming. The winter, I mean winter, 25 below 0, and so we had to … Instead of living in the ground, we’re going to live in tents. They call them marquee tents. You’ve probably seen them, sleep about 11 people. And so we’re digging in the side of the mountains. I’m a small man. I couldn’t do heavy work, but I was doing it, trying to dig, flatten a place inside of a mountain. We’d put a tent, had to make a kitchen area. I’ll never forget long as I live. I’m working just like you see in the movies, those prisoners in Georgia with the balls on and all that stuff, and the sergeant comes down, marching down. “Anybody here a carpenter?” I heard him yell that. Swear to God, my arm just went up by itself. Put my arm up. He said, “Okay, you’ll do.” But I already had worked in a machine shop, and I knew a little bit about blueprints, and that kind of saved me. So he told me, said, “Okay, you stop digging now.” He said, “You’ve got to” … They had these prefab lumber come in, shipped in from Japan or United States, and they’re all sitting there, and there’s blueprints. And he said, “Okay, you set all that up,” and I was in heaven then because I wasn’t digging, backbreaking work. So actually, I didn’t do bad. I had to lay an area about from that window out to my back yard there and cement it all. I never cemented before in my life. He said, “Can you do that?” I said, “Yeah, I can do that,” so we got the cement and mix it with the log. We put a square area around with the wood, and I just filled it up like the Italians did when they first came to Toronto because they almost built some of those back in the ’50s. And so that worked out that way, so it wasn’t bad, but still, you had to build it and put the tents up and go on sentry duty every night, and 4 hours on, 4 hours off and stuff like that, and there were infiltrators around too. I captured a Korean, a North Korean or a Chinese prisoner of war. I shouldn’t say I captured him. He surrendered. We had an outpost. We’re sitting on the outpost, and he told us later, he said he had been there for 2 days crawling back and forth. I guess he was scared. How was he going to approach us? So one day, he just comes out like this, and I wrote a poem about that too. I’ll give you that. I’ll e-mail it to you, like Merry Christmas. It was around Christmastime. He comes out like that, and we had rifles on him, and the poem says that the brain will say, “Shoot, shoot, shoot,” but he had a smile on his face. You knew he was a prisoner. Not a prisoner, a deserter from the other side, and we didn’t shoot, thank god, because I probably wouldn’t be here today. We didn’t shoot, and he had a smile on his face, and I say that in the poem. It was quite moving, and he comes down. We take him up to the outpost and call up the captain. They come up, and they take him to this shack that they had there, and we go inside, and, my god, we had a can of peaches about that big that we had in the kitchen, and we opened that up. You just wouldn’t believe it. He was out there. Maybe he was there for a week. Who knows? And he started eating that, and the captain said, “Get away from him! Get away from him!” I said, “Why, why?” He said, “Oh, he’s probably full of lice and all that stuff.” It didn’t occur to us because he seemed to be quite jovial once he came in and got to eat and wasn’t shot and got a meal. So in that poem, I say how, at the end, “If you read this, Merry Christmas,” a long shot, but you never know. And the reason I say it’s a long shot because I was … You seen that picture of me with the Korean guy in Korea, the two of us together? They caught our picture. He had a buddy. I got another picture with him, his buddy, so I sat there, and a newspaper guy came. Oh, no. I went to a Korean newspaper, showed them the picture, and he said, “Gee, I’ll write that story.” This newspaper comes out in Korea as well as Canada, so he sent it to Korea, and sure enough, it was one in a million. I get an e-mail from that guy. He said, “I’m Kim.” His name was Kim, and apparently, what happened was, he didn’t see it in the … It was in the newspapers. His buddy had seen it and said, “Hey, Kim, that looks like you,” and he showed it to him, the picture of him with me, and so I made contact with him. I lost contact the last 2 years. Well, it’s a small world. Now, to suggest that that prisoner of war is ever going to receive that thing is really a long shot, one in a million, but his life was in our hands. But we were trained, like you see these movies. You turn around and you see a soldier, you shoot him right away, which is probably what he deserved because he might kill you. It only takes a split second, same with those cops in the States. When they attack a robber, a black robber or whatever he is, and he’s got something in his hand, they got a family. They got to move fast, and we just popped the rifles up like that, and I zeroed right on his head, but something told me, “No, no,” might have been a mistake in my life. Maybe two more would’ve popped up and killed us. Who knows? But we did the right thing. Thank god for that. And anyway, getting back to it. So we built these tents. We built about, oh, five tents all along. We had to make an indent in the mountain and put the tent there, and there’s a road coming in and a road coming out, and I built a guardhouse down below because it was snowing and raining and everything like that, so that helped. And we went through the winter like that. But strangely happened in the spring, we were out on the rivers again. We had to go out and lay in barbed wire across this field, and I might as well tell you this because it really gave me a lot of trouble later on, like PTSD. We were laying in the wire, and I looked over. There was a little gully there, and I looked over, and it was a little brook, just a trickle of water running down it, and there was … It looked like a belt buckle right in the middle of the creek, the water about that deep, clear though. And I was obviously curious anyway. I said, “I’m going over, take that belt as a souvenir.” I could see the buckle, knowing that it’s probably a Chinese belt or something. So they’re all into the wire, and the lieutenant over there. I grab the belt, and I pull it up, and up comes a body, all green and slimy, smelled like … He was underwater. He was under the ground, and so I got nauseated a little bit, so I look, and I see another one, so I pull that one up. On the side of the brook, there’s a running shoe just stuck right in the sand. I said, “Oh, well, I’ll take that home,” a souvenir, so I pull that, and there’s a foot in there, so it was another body. Fourteen, 14 bodies, and most of them had these … You ever seen Chinese troops? In maneuvers, they’ve got these, what do you call them? Mortar shells, they’re about this big. They’re bombs. You push it down, the mortar. The mortar hits the bottom, and it goes up. Well, they all had those things on their back, so this was a Chinese patrol that got wiped out probably maybe 8, 10 months ago or a year even, and I never got over that. Well, there was a reason why I never got over that. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you. It’s too gruesome. So we’re all looking for souvenirs anyway, so me, like an idiot, I took a skull. The skull was bleached clean, everything. I took the skull, and I’m going to take it home, souvenir because I had other souvenirs I had bought in Japan and so on. It was little trinkets and so on. And I took the skull back. So first of all, I go to the lieutenant. I said, “Listen, there’s bodies here. There are all kinds of bodies here,” so they had a deal. They exchanged bodies from the north to the south, so I told him. He says, “Oh, we’ll look after that,” so he gets on the blower, and I guess they scooped them all up and sent them back to North Korea. But I took the skull, and before we left Korea, we were leaving in March. Before I left Korea, you had to lay all your stuff there on the ground, and the officer would inspect it. I had swords. I had all kinds of stuff in a gift bag, and I hid the skull, and he looked. He casually looked at us all and took off. “Okay, boys. Fill it up. We’re shipping out tomorrow,” something like that, so I grabbed it, put it all in the gift bag. At the time, didn’t bother me, but when my … I’ve got a son and a daughter. When my son got 21 years old, it just hit me right in the head. I said … They exchanged the bodies like this. There’s some parent in Korea, North Korea, that didn’t get the full body, and I tried to imagine if that was my kid, and it just broke me down. It just really hurt, still does, and I guess that’s what you call the horrors of war and the people in it. But it’s strange. You go back in Korea. You felt great to be alive, but once you got married, had your own children and relate that. Say, “Well, what if that was him over there, and some Korean guy had found it and stole the skull?” And the strange part of it was, I never, ever got it. I never got the … I’m glad I didn’t. The gift bag was mislaid, and it never returned to me, so all that stuff, somebody got it. I don’t know who it is, but they don’t know the story behind it. So I guess there was lots of that stuff. Not lots, but things like that, that happened even worse in the war, and it scarred me for life. It didn’t bother me when I got out. I was drinking pretty heavy when I got out. Maybe that was why, for a few years, and then I got out of that. I got a half-decent job. I learned a trade in a machine shop. I became a foreman, but my kids were growing, and then one day, I was sitting down. I had my kid there, 18 years old, and it hit me. Just said, that could’ve been him, and some yo-yo picks up a skull and don’t return it with the rest of the body. And maybe I’m too hard on myself, but they probably got the body back, but not all of it, and it probably would … They got the body anyway, and I just wonder who those people were. It’s just … That’s one of the many things that occur in a war situation. But let’s face it, you got two groups of people. You got so-called … We used to call them groups. Every time I think about it, I get sick. They were groups. They were just like us. They had families, but I didn’t know it at the time, just later on. See, one thing about a soldier, especially who’s 19 or 18 or 20, I couldn’t figure out why we were like that, and now I found out later. The part of you, the frontal lobe in the male, doesn’t close until you’re about 30 years old, so things like that don’t bother you because you’re almost … Not a savage, but you don’t feel things like that, and in other words, I guess, most guys 35 wouldn’t go with the war because of that. They just, “Oh, yeah, I’ll survive, march up there. I’ll kill about 100 and walk away with a medal.” It doesn’t work that way, but when you’re that old, and that explains everything, the brain hasn’t processed yet, and that’s why you do silly things like that. And there was other guys probably done worse than that, but my experience in Korea was quite unique because I experienced those things. I was in a tent fire just prior to that in the middle of winter. We were all drinking, and a lot of people don’t realize that we got … Every day, we got a quart of asahi beer free, and most guys would save it up until the weekend and drink the whole seven to get drunk. And we weren’t always drunk. Don’t get me wrong, but one night, we all got drunk, and there was 11 of us in the tent, and I remember, and we had to sleep. Luckily, I always slept in a sleeping bag with my uniform on and my boots. Some guys would undress and go lay down. I said, “No, no,” because a bunch of Americans early on in the war, Americans green recruits, mostly all Blacks, at the beginning of the war. The [INAUDIBLE] come into this field and found, I don’t know. I think there was 62 or 24 Blacks with no … just their shorts on, all shot, killed. They didn’t even put a guard up. They all went in the sleeping bag with no uniforms on, and the Chinese set a trap for them and just come in and slaughtered them. So anyway, this guy, I’m just going to sleep, and I see this one guy staggering down the middle of the aisle with a candle. We all had candles, and we’d put it on a cardboard box or a wooden box, read a little bit and then snuff it out. And he went down. I was in this part of the tent. He was right down there, and about 3 o’clock in the morning, bang, bang. I hear two shots. I was drunk, but I wasn’t that drunk. I heard the two shots, and I wake up, and that whole side of the tent just blazing on fire, so I rolled out. My rifle was always right there, and I grabbed the bayonet. I sliced a hole right in the side of the tent, and we rolled out into the snow. Twenty-five below, it was, and I get out there and look around. Nobody is coming out of the tent, nobody. They’re all in there snoring away, so I … But there was reinforcements coming up the hill from the other tents. They heard the shots too. By the way, it was my buddy who was on guard duty. Good thing he didn’t go to sleep because he’d seen the flames from down in the bottom of the road. So I run back. I got back in the tent. “Come on, get out. You got to get out of here.” One guy gave me shit, said, “Oh, leave me alone! Get away! I was having a dream!” And then everybody come in the tent, and they try to come out with the sleeping bags, so that was a close call and a few guys died in the tent, tent fire because they had very primitive stoves, and like I said, you got candles. That guy got 60 days detention in Seoul, Korea, and that was a tough place to do time. He got 60 days, and I’ll never forget his name. His name was Lapont Richmond, yeah. Nice guy and all that, but he just blew it. He didn’t put the candle out, and it burned down. We had burlap like this, and it must have caught the burlap. It went right over, right up against the tent, and she went up in flames, so that was a close call there. But looking back on it now, the astonishing thing about the Korean War is the Korean people because when we left, everything was flattened. There was no civilization to speak of. There was women with kids and bongos on their head. What do you call them? What’s the word for it? Carrying that scarf thing on their head. I wrote that story about you in it. But anyway, they … Children everywhere, bawling and crying, and people with one leg and one arm, and you look back, and then all of a sudden, when I seen the first pictures of Seoul on the Internet, the modern Seoul, I just couldn’t believe it. In 40 or 50 years, whatever it was, that they could build from that rubble to a city, more modern than Toronto. All the lights were there, the glitter and everything. You’ve seen the pictures, I guess, or you’ve been there. And you feel good about that, that somehow, as low as they were and downtrodden because they had internal fights, too, in South Korea, economies against the right wing and the left wing and Syngman Rhee and all that stuff. It was like a bloodbath, and to see them rise out of there. But the only sad thing that’s left is the … I’m what you call a … You got to hit them before they hit you, and the biggest mistake that the world has made so far, and I got to blame Obama for this one. They didn’t, they haven’t, or they won’t knock out North Korea because one of these days, they’re going to bomb Seoul, nuclear, or the United States if they don’t stop them. What I would’ve done, the first time you put a missile on the pad, I’d knock it out. It wouldn’t hurt anybody, just blow it out, and the next one and the next one, but now it’s gone too far. He’s got the missiles with the help of China and every other weird country in the world, and if we don’t take him out, he’s … See, the West has got a problem. Pearl Harbor is an example. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which was a good thing in a way because it stirred up the people. They went in, and they wiped out Japan, just wiped it out. They nuked them twice, and that sounds cruel, but it was absolutely necessary in my opinion, the way I think, anyway, because the enemy is the enemy, and you’ve got a weapon, you’ve got to use it. So Japan paid the price. They attacked Pearl Harbor. Plus, they had this emperor, Hirohito. People are so naive to think that somebody could be divine, just like Omecha the Divine, the divine right of kings, for example, but I don’t believe that. I don’t bow to any man or any woman on the face of the Earth, none, none. I don’t bow to any of them, not because they’re cruel or nothing, because they’re just like me. Like Trump now, he’s president. Well, he’s still like me, but he might not be like me because if I was him, I’d push the button. I’d give him heck in a moment. I’d say, “Look, you’ve got 10 days to smarten up, or we’re going to obliterate you,” and it’d be a good thing if he doesn’t. If Kim says, “No, we’re not going to. We’re going to continue.” It’d be a good thing if he says no. Then you push the button, and you obliterate. You wait for those big plays that they have, the big amphitheater, all the generals there with all the medals and Kim. That’s the day you attack. One missile, boom, they’re gone, and all these other countries, it sends a message, like Iran, for example. Pretty soon, they’re going to be there, and our only hope there is the Jews because the Jews got to survive, and I know they’ve got plans to be prepared. They don’t want to be wiped out, you know what I mean? But I’m talking like an extraordinary hawk, but that’s what it’s going to take, and if it doesn’t, here is the alternative. He’s going to put one on Seoul and destroy, I don’t know, 3, 5 million people plus the city, or he’s going to hit Seattle or California or somewhere like that, and then, we’re going to act, but why wait for a clown like that? And that’s what war has got to be. You have to. When you see this thing coming, and the guy says it himself, you have to do it. You have to act while you can because if you can’t, millions on this side are going to die unnecessarily, and it could’ve been prevented, but then everybody says, “Oh, no. We can’t do that. We can’t do that.” Well, we can do that, and if I were to become president, I would do it. I guarantee it.

>> So …

>> But anyway, getting back to Korea, it was a very, very unique experience, and …

>> Let’s talk about when you came back and what you feel about … In a nutshell, if you want one thing or a couple things that the world not only Canadians like Sean but the world, or Koreans like me around the world, would like to know about Canada’s unique contributions to this war, what would that be? Because I know you were extremely proactive and instrumental with Canada’s Veterans Association as well as building the wall, so I know you’re very knowledgeable about Canada.

>> Yes. The only thing about Canada is, Korea was lucky because the liberals were in power then, and the liberals never did like the military, even today with Justin Trudeau, and his father was the same. His father was kicked out of office because he was mixed in with the … He didn’t believe in going to be cannon fodder for the … to fight Hitler. He didn’t want to fight Hitler, and he didn’t. His son is the same way. He didn’t want to bomb ISIS. Okay? He’s getting new Air Force plans. I got a special newsletter about it sent out to certain friends. Not everybody because they might shoot me, and he doesn’t want to bomb ISIS. Now, he’s getting new aircraft, so …

>> Who was the prime minister when the Korean War broke out?

>> It was Mackenzie King, but fortunately, he died a day before the … a day or two or a week before the cabinet made the decision to send troops there, and the leader at the time was Lester Pearson, and he went with the United Nations and said, “Yes, we’ll contribute,” but Mackenzie King wouldn’t have, in my opinion. He just hated wars. The liberals got a thing about that. They don’t like the military, and the conservatives, they’re okay, they understand. If we don’t fight them there, we’re going to fight them on our shore, so … But Canada, yes, Canada did well under the circumstances, and … But, see, they were lucky, the Koreans. They were lucky that there was thousands and thousands of young guys like myself. Like, I lived in a coal-mining town and went down like father, like son. I was 135 pounds when I was 18 years old, and these miners were big guys, real big, 10, 12 hours a day in the pit. In other words, a lot of people were unemployed, had nowhere to go, and luckily, I was one of the very few that went to high school. Just by chance, the poverty we were in, I had to buy books. Thirty-nine dollars it cost, used books, grade 10. My mother borrowed the money off our grocer, and that kind of saved me. It put me up another level, but we were all out of work, and the call came. “Let’s go. Let’s go to Korea. Sounds good.”

>> So how does Canadians remember the Korean War? What do you do at the … Is there a remembrance? Hi, I’m so sorry. We’re recording an interview. It’s okay. We’ll cut that part off. Yeah.

>> Yeah, well, that’s the sad part. The Canadians, it’s right there. You’ve probably seen this in America, the Forgotten War. This was the Forgotten War. So when we come back from the war in Korea, the war had been going for 3 years, and it got headlines. Every once in a while, they’d say, “So many killed in Korea” and so on, but the public never ever grasped it. They never did. They were tired of World War II. It’d been over for 5 years, and we come back. There was the odd little parade, but we were ignored. Didn’t bother me that much, but a lot of the guys, it really hurt, and they organized. That’s why you’ve got the Korean Veterans Association. They organized like that, and then they went to the present governments and said, “Listen, you got to do something. We’ve got to be recognized,” so the result of that was Johann Martin, the senator from British Columbia. He passed a bill in the House of Commons. We got our Korean War Veteran’s Day, July 27th every year. It’s in perpetuity, so we got that. We got another medal. We also got more understanding from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. I had to go there when I had the PTSD, and I was successful, and I presented my own case because I was a union president at one time, and I knew enough about grievances, et cetera, and the veteran’s affairs, I’ll give you one example. This house here is typical of a house that a veteran would have after working all his life. Well, the veteran’s affairs, they come up with a VIP program, and what they do is, they cut you around. They clean up your gutters, and they shovel your snow because, well, you’re in your eighties, and they give you that money, and you have to hire the people to do it, so they treat us really good, but at the beginning, it was forgotten, but we didn’t mind because we were looking for a job, working our ass off, trying to raise a family, and it didn’t bother you. But when you started getting a little bit older and wiser, you started saying, “Hey, there’s something wrong here.”

>> And then you put that book together. Can you show this camera and just briefly show what you put together in the book?

>> Yeah. This here is the Korean War Book of Remembrance. The original exists in Ottowa, but it’s a large, large volume, and what I did was, I took all those names. There were practically unreadable. I had to retype most of them, but the photos of the Wall of Remembrance, I took those photos. Took me about 2 years to figure out what I was going to do, and it’s still in process, by the way. This is more or less a prototype, and on here is the picture of all the plaques. Now, these plaques exist in the Commonwealth grave in South Korea in Pusan, so like the Korean’s Veteran’s Day, they raised $300,000 and built the Wall of Remembrance in Brampton, and this is an example of what it looks like, and there’s 516 names there, and we paid for all of it. It took us a while. A lot of good men put their brains into it and their brawn, and we were very successful. It’s probably … It is the biggest monument in Canada for the Korean veterans, and we’re quite proud of that. Actually, it’s sacred ground. It’s in Brampton, Ontario, and I’ve got two friends of mine that are on the wall. One lived on the same street as me. He went overseas 6 months prior to me, and he was killed on Hill 355, and one other friend, maybe two or three streets over, he was with him at the same time. They both got killed the same night, and that was quite a shock to me because I knew them quite well. I went to school with them, and it kind of hit home then that the dangers were there. And nevertheless, we joined up and took a train across Canada, which I had already hitchhiked across twice. I went again down to Seattle, and we got the Liberty ship and sailed across the Pacific. It took 21 days, and horrible, horrible storms, and there was Americans on there from Southern Georgia and all that, and it was unbelievable how seasick they would get in those storms. As a matter of fact, even I got sick, and I was born on the ocean, but the seasick was rampant. Some guys, they didn’t eat for 5 days, just couldn’t eat because it was too rough. But we made it, and then we had to return same way, by ship. We left Incheon, was it? Most likely it was Incheon, sailed to Japan and then took a ship from Yokohama back to Seattle, and I remember Seattle very vividly because with the Americans, it was a little bit different. There was more Americans in the war than Canadians, obviously, and we parked off the dock, and in the morning, there was thousands and thousands of American citizens with placards, saying, “Welcome home, Johnny,” et cetera, et cetera, and bands playing, and so we all marched off the ship, and the one thing I’ll never forget is, they had the Red Cross there, and as we marched by, they had a carton of milk. I hadn’t had milk in over a year, and some cookies, and that was the greatest gift. I just couldn’t believe it, the taste of it. It was just unreal after eating C rations and anything you could get your hands on. It was basically, we were starved, too, anyway, but she gave me that little carton of milk and two cookies, and I tasted it, and it was cold, and it was beautiful. I was on my way. I’ll never forget that. It was unbelievable.

>> Well, Grandpa Bill, as I shared with other grandpas yesterday, I’m here because I want to, on behalf of all the Koreans around the world, as you said, South Korea now, thanks to your contributions, is a very successful, prosperous nation, and we enjoy the freedoms that people living in this free world get to enjoy as well as John and all of you who defended South Korea, the peninsula, from the threat of communism, so I’m here to say thank you for my life and literally, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you if it weren’t for you, and I hope that not only Canadians but Koreans and just people all over the world will not forget, and I’m hoping that in your lifetime, our lifetime, very soon, that the entire Korean peninsula, both North and South Korea, because as you know, there are many people suffering in North Korea.

>> Oh, yeah.

>> Oh, yes, that we would all enjoy this free world. So if you can look right here into the camera and speak to the Korean people, what … Yeah, the message that you want to say as someone who saved us and someone to whom we’re grateful to, right here.

>> Well, to the Korean people, all I can say is one thing. I’ve never seen such bravery, I guess. I don’t know what you could call it, resilience to survive, and we, as Canadian veterans, Korean War veterans, dearly respect and always will respect that resilience that you showed, and to be quite honest with you, I’ve talked to a lot of veterans. Like Hannah says, we fought against communism. They are of the opinion that they would do it again, even now. I would go back now if necessary. They wouldn’t take me. I know that, but that’s the way I feel. Somebody has got to do it. It’s as simple as that. I don’t know if it comes from inside you or your life experience or what, but I have no compunction about stopping communism, none whatsoever, and I would do it again, go back again. That’s all I can say, and you’re a wonderful people. I see lots of you. Your parents have emigrated to Toronto, and I admire the youthfulness, the cheerfulness that you experience in Seoul, especially when I go to certain events. And keep your heads up. You’ve done a marvelous job, and always think of your parents, that they’re the ones that suffered the most, and they suffered. And I’m proud that I could serve. Okay?

>> Thank you.

>> Okay.

>> Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

>> Thank you.

콜롬비아 보고타 (1)

-Estas placas fueron instaladas el, el 14 de Noviembre del 2000, del año 2007, ante una ceremonia muy hermosa con todos los destacamentos militares, la asistencia del comandante del Ejército, el Estado Mayor, la Armada Nacional, y mucho público y todos los veteranos de la guerra de Corea. Fue algo, fue muy conmovedor para la ciudadanía de Bogotá y para todos los militares y veteranos que asistimos, puesto que no se había colocado en ninguna parte de Colombia por parte del Gobierno ninguna conmemoración, ningún recuerdo a los muertos de la guerra. Estábamos buscando y yo me dediqué a buscar con ellos. Y un buen día, tuve la inspiración de venir aquí y proponerle al padre párroco que, que si me daba permiso de colocar las placas acá en este lugar tan sagrado para la, donde están los mártires de la patria. E inmediatamente me aceptó. El general Álvaro Valencia Tovar, que en paz descanse, puso todo el empeño por su experiencia militar. Fue comandante del Ejército, estuvo en la guerra de Corea, fue el comandante de la primera acción contra los chinos. Y me dijo: “Isaac, cuente con mi apoyo porque esa idea no se me había presentado a mí, no se me había ocurrido a mí. Yo lo apoyo”. Y cuando me di cuenta, pues, comunicó al Estado Mayor, convocó a todas las fuerzas militares, y fue algo esplendoroso. Que, por eso esas placas están aquí. Yo puse mi aporte espiritual y no más. Que Dios tenga sus almas en su, su, su reino. Gracias.

콜롬비아 보고타 (10)

-Mi nombre es Epifanio Rodríguez Núñez, estuve en la Guerra de Corea, y en la época que estábamos allá se participó en la Guerra… en la batalla de Unsan, una ciudad que quedó totalmente destruida. Actualmente pertenezco a la Asociación colombiana de veteranos de Corea en Colombia y soy su presidente. ¿Cómo ingresamos al batallón colombia? En esa época estábamos terminando el servicio militar en la escuela de infantería, el capitán Álvaro Valencia, en esa época capitán, después fue general, llegó un día tarde y nos manifestó que… pedía excusas por haber llegado tan tarde, pero que había estado en el Ministerio de guerra, así se llamaba el Ministerio de defensa en esa época, y en la presidencia y que lo habían enviado a Corea, que quién quería ir con él. Inmediatamente todos dimos un paso al frente. Nos dio algunas explicaciones, y cuando ordenó romper filas, todos corrimos enseguida a la biblioteca a buscar un mapa para saber dónde estaba Corea y de qué se trataba lo que habíamos hecho. Cuando salimos de Corea, estaba totalmente destruido, había mucha pobreza, las ciudades estaban destruidas, las madres estaban recostadas sobre las ruinas, amamantando a sus hijos sin tener muchas cosas que comer. Era realmente una situación lamentable, de mucha tristeza. Pasado un tiempo, volvimos a Corea invitados por el gobierno de Corea, y la sorpresa extraordinaria: qué ciudades, qué calles, todo, un modernismo extraordinario. Y aparte de eso, en este momento, Corea es, aproximadamente, la séptima potencia mundial económicamente hablando. Estos nos enorgullece. Y además, todos los que estuvimos en Corea consideramos a la República de Corea del sur como nuestra segunda patria.Y además, todos los que estuvimos en Corea consideramos la República de Corea del sur como nuestra segunda patria.

콜롬비아 보고타 (11)

– 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.

콜롬비아 보고타 (12)

– Yo me llamo Hernando Villegas Hurtado, viajé a Corea impulsado por la aventura, porque en todas las noticias y todo lo que nosotros sabíamos que Corea era de la guerra, y nos, a mí particularmente, me entusiasmó mucho viajar hasta allá, y fui voluntario. Salimos a finales de septiembre de 1952, y regresamos en octubre de 1953. Yo con el… estuvimos… después del entrenamiento, yo entré al batallón de sanidad, era enfermero, fui enfermero, y pasé todo el tiempo en… atendiendo heridos y rescatando muertos. Destaco de todo eso, pues, también el cerro 180, que me tocó sacar un poco de gente de allá, y, por supuesto, el Old Baldy, que también fue bastante duro, pero, sobre todo, los 12 días que nosotros permanecimos en el Old Baldy, desde el 10 de, desde el 10 de marzo hasta el 23. Esos para mí fueron un infierno, porque todos los días, de día y de noche, hubo fuego de artillería de los coreanos. En ese tiempo estaban tratando de ganar terreno por la proximidad que existía del armisticio, entonces, querían estar en buena posición, tengo entendido yo, buena posición geográfica para que les rindiera más el terreno. Fue muy duro para mí, demasiado duro, tan duro hasta las lágrimas, porque me tocó rescatar a varios compañeros que eran muy amigos, sacar muchos heridos, y participar en dos o tres patrullas… una patrulla que llaman de reconocimiento y escucha que llegaba a un valle a donde podíamos dispararle con la pistola a los chinos, porque casi todos eran chinos en ese momento, y entonces, pues, fue muy duro esa semana, esa semana no, esos 12 días, 12 días que permanecimos nosotros, no se me van a olvidar nunca en mi vida. Pero también, pues, las enseñanzas que uno va derivando de todo lo que le pasó. Afortunado que no me dieron, afortunado porque… porque gracias a la, estar en Corea cambió totalmente mi vida. Cuando yo vivía aquí en Colombia, vivía en un pueblo, en una ciudad que llaman Pereira, pero, pues, no sabía hacer nada, trabajaba con papá en labores propias de, del campo, y el viaje a Corea cambió totalmente, totalmente todo, yo todavía me… me maravilla el cambio que dio mi vida, el cambio que le pude dar a mi familia. Pero fue por la fortuna de haber viajado, más bien por la aventura, pero después fue una enseñanza, fue una enseñanza. Ya cuando llegamos ambas Coreas estaban arrasadas, la una por la invasión de los coreanos del norte y por la invasión china, y los otros por la, por repeler la invasión y llegar casi hasta el río Yalu con el generalMacArthura la cabeza.En mi, en mi parecer, si quiera salió MacArthur, porque posiblemente habría armado una tercera guerra mundial. MacArthur era guerrerista, y quería salir, no sé si habrá oído hablar de él, pero era un, un general que tenía mucha influencia, no solamente en Estados Unidos, si no en todo el mundo era muy respetado. Y entonces, pues, él quería seguir la guerra hasta arrojar a los chinos a su China e invadir parte de China. Eso no ocurrió. ¿Y qué, y qué enseñanza ha sacado uno de allá? Pues, sencillamente que todos perdimos. Perdió Corea del Sur, perdió Corea del Norte. Hubo millones de… yo no sé cuántos millones puedan haber perdido la vida allá, y cuántos heridos, pero muchos, fue muchos. Y, y quedamos en las mismas, solo que Corea del Norte y Corea del Sur estaban arrasadas, totalmente arrasadas. Yo tuve la oportunidad de viajar a Corea ahora en noviembre. Transformada totalmente, increíble el avance que ha tenido Corea, y eso me hace sentir muy orgulloso y muy complacido de que, de que haya, en primer lugar, que nos hayan invitado, estoy muy contento. Fui con, con dos hijos, entre ellos una, una niña, estuvieron encantados, muy contentos. Y, y, por su puesto, supremamente agradecidos de las atenciones y de la forma como se portaron con nosotros admirablemente. Ambos muchachos, pues, ya no son muchachos, ya son viejos, bueno, ambos muchachos salieron contentísimos con el viaje, muy maravillados y muy contentos. Y se consideran que, es la mejor experiencia que han tenido en la vida. Pero, particularmente, yo pienso que, sigo pensando que la guerra, todas las guerras son malas. Yo soy pacipista, pacipista a morir. Y, normalmente, las guerras las hacen las potencias. Por países pequeños como Colombia, o como Corea en ese tiempo… sí… de esas potencias. Estados Unidos que quería seguir interviniendo en Corea, lo hizo muy bien, y de Rusia y China que querían también intervenir en Corea del Norte. Ambos países tenían sus motivos políticos, aunque no motivos humanos. Eso como que no les interesaba, absolutamente nasa. Ver a un, a una persona, a un soldado o a varios soldados incendiados con napalm, eso es una experiencia aterradora, aterradora. Uno dice: “¿Cómo puede ocurrir algo así? ¿Cómo puede ocurrir algo que, así, que, que un humano le esté tirando candela o gasolina o napalm a otro ser humano y que arda en llamas?”. Me duele mucho haber visto eso, no quisiera haberlo visto. Por otra parte, estoy suprema, supremamente agradecido con Corea. Y no solamente porque, pues, con la forma que me ha tratado, si no como le ha ayudado al gobierno y al país, con obras, con educación, con muchas cosas que nosotros no teníamos, pero que Corea nos ha, nos ha brindado, especialmente en el aspecto, por ejemplo, el, con Coica, por ejemplo. Coica es una magnífica entidad, y nos va a servir mucho a nosotros… de Bogotá, en diferentes partes del país, y aquí mismo en Bogotá, con el hospital para… ¿qué más le cuento yo? Muy contento, una experiencia, pero lo mejor es que. Yo fui casi analfabeta a, o mejor dicho, analfabeta, a Corea, y el regreso de Corea me permitió que me recibieran en una buena empresa, que estuviera, que terminara mi primaria, mi bachillerato y la universidad, y que en este momento esté en una situación, digamos, cómoda y tranquila. Vivo muy muy muy agradecido de Corea, muy contento de haber ido. Y no tengo si no agradecimientos totales para con todos ustedes, para todos. Y mis hijos sí que lo tienen. Todos están muy contentos y, sobre todo, muy orgullosos.

콜롬비아 보고타 (13)

– Yo me llamo Manuel Antonio Gaitán Briceño. Fui cabo segundo en la guerra de Corea. Eh, me llevaron en el año 53 a Corea, estuve en el campo de guerra, de batalla, el cerro… De ahí me sacaron para reserva por lo que yo tocaba acordeón para ir a un concierto en Busan. De ahí regresé otra vez a Corea a prestar el servicio común y corriente en patrullas, patrullajes, en el cual no tuve ningún problema. Eh, el tiempo que duré, pues, me mandaron a una academia de los Estados Unidos a hacer un curso de preparación militar americana y nos mandaron con dos suboficiales más y el único que sacó diploma fui yo, véalo por puntos, los otros no alcanzaron la puntuación. Y me tocó que llegar al batallón Colombia a darle instrucción a mis compañeros de acuerdo a lo que me habían enseñado en la academia de la séptima división de los Estados Unidos. El resto, pues, común y corriente, el tiempo se transcurrió y fue pasando poco a poco hasta que me mandaron al Japón a, eh… eh, recuperación y descanso, un, un descanso que le daban al personal que era aplicado y tenía estudios y todo eso, por 10 días en el Japón, como, como premio, ¿ve? Como premio a lo que se había hecho. Y ahí ya se llegó el momento de venirnos para Colombia otra vez, ¿ve? Que nos tocó siempre un poco, eh, cansón porque traíamos los restos de todos los compañeros que fallecieron y, y armamentos y todo lo que había, lo que teníamos que nos había dado la séptima división de los Estados Unidos al batallón Colombia. Eh, no tengo así más que informarles sobre lo de Corea por parte mía. ¿Ve? Que estuve prestando mi servicio allá y estuve en una academia de los Estados Unidos haciendo un curso para preparación militar americana y ya eso, pues, me vine para Colombia otra vez en, en el General Stewart, un barco de los Estados Unidos, ¿ve? Zarpamos de Corea y llegamos a un puerto en Honolulu, Hawái, y estuvimos ahí dos días y luego seguimos rumbo a Buenaventura, Colombia. Ya aquí, ya aquí seguí en el ejército hasta el año 55 que me retiré porque no, no me gustó mucho el ejército, ¿ve? No, no, no tengo más que informarle porque no fui herido, ¿ve? Estuve en la línea de fuego, pero no fui herido, y la guardia que presté. Y a amenizar y alegrar a mis compañeros con la música que yo tocaba acordeón y formamos un conjunto, y ese conjunto, pues, lo organizamos y tocábamos en los ratos de descanso en reserva y amenizábamos el tiempo para no estar tan tristes, ¿ve? De Corea, pues, en los cuatro tiempos, ¿no? Que se llega, que es el otoño, primavera, invierno y verano, que siempre se le hace extraño a uno porque aquí en Colombia si quiere uno estar en tierra caliente, está, si quiere estar en tierra fría como acá, está uno, pero no hay cambio de, de clima como allá que están los cuatro tiempos. ¿Ve? No, no, no tengo más así que informarle, ¿ven? Porque mi estadía, pues, claro que fue casi un año, pero no, no tuve problemas, ¿ve? Porque siempre que estaba en la línea o algo, me llamaban para ir a tocar a Seúl, a Busan, en Incheon no, no estuvimos en Incheon estuvimos cuando llegamos y no, pues, la pasé más bien, no, no, no la sentí tan fuerte, por decirlo así, la milicia allá. Y el viaje un poco, eh, molesto por la vaina del barco que de, de Panamá hacia, ah, Honolulu son 15 días y uno que no estaba acostumbrado a, a viajar en barco, eso se le, se le llena a uno toda la… Y otros 15 días de ahí a, a… el primer puerto del Japón, de ahí sí en tren a Seúl que eso estaba todo bombardeado, vuelto una nada, estaba pésimo, ¿verdad? En cambio ahoritica en el 2006 que estuve otra vez en Corea invitado por la embajada, eh, está eso excelente, puentes, todo, una cosa muy bonita, ¿ve? Muy maravillosa, en comparación a, a, al 53 que estuve, que eso estaba todo bombardeado, vuelto una nada. Eh, peladitos por ahí pidiendo qué comer, todo eso porque no tenían como alimentarse y había mucha, mucha pobreza, demasiada pobreza. Ahoritica no, ahoritica es un país que está ciento por ciento avanzado en todo, ¿ve? Y esas fábricas de carros, eso de la un, una imagen muy buena a Corea, ¿ve? Y estuvimos también en, a 100 metros de Corea del norte, porque hasta ahí puede uno llegar, pero eso se ve triste, gris, ¿ve? No se le ve ambiente a, a Corea del norte, ¿ve? Pero bueno, estuvimos mirando, ¿no? Estuve en el paralelo 38 en guardia también, pero a Dios gracias no me pasó nada. No tengo más que informarle.
[ACENTO EXTRANJERO]
– ¿Ha visitado a Corea?
– ¿Ah?
– ¿Ha visitado a Corea usted? ¿Visitó a Corea?
– Sí, yo estuve, eh… con mi, eh… Ah, estuve en el Japón también, pero en el Japón en, en… Me perdí en el zoológico de Tokio, esa fue la…
– ¿Recientemente, recientemente?
– ¿Ah?
– ¿Recientemente visitando a Corea? Usted visitando. ¿Visitó a Corea recientemente?
– Ah, sí, en el 2006 estuve visitando a Corea, por eso es que le digo…
– ¿Por qué 2006?
– ¿Ah?
– ¿Por qué? ¿Cómo?
– Me invitó la embajada de Corea.
– Un, guao.
– ¿Ve? Nos invitó a 14 colombianos.
– ¿14?
– Sí, estuvimos en el cementerio.
– ¿Sí?
– Allá en Corea.
– Sí.
– Y esas partes, sus alrededores, y cuando fuimos a, a los 100 metros que le digo de Corea del Norte y hasta ahí podíamos estar, no podíamos pasar más para allá. Eso está lleno de guardias y, ¿ve? Y miramos el, el paralelo 38 casualmente, ¿ve? Hasta 100 metros, ahí de para allá ya no se puede, ¿ve? Y a eso es que le digo que está Corea un ciento por ciento en comparación a cuando la vimos que nos tocó que andar en un tren todo bombardeado, vuelto una nada hasta el campo donde teníamos que hospedarnos, por decirlo así, y de ahí salir a entrenamientos para luego entrar a la línea de fuego, ¿ve?
– Sí.
– Y la pobreza que vimos en ese tiempo era muy, muy cruel. Cuando estábamos en reserva la alimentación que nos mandaba el ejército americano, que era una, una alimentación que la llamaban: Ración C7, lo que nos quedaba se lo dábamos a ellos, ¿ve? Que se hacían, se acercaban por las alambradas, ¿ve? Para pedirnos que le diéramos algo, ¿ve? Porque estaban, pues, muy… sin alimentación, sin nada, muy… Ropa, sin nada, ¿ve? Les dábamos ropa de lo que teníamos por ahí que nos sobraba se la dábamos también. ¿Ve? Entonces a uno le daba, pues, eh, tristeza, ¿sí? Porque aquí en Colombia, pues, obvio, somos pobres, pero procuramos sostenernos de cualquier manera sin, sin tanta… Menos mal que aquí no ha habido guerra, ¿no? Pues, guerras así, pero, guerrillas que llaman, pero era que allá sí estaba eso. Y, y pensar que, que Corea del norte fue la que inició todo, ¿ve? Y se unieron con los, con los, este otro país, se llama… comunista también, con china y otro país no me acuerdo ahoritica el nombre.
[ACENTO EXTRANJERO]
– ¿Rusia?
– ¿Ah?
– ¿Rusia? Ruso.
– Sí, una cosa así. ¿Ve? Se unieron para atacar a Corea del Sur y en ese…
– Ruso… Ruso.
– Rusia.
– Sí.
– Rusia, Rusia. Ellos, se, se unieron todos para atacar a Corea del Sur, ¿ve? Y sin embargo, pues, eh, hay un, eh, un recordaris, por decir así, que el batallón Colombia cuando estuvimos en combate y todo, a raíz de eso se firmó el tratado de paz el 23 de marzo, si no me equivoco, o el 25 de marzo, una cosa así, del año 53, hasta ahí hubo combate, ahí ya se acabó el combate y ya se siguió prestando guardia, pero por prevención, ¿no? Que no volvieran otra vez a molestar.
– Yo quiero que, ah, por su gran honor de sus sacrificio en la guerra de Corea, que, ah, muy pronto, ah, ahí será el tiempo cuando, ah, Coreanos en North Corea, ah, también tienen la paz y… libertad, ¿sí?
– Sí, señora.
– Sí. Y gracias…
– No, señora.
– …abuelo, porque, ah, sin sus contribuciones no… ah, no puedo ser aquí, estar. Gracias.

콜롬비아 보고타 (2)

– Me llamo José Vidal Beltrán Molano. Mi grado en el Ejército: cabo primero. Formo parte de la Junta Directiva de ASCOE por el cargo de vocal. Quiero hacer un recuento de mi vida antes de ir a Corea. Trabajaba aquí, en este palacio, palacio presidencial, trabajé cinco años. Aquí estaba trabajando antes de ir a Corea voluntariamente a luchar por la democracia y la libertad de Corea del Sur. Me siento orgulloso de haber pertenecido a ese ejército libertador en su país, a ese grupo que fuimos a luchar por la libertad, por la democracia de Corea, de un pueblo oprimido en aquella ocasión. Yo permanecí 15 meses en Corea. Mi comandante fue, con mi, en esa época, coronel Ruiz Novoa, quien falleció en días pasados, hoy general de la República. Mi experiencia allí en Corea fue bastante difícil porque, por el idioma, por las costumbres. Para mí era un país desconocido, gente desconocida, pero gente amable, gente muy querida por la cual luchamos hasta donde fue posible. De mi regreso a Colombia tengo la experiencia de haber sido recibido aquí, en mi país, con honores. Después, formé una familia. Tengo ocho hijos, todos profesionales, un militar, el menor de mi familia, de mis hijos, coronel de la Fuerza Aérea Colombiana. Hemos recibido en la Embajada de Corea, he recibido muchas atenciones, muchos agasajos, beneficios para mis, para mis nietos en cuanto a educación. Y he encontrado mucho apoyo en todos los casos en los cuales hemos tenido que ver mucho con la colonia de Corea. Cualquier pregunta que quiera hacerme, con mucho gusto.
– ¿Qué piensa de que, de Corea y coreanos y el futuro de Corea? Porque la guerra no termina.
– No la, no la escucho, no la entiendo.
– ¿Visitas, visita a Corea?
– Ah, sí, hace dos años estuve por una invitación del presidente de Corea, estuve visitando Corea después de 60 años de haber estado allá en la guerra. Fui muy bien atendido, muy bien recibido. Nos recibieron, fui en compañía de cuatro compañeros más. Fuimos recibidos como héroes. Nos atendieron muy bien. Corea, especialmente Seúl, ha cambiado muchísimo de la época en que estuvimos en la guerra a como se encuentra ahora. Corea se ha desarrollado muchísimo, ha progresado, y me alegra muchísimo que Corea en este momento sea uno de las potencias económicas del mundo, y que su gente maravillosa todavía nos recuerda después de más de 60 años, nos recuerda con cariño y con gratitud. Y todavía en esta fecha nos están dando las gracias por el sacrificio que hicimos por el pueblo de Corea del Sur.

콜롬비아 보고타 (3)

– Me llamo José Vidal Beltrán Molano. Mi grado en el Ejército: cabo primero. Formo parte de la Junta Directiva de ASCOE por el cargo de vocal. Quiero hacer un recuento de mi vida antes de ir a Corea. Trabajaba aquí, en este palacio, palacio presidencial, trabajé cinco años. Aquí estaba trabajando antes de ir a Corea voluntariamente a luchar por la democracia y la libertad de Corea del Sur. Me siento orgulloso de haber pertenecido a ese ejército libertador en su país, a ese grupo que fuimos a luchar por la libertad, por la democracia de Corea, de un pueblo oprimido en aquella ocasión. Yo permanecí 15 meses en Corea. Mi comandante fue, con mi, en esa época, coronel Ruiz Novoa, quien falleció en días pasados, hoy general de la República. Mi experiencia allí en Corea fue bastante difícil porque, por el idioma, por las costumbres. Para mí era un país desconocido, gente desconocida, pero gente amable, gente muy querida por la cual luchamos hasta donde fue posible. De mi regreso a Colombia tengo la experiencia de haber sido recibido aquí, en mi país, con honores. Después, formé una familia. Tengo ocho hijos, todos profesionales, un militar, el menor de mi familia, de mis hijos, coronel de la Fuerza Aérea Colombiana. Hemos recibido en la Embajada de Corea, he recibido muchas atenciones, muchos agasajos, beneficios para mis, para mis nietos en cuanto a educación. Y he encontrado mucho apoyo en todos los casos en los cuales hemos tenido que ver mucho con la colonia de Corea. Cualquier pregunta que quiera hacerme, con mucho gusto.
– ¿Qué piensa de que, de Corea y coreanos y el futuro de Corea? Porque la guerra no termina.
– No la, no la escucho, no la entiendo.
– ¿Visitas, visita a Corea?
– Ah, sí, hace dos años estuve por una invitación del presidente de Corea, estuve visitando Corea después de 60 años de haber estado allá en la guerra. Fui muy bien atendido, muy bien recibido. Nos recibieron, fui en compañía de cuatro compañeros más. Fuimos recibidos como héroes. Nos atendieron muy bien. Corea, especialmente Seúl, ha cambiado muchísimo de la época en que estuvimos en la guerra a como se encuentra ahora. Corea se ha desarrollado muchísimo, ha progresado, y me alegra muchísimo que Corea en este momento sea uno de las potencias económicas del mundo, y que su gente maravillosa todavía nos recuerda después de más de 60 años, nos recuerda con cariño y con gratitud. Y todavía en esta fecha nos están dando las gracias por el sacrificio que hicimos por el pueblo de Corea del Sur.

콜롬비아 보고타 (4)

– Mi nombre es Roberto Fajardo Tupica. Soy de Bogotá. Tengo en este momento 84 años. Viajé a Corea en el año de 1952, a la edad de 19 años. Llegué exactamente el día 18 de enero de 1953 cuando cumplí 20 años. Mi experiencia en Corea voy a referírsela, pero primero le digo que me presenté voluntario a, al Batallón Colombia porque desde muy joven he detestado el comunismo. Y hasta esta, en este momento, también. No estoy de acuerdo con los postulados de, del, del comunismo. En Corea pertenecí al Batallón, al Batallón de la pesada, digamos así, que, que son ametralladoras, cañones y mortero, mortero 81. Yo fui comandante de pieza de mortero 81. Estuve en, en el mayor confrontamiento que hubo que fue en el Old Baldy. Allí estuvimos recibiendo la artillería enemiga durante muchas horas, a consecuencia del cual quedé tres días sordo porque yo era el apuntador y recibía el impacto del, del, del disparo cerca de mis oídos. Eso me, me significó que me hubieran concedido Medalla de Honor al Deber Cumplido. Mi experiencia en Corea fue muy grata por muchos motivos. El primero, porque me encontré con un gran amigo con el que jugábamos fútbol aquí en Bogotá y se me había perdido, el señor Ernesto Segura Vaquero. Nos encontramos, nos reencontramos allá. Eso me valió jugar fútbol, tener ciertas ventajas en, en el tratamiento que nos daban, lo mismo que por jugar ajedrez. Entonces compartía con los oficiales porque les gustaba ese, ese aspecto mío. Allá también tuve, conseguí dos muy buenos amigos, el señor Pedro Vergara y Orlando Bernal con quien también jugábamos fútbol. El señor Vergara fue el que me consiguió el puesto en la contraloría con el general Alberto Ruiz Novoa. A consecuencia de eso, logré encauzar mi vida durante 11 años en la Contraloría General de la República y 20 años en la Compañía Colombiana de Seguros, de donde soy pensionado. En este momento sigo pensando que el comunismo es de lo, de lo peor que nos ha podido suceder. No sé qué, qué más contarles al respecto, pero esa es mi experiencia en Corea. Aquí en Bogotá, después, me casé joven a los 24 años. Tengo seis hijos, todos profesionales, afortunadamente, muy bien situados y mi familia está muy unida. Mis nietas, tengo 10 nietos, siete mujeres, tres hombres. Y ahí vamos en esta vida agradeciéndole, eso sí, a Corea, a la Samsung, a la Embajada, que nos ha colaborado. Yo tuve una hija becada para el bachillerato, una hija no, una nieta becada para el bachillerato que ya culminó sus estudios. Es abogada de la Universidad del Rosario, está muy bien situada. Y esa es mi experiencia con, con Corea.

콜롬비아 보고타 (5)

– Me llamo José Adonai Castilla. Viajé a Corea en el año, año 1952. Tengo 83 años en la actualidad. Regresamos en el año 53 en el mes de septiembre. Para mí como experiencia al viaje, la ida, viaje o ida a Corea fue una experiencia, como joven, muy bonita. Nunca habíamos, en mi caso, ni conocía un buque ni había montado en avión por primera vez, de modo que, para mí, fue una experiencia de joven, muy alegre, muy bonita. Y agradezco, en parte, al Ejército tanto de los Estados Unidos, de Colombia y de Corea habernos dado esa oportunidad. Llegando a Corea, pues, ya las cosas se nos complicó. No sabíamos qué era una guerra, nunca habíamos estado en ella. De pronto, de niños veíamos unas películas de guerra, pero no sabíamos las consecuencias que tenía una guerra. Como soldado, actué en el Cerro 180. Afortunadamente salí con vida de ahí. Luego, nos tocó el 23 de marzo la Batalla en el Old Baldy. El Batallón Colombia fue uno de los más fuertes que hubo allá. Gracias a Dios también salí ileso de esto. Posteriormente, me salté eso, pero posteriormente fui herido en una, en una, eh…
– ¿No será en patrulla?
– En una patrulla, una patrulla de reconocimiento y fui herido ahí, y murió al lado mío un colombiano, que eso me ha causado mucho mucho impacto. Me impactó demasiado porque era compañero, amigo, de la raza negra, pero un negro supremamente echado para adelante. Me acuerdo de ese detalle porque él había puesto una demanda al Gobierno de Colombia que era único hijo, que él no debe haber ido a Corea a la guerra por ser único hijo. Ya le había llegado la resolución de que tenía que regresar a Colombia. Llevaba ocho días esperando que lo evacuaran para nuestro país. Y estaba en la Casa Mata cuando nosotros salíamos a esa patrulla. Como buen guerrero y joven, nos pidió o le pidió al cabo que comandaba la patrulla de que por qué no lo llevábamos. Yo era radio operador, fui el radio operador en Corea. Dijimos: “¡No, pues, camine!”. Porque se encontraba el tipo aburrido sin hacer nada ahí porque el comandante daba la orden de que no patrullaran, no hicieranningún frente ni nada de esto, que estuviera quieto mientras regresaba al país. Pero estaba aburrido y entonces dijimos: “Camine con nosotros”. Y, desafortunadamente, ese día fue el único muerto, bastándole una semana para regresar al país. De resto, la guerra la tomamos, ya le dije, ¿no? En parte, una experiencia inolvidable, con tristeza por los compañeros fallecidos que quedaron allá, pero con otros compañeros que estuvimos afortunadamente compartiendo todo, que están aquí presente varios. Pero para nosotros y para todos los veteranos, fue un orgullo sumamente grande de haber cumplido. Es un deber cumplido haber estado allá en Corea. Mil gracias.

콜롬비아 보고타 (6)

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

콜롬비아 보고타 (7)

– Me llamo Raúl Martínez Espinoza, soy bridadier general del ejército de Colombia. Formo parte del cuerpo de generales y almirantes de las fuerzas militares de Colombia. Fui fundador de la Asociación Colombiana de Oficiales Veteranos de la Guerra, cuya sigla es ASOVECOR. En este momento tenemos solamente 20 asociados, porque el resto de los asociados han fallecido. El objeto social de la asociación, como se ha venido cumpliendo hasta las posibilidades, es la de mantener el contacto, la amistad y el compañerismo, resaltar la participación de Colombia en el conflicto coreano a través de ceremonias militares, que llamamos “efemérides”, las cuales, desafortunadamente, tuvimos que suspender por falta, ya, de asistencia. Eh, entre otras de las partes del objeto social, son las de estar pendientes del estado de salud y el estado de cada uno de los asociados. Además, en lo posible, y hasta hace poco tiempo, utilizar los medios de comunicación social para difundir y hacer conocer nuestra presencia en la campaña de Corea. En este momento, como tal vez ya lo dije, somos muy pocos por efecto de que nos quedan solamente 20 socios.
– Y, por favor, dice con su experiencia personal en la “gera”.
– Mi experiencia personal en la Guerra de Corea, en primer término, yo fui comandante de, lo que se llama, un pelotón. Y como comandante de ese pelotón de la compañía C, me correspondió el 13 de octubre de 1951 atacar los puestos asignados al batallón en una orden de operaciones para lo que se denominó “Operación Nómada”, y capturar esos objetivos que estaban en manos de tropas de la República de la China. Fuera de esto, y después esta experiencia muy importante desde mi punto de vista personal y profesional, de capturar ese objetivo, de capturar material de guerra, etcétera, etcétera, fui relevado después de un año, y presté servicios como segundo comandante de la compañía C. Presté mis servicios como tal, o sea, ejecutivo, según la denominación militar, en el puesto avanzado en el Valle de Kumwha, cerca a lo que se llamó “El Cerro” o “El Área de Acero”, el área, y del puesto 400, que fue motivo de una “Operación Climber”. De resto, mis actividades fueron patrullar. Tuve que patrullar de día, pero también, especialmente, desde mi punto de vista como una experiencia única, el haber patrullado de noche en pleno invierno con la circunstancia, y haber resistido temperaturas de bajo 35 grados. Y lo demás ya son actividades que se cumplen dentro de la parte militar como ejecutivo de la compañía.
– ¿Cómo es la significancia de contribución, de la contribución de Colombia en la “gera”? Significancia de Colombia.
– Ah, significado de la presencia de Colombia en la guerra de Corea, es para nosotros una gran experiencia, toda vez que se demostró ante el mundo que Colombia es respetuosa de la firma de la Carta de las Naciones Unidas, y respetuosa del llamado que hizo después de la invasión de Corea del Norte después del 25 de junio, por ahí el 27, el Consejo de Seguridad a los países firmantes de esa carta. Colombia fue el único país latinoamericano que se presentó allí a responder sobre ese llamado. Desde otro punto de vista, fue muy importante el haber participado en esta campaña, toda vez desde el momento en que regresamos a Colombia, hubo una modernización, un cambio total de las fuerzas militares, e inclusive, de la Policía Nacional. Entonces, dejamos de ser una entidad militar obtusa y antigua, en una unidad o una organización militar moderna, e incluyendo una doctrina que se ajustaba al tipo de guerra que nos tocó adelantar, que era la guerra regular.
– ¿Cuántos participaron en la “gera”?
– Eh, hubo 131 muertos, 649 heridos, 69 desaparecidos, 30 prisioneros, de los cuales regresaron solamente 28. O sea, quedaron 2 de los prisioneros capturados, y no sabemos en dónde están, no sabemos qué pasó con ellos.
– ¿Y por qué es importante para colombianos y coreanos y personas jóvenes del mundo recordar las contribuciones de Colombia y recordar este, esta “guera”? Porque esta “gera”, ah, ellos dicen que es “gera olvidado”. ¿Y, y por qué es importante para nosotros, eh, recordamos?
– Desde mi punto de vista, y según mi concepto, el hecho de haber participado en este conflicto, le dio una imagen a Colombia en el mundo que no conocían. Tal vez nos conocían como un país del tercer mundo. Entonces, siempre, no solamente Colombia, sino en coordinación con otros países, hemos estado pendientes de difundir, de promulgar nuestra presencia en Corea a través de publicaciones, como el periódico de una asociación de oficiales que se llama ASCOVE, y de una revista de las fuerzas militares, y una revista, también, de el cuerpo de generales y almirantes. De todas maneras, de las formas posibles, y de acuerdo a las posibilidades que tenemos, tratamos de que cuando celebramos alguna de nuestras efemérides, que la prensa nacional publique esto. Pero con tristeza, francamente les manifiesto, no les interesa mucho, los periódicos de Colombia, publicar o difundir estas situaciones. Incluso, hemos enviado en algunas oportunidades, notas corrigiendo algunos detalles que ha habido de culparnos sobre algo de la muerte de unos estudiantes, eh, por parte del Batallón Colombia que acababa de regresado de Corea, cuando eso era una gran mentira. Y esa publicación no la autorizaron o no la hicieron. En fin, como hemos tratado de hacerlo de nuestra parte, y también de los compañeros de ASCOVE, hemos tratado de, eh, la opinión pública, pero también dentro del ámbito militar, no se les olvide que Colombia estuvo en una guerra muy importante para el mundo porque fue el enfrentamiento, prácticamente, entre el bloque conducido por Rusia, contra el bloque conducido por las Naciones Unidas.
– Y por el fin, ¿cuál, cómo piensa, eh, de, Corea y coreanos y el futuro de Corea? Porque la “gera” no termi… no termina.
– Sí, estamos totalmente enterados a través de los periódicos, de las publicaciones, que sigue, pues, indudablemente se firmó un armisticio,¿no?, el 27 de junio de 1953, pero no se firmó la paz. Entonces, siempre sigue desde antes de la guerra, cuando estaba a la cabeza de Corea, Kim Il-sung, que había estado participando en la campaña con Mao Tse Tung y con tropas de Corea. El hijo, el nieto ahora continúa el, el enfrentamiento con Corea del Sur tratando, en este caso, como siempre se ha aspirado, tanto del Sur como del Norte, de unir la península, que sea una sola, como pasó hace miles de años a través de las diferentes dinastías, hasta 1910 cuando llegó Japón y… como una colonia. Entonces, creo yo, es mi concepto, que esta situación no se va a acabar muy pronto, sino seguirá, especialmente, el Norte y, lógicamente, el Sur, con todo derecho, tratando de neutralizar la posible actividad bélica que tiene en este momento, por lo menos, en lo que nos publican en lo siguiente, los del Norte, a través de su armamentismo, se dice, con, ya, armas nucleares. Entonces, eso es peligrosísimo, pero esa situación no va a terminar. El pueblo, en este caso hablo del pueblo surcoreano, porque en el Norte tienen que estar también pensando lo mismo. Porque cuando a mí me ha correspondido hablar de destrucción, de aniquilamiento, hay que hablar es de la gente que vivía en las dos Corea, los que, lamentablemente, con el Paralelo 38, separaron el Norte del Sur. Entonces, como conclusión, yo creo que esta situación tirante, esta situación peligrosa seguirá por mucho tiempo hasta que no se apacigüe la ambición de Kim Min Un actualmente.
– Tiene 89 años, pero parece 78.
[RISAS].
– Porque que he perdido como casi 20 kilos, yo estaba más gordo.
– Oh.
– Sí, yo sufro de problemas de problemas aquí, en el páncreas.
– Sí, pero es mejor para su salud.
– Sí.
– Sí, sí. Y último pregunta, ¿visité, no, visitó, ah, la Corea?
– Sí, yo he ido muchas veces porque, primero, remplacé al señor general Ruíz en la Federación Internacional de Asociaciones de Veteranos de Corea, International Federation of Corean War Veterans, que funcionaba de acuerdo a la presidencia, y el general Alberto Ruíz Novoa, él era secre… era consejero. Entonces, yo lo reemplacé a él porque yo fui presidente de una asociación de oficiales colombianos que se llame ACORE. Por esas circunstancias, y por el hecho de haber sido, o ser, porque en este momento todavía soy presidente de la Asociación de Oficiales, he ido alrededor de unas cinco o seis veces a Corea. La última vez, lamentablemente, ya me enfermé, y no… Que fue en el mes de junio del 2013. Iba a viajar a Corea en junio, pero ya no, no pude ir, y no he vuelto.
– ¿Y qué piensa de, de Corea ahora comparado a antes?
– Pues, tengo algo en la cabeza que lo leí en alguna parte, y es la destrucción, el arrasamiento, el aniquilamiento de Corea, de dos Corea, porque estamos hablando de Corea del Norte y del Sur, fue peor que el arrasamiento que tuvo Europa en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Así que, personalmente, tuvimos la oportunidad, como llegamos en junio de 19… Eh, mayo de… Digo, junio de 1951, observar la obstrucción, la cantidad de huérfanos, de viudas, de hambre, etcétera, entonces, nos llenó francamente de dolor ver que un país, aún cuando era un país extraño para nosotros, eran seres humanos que habían sido destrozados, que habían acabado en esa forma tan violenta y tan agresiva.

콜롬비아 카르타헤나 (1)
- Me llamo Antonio de Jesús Alba Rojas. Viajé en el Almirante Padilla en 1950, 1 de noviembre, rumbo a Corea, a la península coreana. Como ya usted lo decía, fuimos a defender a Corea del Sur de las garras de, de Norcorea que estaba ayudada por Rusia y por la China. Bueno, y llegamos allí, participamos en, en bombardeos, en desembarcos, custodiamos buques de todas las nacionalidades como, especialmente norteamericanos, porque sabemos que, que Norteamérica participó con el 60 % del material bélico para esa ayuda a la República de Corea del Sur. Duré allí, duramos tres años. Yo, personalmente, duré tres años. Un año en el Almirante Padilla, otro año en el, en la Capitán Tono. Volví en la Capitán Tono y fueron, más o menos, tres años. Nuestra labor fue esa, precisamente, custodiar buques, custodiar buques cisterna, bombardear ciertos sitios de Corea del Norte, que los consideraban peligrosos, donde habían emplazados cañones de alto calibre. Eso es lo que yo recuerdo de, de, en la guerra de Corea, esa participación. Como un acto muy especial, en, en ese trajinar nos dieron orden de, de bombardear una aldea de Corea del Norte, donde se divisaban, cerca de, de la playa, casitas muy pequeñas. Se veía que era una, de un, de una aldea muy pobre. Entonces, dieron orden de, de acabar con esa población, pero nuestro comandante, el comandante del Almirante Padilla, pues, consideró que, que era un, cometer un genocidio matar a tanta gente que no, inofensiva, porque creíamos que era gente inofensiva la que estaba en esta aldea. Entonces, el comandante nuestro dio orden de no disparar. Todos los demás buques dispararon menos, menos el Almirante Padilla, por considerar que no era un acto… que no, no, pues, no estaba en nuestra conciencia destruir a ese, esa aldea. Fue una, una cuestión, pues, que a nosotros nos llenó de satisfacción porque no cometimos ese acto de terrorismo con esos, esos norcoreanos. Esa es la experiencia que tuvimos como combatientes.
콜롬비아 카르타헤나 (2)
- Su nombre. - ¿Mi nombre? Orlando Erasmo. Estuve en el cerro Old Baldy. Fui uno de los sobrevivientes. Duré cuatro años en Tokio, capital de Japón, porque quedé inválido de las piernas. Cuando pude caminar, me mandaron para Colombia. - Qué mal quedar inválido. - No, ya. - Su experiencia, su experiencia allá, ¿cómo fue en combate? - Cuando vine de allá,estuve otra vez en pobreza, no tenía para dónde coger. Fui a prestar servicio nuevamente, pues no tenía de qué vivir. - Él es uno de los, de los que tratan de indigentes.No ha recibido nada del gobierno… - Actualmente yo estoy en un tratamiento, en una operación, porque como no soy pensionado, no me atienden en la base. [CARRASPEO] - ¿Qué…? ¿Qué recuerda de, de Corea, Corea? - En el cerro Old Baldymurieron… - ¿Sí? - Murieron un poco. - Old Baldy. Sí. - Yo fui uno de los sobrevivientes. - ¿Qué? ¿Qué?¿Cómo fueOld Baldy? - Nos atacaron y yo quedé, yo quedé como muerto. Ahí me recogieron y me llevaron para Tokio. - ¿Cómo? ¿Por qué es famoso Old Baldy? - No, yo quedé tirado ahí como muerto, me recogieron. Ahí me llevaron para Tokio a mi hospital y ahí duré casi tres años, inválido, en una silla de ruedas. Ya, ya casi a los cuatro, me mandaron para Colombia y ya podía caminar. [TOS] - Sí.
콜롬비아 카르타헤나 (3)
- Me llamo Raimundo Eraso Castellón. Pertenecíal Batallón Colombia. -¿En el año…? - Compañía B, tercer pelotón, tercera escuadra, ayudante de FA, en la cual pertenecí a la patrulla que entró por primera vez en El Chamizo y, de ahí, a los, a las 24 horas, hicimos la, la avanzada durante, durante 48 horas,en la cual combatimos a las 12:00 de la noche en la recogida del pelotón, en la cual hirieron al señor coronel Polanía Puyo. Ahí perdimos a tres hombres, a esa hora,a medianoche, en la cual fuimos hasta la, una ciudad, un pueblo llamado Punzón,en la cual desbaratábamos la entrada del ferrocarril y al día siguiente estaba otra vez ya compuesta. Se terminó a la medianoche de las 48 horas. Después,nos dieron de baja en Bogotá. Un everfeat y unos zapatos, y una corbata, y una camisa blanca. En la cual ingresé a la ArmadaNacional y. y en la cual viajé nuevamente a Corea en el Almirante Padilla. Y en el Almirante Padilla hicimos el trabajo que teníamos que hacer.
콜롬비아 카르타헤나 (4)
-Me llamo Hermelindo Unchala Cisneros. Batallé en el Batallón Colombia,cuando viajé a Corea en 1952. Fuimos a relevar a la compañía Cota. Pero como a la compañía Cota la hunden... los desaparecieron, pues. Quedaron nueve soldados nada más de la Cota, compañía Cota. Duré año y medio en Corea. Y nada, no me puedo, no pasó nada. Aquí estoy. - ¿Quieres, esto, explicar...? - Distintivo de, de la paz de Corea. Distintivo la paz de Corea. - Hombre de paz. - Sí, soy hombre de paz. [HABLAN AL TIEMPO] - Hombre de paz. - Corea de paz. - Hombre de paz. - ¿Sí? ¿Por qué? [HABLAN AL TIEMPO] [VOCES INDISTINTAS] ¿Y coreanos dicen "gracias" muchísimo? ¿Sí? - Sí, muy bien. Todos, gracias. - ¿Visita a Corea? - No, no he visitado. - ¿No? ¿Quiero? ¿Quiere? - Sí, claro. - ¿Sí? ¿Cuántos años tiene usted? - No, ya tengo 82, 84. - 84. [MAULLIDO] ¿Y qué se, qué se piensa que...? [MAULLIDO]
콜롬비아 카르타헤나 (5)
- Rafael Pereira Vásquez Peña. Estuve en Corea en 1953. Estuve en el Batallón Colombia. Estuve en el Old Baldy, cerro 180. Ahí quedaron cientoipico de muertos colombianos. Yo no me acuerdo de la guerra. Tengo 84 años... No recuerdo nada. Era fusilero, y después me pasaron una 1.130. Fui elevado. - ¿Cómo cambia, cambió su vida después de la guerra? - Bueno, bien porque tuve buenos empleos. Porque…
콜롬비아 카르타헤나 (6)
-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].
콜롬비아 카르타헤나 (7)
-Yo me llamo Hely Agamez Villarraga. Me fui voluntario para la Guerra de Corea porque el batallón que yo pertenecía aquí en Colombia nos solicitaron: que quién quería ir a Corea, y yo me ofrecí que iba voluntariamente para Corea. Entonces nos transfirieron a Bogotá, nos entrenaron en Bogotá, nos trasladaron a Cartagena, de Cartagena a Yokohama. De Yokohama en tren a Sasebo, y Sasebo-Corea del sur. Entonces, allá nos entrenaron, pasaron, nos llevaron al cementerio de los, de los compañeros caídos, nos dieron todas las instrucciones del caso, y pertenecía allá al batallón Colombia en la compañía A, primera fila, era el relevante de la escuadra. Cuando nos tocó a ir al combate, no… la cuadrilla mía, la patrulla mía, se llamaba la patrulla Tigre. Y entonces cuando estábamos delante, delante del pelotón dos que era el puesto de avanzada del batallón Colombia, nos tocó hacer un patrullaje de escucha. Allá se presentaron el enemigo, entonces el cabo, mi cabo, no recuerdo el nombre bien, le comunicó a mi teniente Galindo, que era el comandante de la compañía, y le dijo, nos dijo: ustedes lo que son son unos cobardes. ¿No querían venir para acá? Combátanlos. Entonces nosotros combatimos al personal que eran como 40, los eliminamos. Entonces yo como era el reemplazante del cabo, digo: mi cabo, ¿por qué no llama a mi capitán, a mi teniente, y le dice que nos metamos por el, la patrulla, puesto avanzado, y nos evitamos…? Y dice: no. Entonces: ¡Costeño cobarde! Me dijo, a mí me dio rabia y salí, salí caminando, me fui caminando como unos 15 o 20 metros, y ahí empezaron a caernos las granadas. A mí me cayó aquí entre las piernas y me elevó, me elevó más, y de ahí para atrás, como venía de una bajada, ahí casi nos eliminaron. Entonces cuando ya yo vi que ya se, se acabó, se terminó, me regresé, y entonces conocí al comandante de la patrulla, lo voy a levantar, lo conocí por el reloj, lo voy a levantar, y cuando le metí la mano hacia atrás, le metí la mano por detrás, pero le pegó el pecho por dentro, la cabeza ya no la tenía. Entonces ya ahí ya entonces empezaron… Como ya se dio cuenta el comandante, entonces estaba pura luz de bengala para que el enemigo nos ayudara. Hasta ahí fue mi historia ya, fui herido y… Fui herido en la pierna y estoy ya aquí esperando lo que Dios quiera. No tengo más que hablar. ¡Ah! Otra cosa: también fui, también fui el 2001 a Corea, también invitado por el… Y lo que dicen mis compañeros es que era un país sumamente pobre, inclusive hediondo, olía mucho, era muy hediondo. Y nosotros como soldados, nos volábamos para estar con las chinitas, con las coreanas, y dormían como en..., y tenían la, la calefacción era como un horno que le metían, le metían como, digamos, leña para el calor de, de, de la persona que estaba durmiendo ahí, y nosotros como no estábamos acostumbrado a dormir con ese horno, amanecíamos con la piel arronchada porque... del calor porque como no estábamos acostumbrado, entonces hasta nosotros nos conocían porque nos volábamos del batallón por las, por la piel. Y total que fue muy muy bonito Corea, y lo atendieron a uno de mil maravillas, y no puedo… yme están ayudando a mí porque me están dando un auxilio a un nieto.
콜롬비아 카르타헤나 (8)
-El buque Tortuga fue creado en 1591 como parte de la guerra con el Japón, donde la tripulación estaba en el interior y la cubierta superior estaba con púas, entonces los invasores no podían entrar aL buque La Tortuga. Entonces, por eso, la gente adentro, cuando llegaron a cierto lugar, pudieron salir y combatir a los japoneses. Pero el engaño estuvo fue en el interior del buque ese Tortuga, estaba todo el personal militar, y de arriba no veían nada, y no podían bajar por las púas que tenían la cubierta. Entonces eso fue un engaño y pudieron ganar la guerra.
태국 방콕 (1)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He is very lost. You went to Korea in 1950. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [INAUDIBLE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He went there by ship. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Around 15 days, travel by ship ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... and arrive at Pusan ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... on November [INAUDIBLE] 1950. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I traveled by train. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Went to a city, [INAUDIBLE] ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... to train [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> After train for 7 days ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I received an order to go to [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> To protect [INAUDIBLE] and preserve peace for [INAUDIBLE] few days. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And after that I got an order to move backward, and then pass the [INAUDIBLE] 38th parallel. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He came to [INAUDIBLE] city [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [INAUDIBLE] has fighting on the opposite side. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He try to prevent those opposite site to cross over the 38th parallel. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And during the time I joined this fight, I was so honored and very proud to be able to help Korean people, and also even share food to those [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> All Thai armies practiced the same thing. We shared food to Korean people who we can [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I practice my duty in Korea around 1 year ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... and then came back to Thailand. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> What I am most proud ... was that I was one of Army. Soldier. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I found that I am Thai person who have a heart to help our neighbor country, our good friend country when they invaded by the [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> In Asia, we call Korea as our, what you call, like a good friend country. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And also Korean people have a very similar connector with Thai people. >> Have you visited Korea after the war? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I went there only twice since after the war. >> What did you think about it? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> My last visit and when I compare with the time I went there during the war, so totally changed. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I was so much [INAUDIBLE] ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... economy and also socially and also transportation, everything so well developed. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I was so proud that I am part of the one who helped the country and they can see this country rise up and developed and [INAUDIBLE]. >> I hope that you're proud because Koreans all over the world are also very grateful. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> You were in Korea for 1 year. Did you see Korean civilians? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> When he went for the fight, he spent time around 15 days and then after that he came back to the place he live, around 7 day or something, and then he could be able to [INAUDIBLE] the civilian. >> When they were not fighting what did they do? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> No worry, they did not do anything. They just stayed at home because of just try to escape ... >> No, what did they, he do. He, not the civilians, not the Koreans. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> The army. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> They have an activities to do with the people, and also when they have food they share with the people. >> Did they see other veterans from other countries? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> They stay in different area so we not see other nations. >> Not even Americans? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yes, some [INAUDIBLE]. >> When he went to Korea, he met other veterans. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> You mean when he went back to visit? >> Yeah, revisit, revisit. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> No, I don't see anyone. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He said that he went there because different nations or so were invited to Korea. >> That's why. Yeah, that's why I was saying. It must have been very emotional. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah, they have a conversation asking like, "When you went there and when you go back?" >> Can you tell us, last comment, anything you want about, to the world, okay, to history, what you think Thailand's contribution in the Korean War? What's important to know about Thailand's contribution to the Korean War? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Number one in terms of heart, we really pour our heart to Korea. Second, we really want to help Korea to overcome the war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And we want to end this war as soon as possible. >> I hope that the war, because it still didn't end, will end in your lifetime ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... and that there will be peace, and one Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
태국 방콕 (2)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I went to Korea 1972. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Already kind of homeless. I didn't [INAUDIBLE]. >> Shh. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The fight only ended. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> However, soldiers still remained in Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I didn't have much chance to meet with Korean people ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... because I was in Air Force. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> My job was a pilot. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> So my base in Japan. >> Yeah. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We sent necessary things to Korea every day. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Sometimes I would stay at the Osan airport. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I'd fly to different provinces in Korea to ... >> Weapons. >> Logistic, [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The airport that we normally went to is in Gwangju. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. [ Chatter ] >> Jeju. >> Oh, Jeju Island. >> Busan. >> Busan, yes. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Our work received support from the other missions. >> When you were there, I know there were some conflicts between North and South Korea after the war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] during my time there was a fight in between security armed. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> How many people like him went to Korea after the war? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He brought, because they brought [INAUDIBLE], the students went to Korea to receive. >> How many people served? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> One year we sent about 20 Air Force personnel, [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> For how many years? >> Twenty, more than 20. About 20 years, 20. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> More than 20 years. >> So after 1953 ... >> Yeah. >> ... every year, about 20 Air Force until about 1973? >> Yeah. Yes, yes. 1974, about that. >> 1974. >> Mm-hmm. >> Nobody knows this. >> No. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> No. >> I'm very happy that I'm learning this. >> Mm-hmm. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> You were there for 1 year? >> One year. >> Wow, wow. Everyone was a volunteer? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Yes. >> But you were parted of the armed military? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Air Force. >> Air Force, but you volunteered to go to Korea? >> Right. >> Okay. >> Thank you very much. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE].
태국 방콕 (3)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I went to Korean War [INAUDIBLE] 1972. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE]. Only 157 people. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We stayed there for 14 months. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The reason we still continue to send our soldiers even just the war already ended. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We are still ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... Because in the current time still ... >> Command. >> Command. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] command. >> ... They call United Nations command is to stay in Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And still in [INAUDIBLE] city. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> On this ... what to call ... >> United Nation command. >> This United Nation command still remained there because there was policy from the very beginning that they have this kind of policy to stay there this year. That's why they're still over there. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I think about 8 years, eight countries. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Eight countries there at that time. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> England. >> Switzerland. >> Switzerland. >> Australia. >> Australia. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] United Nation. >> Even nowadays, still, we have a soldier stay in Korea in this United Nation command [INAUDIBLE]. >> Even now? >> Yes. >> Oh. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We need to stay every year like a rotation sending, getting there. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Because it's so that we can, what do you call that, complete the kind of policy. You have to send in accordance with the policy of the United Nations. >> Wow, even now. >> Now. >> Yes, even until now. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Now is no longer as a volunteers, but you select and send. >> Wow. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> No more volunteers because we need only 15, but sometimes they want to apply for 200. It's going to be a problem. >> So when you went to Korea, what did they do during the rotation? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They just need to spend time for training. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They need to [INAUDIBLE] even though there is no war but like a soldier, you still need to practice training and discipline. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And also civic action. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> A civil action is like helping the civilian ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... especially in the area nearby the base, the [INAUDIBLE]. >> Where is the Thai army base located in Korea? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> But during my time, I came to [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Seven kilometers north from Seoul, 7 kilometers north. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When we don't have war, we will practice to see action. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Yeah, like doing service projects, serving the people. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> During my time, I'm taking care of the orphan. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Also [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We do arrange the doctor, medical director, to take care of their health. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And share food to the elderly women and also orphan house, orphanage house. >> So how many in total from 1950 to 1953 during the war, how many time went and how many died? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Do you remember? You asked me. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> During his time. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. During this time, around 6,000. [ Chatter ] He said in total, 13,000. >> Thirteen thousand? >> Yeah, 13,000. >> During the war, 1950 to 1953. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He said during the 23 years, around 13,000. >> Oh, 23 years all together. >> Yes, 23 years. >> All together. >> How many died? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Three hundred eighty. >> Three hundred eighty died? >> Yes. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Because at the end of the war, because of the, what do you call that ... >> Ceasefire. >> They no more fight this time. >> But 380 is a big number. >> No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's not, 136. >> Oh, died. [ Chatter ] One hundred and thirty-six, that's still a big number. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Because they are babies, 18, 20. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Babies. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He said a soldier died, not so many because really good in fighting. >> Yes. Wow. Okay. Now association, let's talk about association. You're the president of the association, right? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> How many members are in the association? How many like him and how many like him? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> First of all, in charge as leader of his association. All of them came from the veterans. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Not only [INAUDIBLE] Air Force. We have also Navy. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Because in the very beginning, we sailed a ship [INAUDIBLE] to join this war [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Also a battleship royal to the navy [INAUDIBLE] ships. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Almost at the end of the war we already brought it back ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... just when the Air Force [INAUDIBLE]. >> Air Force. >> In the association, how many veterans are remaining right now? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. [ Chatter ] >> Most are still alive. They are members of the association. [ Chatter ] >> Around 3,000. >> Three thousand. >> Members. >> Oh. >> But does that include combat veterans? >> Combat veterans? >> Combat is during the war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. [ Chatter ] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. [ Chatter ] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. [ Chatter ] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Royal Army. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. [ Chatter ] >> What kind of activities does the association do? For example, meet significant dates like October 22nd, for the descendants scholarship? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> This association open every day except holiday and ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... we still remain [INAUDIBLE] of the veterans every day ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... because they have so many different things [INAUDIBLE] something because of the difficulties. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They want their children to receive scholarship. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We help with these kind of things. Every day, people come. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The money that we can give scholarship to the children of the veterans, we can fund anyways. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We got them from the veterans associations and also from Ministry of Defense. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Also some companies from [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When they organize for charity events, they donate it to us. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And also we try to fund [INAUDIBLE] so that we can also give scholarship from our ... We can [INAUDIBLE] from, what do you call, lotteries, also. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Actually not my own [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Thank you very much for the important work that you do. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> There are four goals that we have. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They all can accomplish as soon as possible. >> Yes. This is my fourth one, so I think it is ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I'm so glad. We want to hear your success. We wait for that.
태국 방콕 (4)
>> [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]
터키 앙카라 (1)
[FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> My name is Zeche Coral. >> My name is Zeche Coral. >> I am [INAUDIBLE] official of the Korean War. When I heard Korean War break out or broke out, I want to go to Korea War with my own wish. I applied to my commander, company commander, but unfortunately, he didn't accept my application. When he went to leave, I applied again to another secondary commander, and fortunately, my secondary commander accepted by application. Then I went to Korea. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Why did he volunteer? [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Korea was in a difficult situation and for their freedom, for the freedom of world, I wanted to fight in Korea to protect it. I was alone. I was not married, so I wanted to fight for the freedom of Korea and ... [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> It was ... My company was heavy weapons. I couldn't remember name of weapon to use against planes. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> There was a [INAUDIBLE] hill over there. I use my weapon against the planes, airplanes I mean, and we fought throughout night, until the morning. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> This ... [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> This was very strategically very important hill. That's why opposing forces tried to seize this hill, and we tried to seize this hill. It was very important hill. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Because of the ... This hill can have about 5 meters down under the bullets. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Opposing forces couldn't come to seize this hill, and also we couldn't [INAUDIBLE] to seize the hill. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Namuch Arguch was the commander of the unit, Turkish battalion. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He was the commander [INAUDIBLE], and unfortunately, one of the [INAUDIBLE] was murdered during this battle or during this conflict. His culture is in southern part of Turkey nowadays, and there is a park of this day. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He was murdered over there. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> It was out on the front line. He was murdered, or he was lost his life during this conflict. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He was over there too [INAUDIBLE]. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We were stuck in our cable telephone system during that time. Unfortunately, we didn't have the communication [INAUDIBLE]. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [INAUDIBLE] we established our cables, and we provide communication. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Then we put up breaks, our communication, and our communication soldiers came and manned the system. We had these kind of difficulties for communication. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Unfortunately, during that time, it was very crucial time, and other people running away ... [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> It was very bad time. I like Korea very much. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> When I went second time in the frame of a return program, it was really different, and Korea during war very bad, and I couldn't recognize. >> Recognize? >> Sorry? Recognize, or I couldn't believe this. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> In the frame of return program, I visit Korea second time. During that time, they hosted us at a five-star hotel, and they showed us all of Korea. I am really thankful. I was really pleased. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> During return program, there were different people in different countries like Greek, US or other people. [INAUDIBLE] Korean people, especially other people, so the Turkish black on our clothes, so they came and kissed us. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> There were Americans, American people and Belgium, but I am really thankful they came to us and hugged us and kissed us. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I don't forget. I do not forget their interest to us. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> But I am really happy I served Korean War. >> Me too. I'm very happy too. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And I am very thankful. Thank you. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
터키 앙카라 (2)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> My name is Yusef Gonidan. I am a retired sergeant major, and I work at the Turkish War Veteran's Association as the deputy president, and I went to Korean War voluntarily. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I was ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> When I went to Korean War, I was at the age of 19 years old, and when I went to Korea, cease-fire decision was taken, and ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We changed to the US division, 25th division of the US, 25th division of the ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We take their place. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I stayed at the front line for 6 months. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> As I did a sergeant major reconnaissance, I served at the reconnaissance unit. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Six months later, US division took our place, and we withdrew. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Fourteen months later, we returned to Turkey. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I know that Turkish troops fought during the Korean War, as if they fought in their country, as if they are defensing their country. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> In the beginning, I said that I went to Korean War voluntarily. If you ask me why I went voluntarily, freedom of a country was taken his hand ... Or one country was losing his freedom, so I wanted to protect the freedom of the one independence country, independent country. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Twenty-one thousand ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Twenty-one thousand Turkish soldiers participate in Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Six more Turkish military served in Korea after the cease-fire. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Korean government wanted to keep the US, British and Turkish troops in their country after the cease-fire. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Even though 21,000 Turkish soldiers served or fought in Korean War, later, we continued to send in our troops to Korea. Altogether, 57,000 Turkish soldiers served in Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I visited Korea number three times after the war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I like the Korean people very much. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> They like us too. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Whenever they see us, they show their respect. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Whenever I see these [FOREIGN LANGUAGE], I was on the edge of crying. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I feel that Korea is my second country. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> It's why I named ... My son's name means war. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] means war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Thank you very much for listening. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
터키 앙카라 (3)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> My name is Usman Yashan Akem. I am a retired Sergeant Major. I was born in 1930. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I was graduated from my school in 1951. One year later in June 1952, I went to Korea. I participated in the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> My brigade was the Turk Brigade going to Korean War. I participated in the real conflicts, or conflict, I would say, conflicts. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I participated in the conflicts called Nevada Complex. It was really, really hard conflicts. It was the front lines of the Turkish Brigade. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> During these conflicts, that night, we lost 140 ... >> Seven. >> ... 147, [FOREIGN LANGUAGE], Turkish soldiers lost their lives. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> That was the truce from Communist Chinese troops fighting with us. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> During those conflicts, almost 3,500 Chinese soldiers lost their lives between 24 to 26 hours. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> This battle is called one of the biggest battles. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> If we fought this area for 26 hours, maybe Chinese forces become the [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] and maybe it will make enough yield, loss of the war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Chinese forces wanted to occupy most of the Korean territory and wanted to sit at the peace table, the powerful. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> After this war, after this battle, the first version of the UN forces push the Chinese forces to sit at the peace table. Others, I think they wouldn't sit at the peace table. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> After the Korean War, I continued my job in the Turkish army, and 8 years ago, I retired from the Turkish army. It was 8 years ago. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I have been serving ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I have been serving at the Turkish War Veteran's Association here as the Chief of Social Affairs with my president together. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> During the Korean War, I observed. I saw the situation of Korea. It was really brilliant. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> When I visited Korea later, I saw they have evolved. During the Korean War, there was another job we have to do to protect the children. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I visited Korea after the war a few times. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I attended some activities over there. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> After a visit, I saw that Korea do a lot and every other year. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We have peace at the 741 Turkish soldiers lost their lives. After we saw that, observed that Korea do a lot, so we didn't fought for nothing. We have to deal with North Korea now. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Our main wish and hope to Korea be united and will be one country. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I wish happiness for the Korean people. Thank you. >> Thank you. I have one question. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Everyone says he's a hero, right? So maybe he cannot say, but I want to know about his heroism. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He says army soldiers, that's his job. He did his job and served during the Korean War, so maybe other people will consider his service as heroism, but he says he cannot say. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> There are those who died but never forgotten. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> They're real in his memories. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I will show you my pictures and what I did. I will show my pictures, so it would be better if you side my service, my heroism. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> When I went to Korea, my picture ... [ Chatter ] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> My picture ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] [ Chatter ] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I was 22 years old when I ... >> Handsome! >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] [ Chatter ] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Maybe you can tell me in English about his heroism. >> He prefer to show his pictures. >> Oh, that wasn't the picture? >> Oh, no. Oh, no. >> Oh, got it. Okay. We'll do it after. Okay. >> So after you you see his pictures ... >> Yes. >> ... he wants you to decide about his heroism. >> Okay, okay. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
터키 앙카라 (4)
>> Jay Detsuda. >> My name is Jay Detsuda. >> My name is Jay Detsuda [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I went to Korea in 1950. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I departed from İskenderun, one of the Turkish cities, departed from İskenderun and arrived in Korea within 23 days by ship. We traveled by ship. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I was a signal serviceman during the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I took training about communication at the signal school in Ankara, and I was selected for the Turkish Brigade as a signal serviceman. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Thanks to my military service, I attained an occupation thanks to my training as a signal serviceman. I worked as a radio communication man up on the ships and the airports. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When arrived in Korea, we stayed over a few days. Then we started to fight during the war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Since we could look successful doing our work, then they sent us in the district area, the fort, and since they could look successful, they were sent to Manchuria. >> Manchuria. >> Manchuria area. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We arrived at the border, front line. We saw the real face of the war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> At the front, we stayed between the two mountains or hills, and cannons [INAUDIBLE] were dropping around us, and we didn't fight face-to-face but inside of the war or the individual of the war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I was a signal serviceman. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> There were the two steps. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We provided communications for the brigade. There were the two steps [INAUDIBLE] some of the information, first step. They submit the information. Second step. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It was very hard. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We put our jacket or military uniform. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Without uniform to fight is not suitable, but since it was very hot, we had to take off our uniforms. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We needed water ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... at the headquarters. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> While I was able to ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> There was a streak while I was going to water. I saw a streak. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I informed my commander and said that there was mines, bombs in the area. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We had the connection with the commanders of headquarters because I was the signal serviceman. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Unfortunately, I am having a problem to remember. I have to remember. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We received a message. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> For communication, there should be two people. One person should use the generator. Another person should use the radio. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I was ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... one ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I used the generator with my one hand, and I provide communication with my second hand. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It was a very urgent message, so I passed this message to my commander. They needed weapons or support for the units or companies on the front line. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We stayed at table for a short time. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The princeps of the war, taught us on the ship and on the ground whenever we arrived to Korea territory. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I also participated in the Cyprus peace operation too in 1974. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Thank you so much. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Thank you. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >>
터키 앙카라 (5)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> My name is Vila Acasoi. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I was born in Kırıkkale in 1929. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I started my service in 1949, and I went to Korea in 1950. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I was [INAUDIBLE] while I was serving in the Turkish Army, I heard that there was a war broke out in Korea, and to tell the truth, I didn't know the real place of Korea during that time. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It took us 35 days to arrive in Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We stayed 1 week at one place. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We ... They took us by train to a military base [INAUDIBLE] Korea. We stayed there at least 1 month at this base, a Korean base. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> While we were in this Korean base, American warplanes were flying [INAUDIBLE] peace were flying over us. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> After the Korean military base, military vehicles drove us to the Korean and the northern side of Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We didn't think ... We didn't go the last step. We stayed in different places 1 week or 10 days. After our trip, we arrived to [INAUDIBLE] area. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And we participate in the Korean War. I'm sorry, the [INAUDIBLE] War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Through the war, I served as a medical personnel. Unfortunately, there were a lot of wounded people, were driven by the [INAUDIBLE] GMS in cars, trucks. And we Turkey [INAUDIBLE] wounded people were carried by the trucks. And the Turkish people were wounded, sort of wounded over there, and they were carried by the trucks backwards, and since he was the unit medical serviceman, he tended [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Chinese powers were [INAUDIBLE], were crowded. They surrounded units and wanted to destroy all of us completely, but it [INAUDIBLE] that report against them and pushed them back. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> One of the sergeant of company left him in a ... left him back, and their company forward to another place. He stayed at [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] they took the wounded soldiers in the truck, and they get on the [INAUDIBLE] trucks and started to drive in a northern side of Korea, and they didn't know where they go, those companies, and chaos ... and they ride the US base for a few days, the units. They gave the United ... some food to them and blanket for the night. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They stayed a few days over there, and then the Chinese forced attacked to the US units, and they went, let's say, left-hand side. They went right-hand side, Turkish troops or the trucks. They went through the base to a direction they don't know, they didn't know. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> During this chaos, chaotic situation, Americans tried to [INAUDIBLE], and they tried to go somewhere in other side, and unfortunately, at that time the Chinese forces try to destroy those soldiers at the line, [INAUDIBLE] line. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] forwards, or they could be thrown [INAUDIBLE] going back, [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> China's troops ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Wounded by Chinese forces were very crowded and attacked to the US forces. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I took one of the unit of the Army from the US people and give to the Turkish soldier and asked them to protect them so that they can go escape from that area, and ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] there were 100 US soldiers were over there, and we entered to the groups, and we started to go somewhere we didn't know, didn't know the area or direction we started to walk. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We walked now around for hours or 5 hours in the forest, but we didn't know the direction where it is. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They saw the [INAUDIBLE] footprint of the people and the footprint of the cars, so decided US troops went that direction, and we follow those prints. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And they were in the ... unfortunately, the Chinese forces around in this area in the forest, too. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> In the morning ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We went a group of the people into [INAUDIBLE] march. Unfortunately, we met a group. We didn't know who they were. They started to fire on us. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I was wounded in my ankle. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> There was a ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> There was a hit on my [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I tried to walk another direction to protect myself from the conflict, and I [INAUDIBLE] I didn't know where I went. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] morning ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... unfortunately, I met with the Chinese forces again. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They captured me. They captured me [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Fired at me, and I laid down. I pretend as if I died. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They come toward me. They check me, if I am live or dead. They said, "He is live." >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They took ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They took me somewhere, I think at least [INAUDIBLE]. I told myself that they would kill me, when I was expecting to kill me. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] I stayed at this place for 9 days. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] 9 days later they took us to another place. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We didn't have food. We didn't have clothes. It was really cold. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And they looked us as if we were dog or an animal. They didn't give food or clothes. We didn't have clothes to protect myself, ourselves. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They were were shanty houses over there. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The South Korean people stayed close at those shanty houses, I think. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> But it was very dirty places. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They put us in those shanty houses. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And we take off our clothes and put on [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They were ... I don't remember the English word. There were the insects, what you call [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We stayed ... [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We stayed at those houses I think 1 months or 2 months. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Says they were over there in the New Year time now. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They took us another prisoner camp. It was very cold. I do not remember the North Korean name. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We were very hungry, [INAUDIBLE] hungry. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We went to the [INAUDIBLE] city, city called [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He said that you have nations by nations. They sent us to another section, and the US prisoners were taken to another section. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Some of the prisoners got sick, and since he's a medical serviceman, he treated them. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It is very long story. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I treated Turkish soldiers and US soldiers, too. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They obeyed my advice. >> [INAUDIBLE] what you call the team took the ... boiled the clothes and washed them. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> So since they boiled the ... what you call it ... the clothes, I think, and they protected themselves from the ... [INAUDIBLE] I don't remember this ... >> Maggots. >> ... this insect. >> Maggot. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We could see the ground and the sky. It is difficult to tell the ... Unless you see the life or you live, you cannot understand it. It is difficult to tell. We just saw the ground, soil and sky. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Due to my prisoner time, they punished me. They put to prison. They take the prison, but they took the ... [INAUDIBLE] and others prison to punish him because he treated them.
터키 앙카라 (6)
>> Okay. My name is Ali Jengis Tuko. I was born in 1927, and I was, in other words, 90 years old. I didn't know anything about Korea. Almost everybody didn't know anything because of the China occupy the Korea. Of course, we didn't know anything. After the wars, after the Korean battle, government asked volunteers to be sent to Korea. I was one of those volunteers. At that time, I was 26 years and first lieutenant. I was a young [INAUDIBLE]. Let me tell you something. When I went to Korea, I thought that everything is very bad, destroyed country. It was very bad ourselves. We wanted to help all the time. Because of that [INAUDIBLE] I went there myself twice. Everybody talk about our battles. As you know, the Turkish Army fought 14 battles, and especially three of them were very important. Kunuri then ... >> Vegas. >> Vegas later though. >> Kumyangjang. >> Kumyangjang, a battle very close to February. It was really very good victory. As you know, after the battles, more than 1,000 Chinese were killed, 1,734, if I am not mistaken. So we tried to do our best, but I am going to say now. It's very important. Nowadays, especially Americans, say it's a forgotten war for Korea. I say that never forget Korean War, so we will try to do our best not to be forgotten. Maybe you're going to help too. Forces, when we came together, in 2013, when we went to Korea to attend a meeting for the federation with my president together, so everybody is discussing, "What are we going to do?" As you know, the number of the Korean disappearing. Some associations calculated. They said, "We don't have enough numbers." Then we put it into words, what's going to do. Only president of the England's, British, said, "No, I will not come again here," and 21, they said, "yes." Then next year, that was, let me think, 2014. I went again with my friends. We were together. So we discussed it. Everybody said different alternatives of what should be done. Some said it should be delivered to our descendants. Some others said, "You must join another association." As you know, Turkey, I think, at the beginning did very best, so we didn't want only Korean War Veterans Association. We called it only Veterans Association, so we are very comfortable. Now especially some Korean people also wanted to join a veteran's association in that city. [INAUDIBLE]. >> Spacious. >> An old man, you see, Korean was giving a job to discuss this. He said, "We must join another associations." [INAUDIBLE]. The job was given to two veterans from New Zealand. They prepared a drop and sent it, dropped it here, but until now, nobody called us to do anything, but we don't know what we are going to do. We are waiting news from Korea. We expect that we go there and continue with the same associations, but we don't know it yet. >> Let's go back to your experience in the war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Okay. Let me tell you something. It was terrible. I don't want to talk about it because everybody talk about it. It was not easy. >> But what did you ... >> Let me tell you something. Turkey tried to do its best. We did everything, everything. Also, we had the Koreans as well, you see, a shared effort with the Koreans. We shared. We took care of the orphans. We tried our best. One more thing, after coming back from Korea, I felt sympathy and all the Korean people when I was 26, but when they had passed, some are getting old, I always felt affection and sympathy for Korean. To me, all the Korean children are my grandchildren. You are my granddaughters [INAUDIBLE]. I love Korea. I love Korean people. Whatever they are, it's not important. I love all of them. That's why, you see, I wanted to talk about better things, but I will that we love Korea. Another thing, you see, of course, when I went to Korea, I was surprised. It was not Korea. It was something different. It was born from its ashes, like a phoenix, as you know. Some people say she lived 500 years. Some people say she lived 1,000 years, but after he died he born from her ashes again. So Korea did the same thing. I love Korea. What could I say? I love all of you. >> And we love Turkey too. Koreans love Turkey. >> That's why, you see, I didn't say bad things, but all the Turkish soldiers were heroes, many heroes around. >> Everyone, my American friends, every country, every soldier says Turkish soldiers were ... >> Everybody says so. Not only Turkish people do, everybody. >> ... very brave. Thank you so much, my captain.
터키 앙카라 (7)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> My name is [INAUDIBLE]. I am the president of Turkish War Veterans Association, and I am a retired [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Thank you very much for your interview with our Korean War veterans. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They went to Korea and fought for the freedom of your country. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Twenty-one thousand two hundred and thiry-one Turkish soldiers participated in the Korean War in 1950. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We sent or Turkey sent 5,520 soldier to Korea to serve after the ceasefire. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Turkish soldiers stayed in Korea 21 years. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Eight hundred and ninety-two Turkish soldiers died during the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Nowadays, 2,500 Korean War veterans are alive. They are living. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They are proud and pleased to fight for your country. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Some of the Korean war veterans, Turkish Korean War veterans, took the word Korea as a last name, like [INAUDIBLE] or [INAUDIBLE] son of Korea. They took as a last name. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> One of the Korean War veteran's daughter's name is [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Some of the Korean War veterans' business office name is [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] means from Korea or Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Our soldiers fought in Korea as a hero. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> During the fight, changed the fate of Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Heroism means to die whenever it is required. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We fought against the Chinese forces in Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Two hundred and thirty-four Turkish soldiers were prisoner. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Almost all of them, 234 Turkish soldiers, returned to their country [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> During the Korean War, Korea was in poverty, very poor. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Turkish soldiers shared their food with the Korean people during the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They opened the [INAUDIBLE] for the orphans for the children that lost their father and mothers. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Turkish people learned Korean after the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Turkish people like Korean people very much. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Nowadays, today Korea is a real rich country. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Since Korea is a rich country, Korean War veterans are very happy to see it's a rich country. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Korean government respect shows what we're feeling towards our Korean veterans. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We like Korea, and we continue to like Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We know that North Korea is a real threat for the world peace for the region, and we wish and hope that North and South Korea will be united, will be one country. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE].
터키 이스탄불 (1)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And this association is also a museum for the people. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And this establishment was sponsored by a Korean firm called N11. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And this N11 company, the Korean company, helped us a lot. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Me and all the Korean veterans are really happy with all the Koreans who have supported us. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And their constant attention and help towards us always makes up happy. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And today, allowing us to interview with us and allowing us to tell our story also makes us really happy. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And as the president of this association, I'm really glad and happy that you guys are showing this kind of attention towards us. >> Thank you. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE].
터키 이스탄불 (2)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> My name is Asam Kanat, and I was born in [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Our unit went to Korea in 1952, and we stayed there over 13 months, and I was part of the medical team. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And we had a hospital at the war zone, and we would treat injured soldiers, and if it was a really serious injury, we would take them back to the city. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We were mostly in the hospital, but we would see Korean people once in a while, and we would talk to them a little bit. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I went to Seoul and Pusan, but most of my time was taking injured soldiers to hospitals or moving them to the required place. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Has he ever been to Korea? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Afterwards? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It's been 64 years since I was in Korea, so I don't remember much. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> His friend was able to. It was for veterans [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> But I was sick, and I could not go to Korea again. >> Okay.
터키 이스탄불 (3)
[FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> My name is Mehmed Aziz Achman [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> My first time was 1950. I went to Korea for the first time. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I participated both of those wars. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We were [INAUDIBLE]. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We had a furious war in that area. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We lost 600 people trying to get out of that crossfire. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [INAUDIBLE] Korean War, we entered the second war [INAUDIBLE] I think. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And in the first war, the Chinese soldiers who ambushed them, we fought them and won them in the second war. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And I'm going to talk about how I saw Korea when I went there. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Majority of the towns or cities, it has the population at the front naming this is the city's name, but it was all dirt and nothing else. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> My first time when I saw the Korea was demolished, and everything was in ruins, but when I went back to Korea in 2012, I saw a whole new Korea that was really well and strong in every way. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And the last time that I went ... The last interview talked about the medallions the Korean War veterans received. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And I'd like to talk about that as well. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> In Second World War ... [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> The 25th unit in the Second World War, the American unit, received this medallion. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And this medal for the first time was given to Turkish soldiers as well ... [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... as a high achievement as a soldier for the Turkish soldiers. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> When I went to Korea for the first time, they told us the Korean alphabet has 480 letters, and the Korean alphabet was made of vines basically, but when I was Korea, everyone knew how to write and read, and that surprised me. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And the Korean climate is similar to Turkish climate, and I really do enjoy my stay in Korea. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> After the Korean War, the Korean citizens also withdrew with us. Thousands of people went back with us. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He's talking about about Korean War when all the citizens have to withdraw backwards, and he remembers women trying to carry some rice balls on their head and some kids on their bags, and he also remembers kids that were lost trying to find their parents or the old people who could not go back stranded on the ground dying basically. No one could help them because everyone was in chaos, and he remembers all these. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And these people were trying to get away from the Chinese soldiers, and they had nothing to carry, so they basically tied two huge sticks in order to carry their few belongings and run away from that area. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And he's talking about how little kids, even in the winter, they only had a T-shirt on them, and they would talk to us, saying hello and chap chap, which means they wanted to food, and he remembers all these, and he remembers all the poverty and the destruction. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And every time I remember this, it's hard ... It's getting hard to talk for me. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We would give all our food and clothing to kids that were without because we couldn't ... [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> In Suwon, the war was really strong, and we met a family in Suwon. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> There were three [INAUDIBLE]. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> They would wash our clothes, and we would give them all the food we have, the canned foods we have. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> An elder woman and a male. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> The man who was there, he lost his arm in the war and his wife, and they had three kids as well. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And the grandmother, one of her ... The middle finger was really bloated, and it was full of blood, and it was about to explode basically. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And she was in great pain. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And he gave her his medicine and a bandage for her. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And that bandage needed ... The bloating slowed, and it eventually healed slowly. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And they became really close with this family, and after that war, the family asked them to take us with you guys, but we were soldiers, and we couldn't take them. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And the day we had to leave Korea, the entire family came to us, and they were crying. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And I become really old, and every time I tell these stories, my heart breaks, and I feel really soft, and I can't stop myself from crying. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And it's been actually 67 years since all these, and I'm losing some of the memories, but still there are so many things that should be told, but it's really hard to even talk about them. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And when we reached Busan Port, I counted 36 US military ships. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And US ... He's saying US military send all those ships because they didn't believe Korea could win this war, and they were getting ready to ... Evacuation planning was getting ready for the US soldiers. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> They sent [INAUDIBLE] war, so that they could withdraw their own soldiers and send us to the front line. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And after our war in Korean War, our achievement, US soldiers realized that this could be won, and that's how ... That's when they realized that this good war, and they started fighting properly. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And I used to write diary every day before I became a soldier, and even though I went there, I kept on writing every day. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> First, I'd like to talk about the diaries and all the things that we wrote. One of our general's son took all these records and made us writing. They turned into writing, and he also wants to talk about that only three people know, his general and his lieutenant. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [INAUDIBLE] different district. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Basically, he used to be a messenger in the first war, and his general told him to go to a different district and tell them to join them because they need to get out of the crossfire that they were receiving, and they were planning for the next stage to get out together, but when he went to the other district, the leading commander of that area said, "You didn't see us here." He tried to ignore the order, and he said, "But this was order of the general," but he still ignored the command, and he had to go back to his general to report this, but the next day they had to fight out of that crossfire to get out, but that district didn't help them, and basically they had to get out without the help of the second district, which was really difficult for them. They lost a lot of people and ammo and vehicles as well in that. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And when he was talking, the son of the general was writing all this stuff, recording all the diaries and everything that soldiers wrote. He told him to tell him all these stories that were not told before because they were hidden. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And my son was with me as well. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And that son of the general is going to tell all these stories and record the videos as well, but it was 6 years ago to record. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And apparently he remembered his diary and everything that he faced, he wrote every single thing in those diaries. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And he turned all those into a book basically. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Wow. Wow. >> This is his diary. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And he's giving this to you. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I talk too much. >> No, thank you.
터키 이스탄불 (4)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> My name is Ibrahim Gulek. >> Ibrahim Gulek [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I went to South Korea in [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It took us 23 days to go to Korea with ship. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> First when we went, we were the [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When we first landed in Pusan port, we were exhausted for the long trip, and they let us rest for 2 days. Then we had to go to the war zone right after with a train. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We were going with a train, but the railroads were a little broken, and that caused the ride to be really slow because we couldn't go fast because of the railroads. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And when he first saw the Korean kids, he was surprised because they didn't have any clothes during the winter, and he thought the kids were able to withstand the cold because that was the first time they saw kids wearing basically nothing in this cold weather. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> There was food, Turkish bread and meat in the middle. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He would basically give the food, and they would all try to take the food, basically, and they would take the food from someone else's mouth. That was how the situation was. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And when they saw this, they didn't think about their own deaths at all. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When we first reached the war zone, we had to dig our own cover ourselves. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> All our hands were all destroyed and bruised because of digging a lot. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We were walking around underground. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And the gun was 7.5 kilograms that we were carrying everywhere with us. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I could not shoot anywhere. It was a long-range rifle, and I had seven targets that I had to hit. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And his lieutenant told him to shoot a specific target, but he had 200 bullets in his gun, in his rifle, and he would keep shooting at the area, but he could not see anything because of the dark. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And when he shoots a lot of bullets, the rifle gets really hot, and he has to change rifle as well. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And he constantly changed those rifles and put one of them underground in order to cool down. Then every night, he would spend around 1,500 bullets shooting at those targets. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And he went [INAUDIBLE] basically, and he would shoot at those areas, but he told his lieutenant that he could not see anything. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And the lieutenant told him that tomorrow morning, you'll see what you were shooting at. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And it's nighttime, and he went to the lieutenant, and he was sleeping in his bed. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The lieutenant in the night, he went to his lieutenant, and ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... he took the binoculars. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He looked through the binoculars to see what he was shooting at. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And when he looked through the binoculars, he saw a huge hill, but when he looked closely, he realized that it was all corpses, actually, human bodies that were put together up there. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Every district or area unit had one phone [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It was for them shooting the crossfire so that the enemy could not dodge or go towards one area. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And also, they would shoot in a crossfire [INAUDIBLE] bombed area, and he would see the trees that were full of holes, basically. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And the [INAUDIBLE] were actually good in every way. He's seen that. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And in the medallion ceremony where they had their pulling rope game, he was part of that as well against the US military. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Basically, it was 10 US soldiers and 10 Turkish veterans, and there was water in the middle, and they were playing who would pull the other side to the water. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> So the Turkish soldiers dug in the ground with ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> So their tactic was, they know that US soldiers were bigger and larger and stronger than them, so they basically at least threw up a little bit, and once they were losing their balance, they would pull in that time, and they won the pulling game with that tactic. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> In the war ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] basically they were English soldiers a lot, but they were hiding in the bushes to try to pull it back, but the Turkish soldiers would just charge in even though they did not fear anything, and he forced himself to go straight in the line and under pushes that that's why the Turkish soldiers won that small battle in the area. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And in the medal ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... for every Turkish soldier, a US soldier would accommodate that person and buy food and take him around, and a high-ranking officer was chosen for him. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] after I went back to ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Back in those days ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... they would exchange mail. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Ask him about Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And he's talking about the time when they were in the forest, and there were a lot of Korean citizens as well because they could not live in those houses because of the bombing and attack, and a lot of Turkish soldiers would take their food and everything and give it to the Korean citizens who were living in those forests with them. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> But the US soldiers thought that we were selling the food to the Korean citizens ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... and asked whether we had money or not from all the food that we gave. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The soldiers thought that the Turkish soldiers were selling because they did not think that they would give their own everything to the Korean citizens, and that's why US citizens were suspicious of Turkish soldiers, but once they realized and asked the Korean citizens that they had no money or anything, they just gave the food for free to the Korean citizens, they thought that the Turkish soldiers were kind of stupid because they were going to be weaker, and they left without finding anything. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The Koreans loved us a lot, and it feels like we're blood brothers, basically. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They went back to Korea in 1999. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And when they landed, they were going to go see the places they fought at. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And they turned those houses into museums, and he was going towards those area with other veterans as well. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And the graveyards. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And there were 165 ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And he's talking about ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... when he was in a tank in the war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He's talking about when he went back to the graveyards of the other people who died. He saw one of his friends who died in a tent when they were together, and there was a bullet shrapnel that fell from the top, and one went towards his friend, so his friend died, and he saw his grave when he went back, and he cried when he saw that. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He was a really good person that passed away, his friend. >> Is he buried in the United Nations Pusan Cemetery? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Tell him, "What is his name?" >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Sebatin. >> Sebatin. >> Sebatin. His last name? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Tell him, when I go to the United Nations Pusan Cemetery, I'll visit him too. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He is actually not in the [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He prayed to Allah in that graveyard. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> People were wondering why would he do it, but he said, "I don't care. I want to pray." >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And he sees himself online where he's praying in the graveyard for the ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Basically, he's seen on the Internet that he went back after 60 years and saw his friends, and he prayed for God.
터키 이스탄불 (5)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Menetia Urstik. >> My name is Menetia Urstik. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> In 1950, I went to Korea. >> On November 29th, I was shipped from Ankara to ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> From İskenderun, we took the [INAUDIBLE] ship and went to Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And from the Black Sea to the Columbia then eventually we landed in Pusan. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And the US soldiers and Korean citizens greeted us in Pusan Port. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And with the train, we went to take off. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> First 15 days of training in [INAUDIBLE] were at the [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And once they reached the [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When they reached Manchuria, they got an order saying that ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> They said that [INAUDIBLE] right away because 300,000 Chinese soldiers were coming. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And it was really difficult in the hillside to go with the cars because the roads weren't properly done, and we did our best to reach the Korean hospital. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> My commanding officer who passed away in that war told me that everyone should be really careful because all the soldiers. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Around 10:30 that night, the Chinese soldiers started attacking us. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And we lost a lot of people in that, and there was a command that told us to [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And the command was for all of them to go to a different town as fast as possible. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And even though we saw a lot of our friends die that day, we had the command to shoot our bombs towards them as soon as possible. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And they were shooting their bombs more towards the enemy soldiers, and they were [INAUDIBLE] and then he saw bodies flying around in that time. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And we fought until the morning, and we received a command saying that US soldiers were coming to support us, and we saw the US planes, and we kept on fighting through the entire night and also in the morning. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And the Chinese soldiers were taking the corpses of the Turks and the US soldiers and hanging them where they can see them and burning them and shouting at them. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And we were about to engage because our soldiers were really mad, but then the US soldiers signaled the enemy side [INAUDIBLE] with a little piece of paper, and he was [INAUDIBLE] that area, and the enemy soldiers started [INAUDIBLE] more silent, and they had to cover themselves, and that's when we had to [INAUDIBLE] backwards. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And [INAUDIBLE] backwards, and again, when they came for us, we fought for 24 hours, and we basically protected a specific US unit in that time. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And that was the reason the US Army gave the Turkish unit the Silver Star because they didn't fall back or separate. They stick together in order to protect the 25th Unit of the US Army in that time. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And they found a little kid by himself, and his commander officer leaned in. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Ila. >> They named him Ila, and they protected him during that time. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And after a year where we had to leave, another soldier [INAUDIBLE] took care of the little kid in that time. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And when they were treating, and they saw a lot of Korean citizens trying to run away just like the Syrian people trying to get away and find shelter, and they gave, the soldiers gave them, more than they had in order to support them, and they kept receiving thank-yous and Korean [INAUDIBLE] from them. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The biggest losses were [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The biggest losses were ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> One of the battles, most, actually all my unit died, including my commanding officer in that battle, but I was able to get away. I was 100 meters behind one of my friends who was caught in that fight, and he was captured, and after that ambush, the US soldiers attacked the next battle and found out that he was a Turkish soldier, and they sent him to Japan to get treated for 3 months in the hospital. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And from his unit, only him and he survived. He went to find him in Turkey when he went back, but he couldn't find his address, and he couldn't see his friend. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I was born in '29. I'm 88 years old. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE].
터키 이스탄불 (6)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He's the leader or the president of his association, and he's a retired veteran. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> "And I am a veteran from [INAUDIBLE]." >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> This association started in 1984 for the [INAUDIBLE] and Korean War Veterans. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> This association started [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] the small room. In 2004, the government allowed this building to give ... Gave this building for the veterans. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And the current population of this building is 2,005 people. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And 200 people of these people are from the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> The youngest of these Korean veterans, he is 86 years old, and about 70 percent of these people can't even walk and are currently staying here. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> This room is made for the Korean Veterans for them to meet once every week on Thursday to spend their time and meet with each other. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And from the objects they gave us ...
터키 이스탄불 (7)
>> You saved. They remember you too. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He's really happy, and he's hoping that South Korea stays strong. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He's telling you that ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... when he went back to Korea, he realized the kids these days are taller and bigger [INAUDIBLE]. >> Aw, don't cry. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Oh, thank you. Do you remember me from 2009 when you visited Korea? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He went to Korea in 2012. >> Oh, '12. >> He didn't go in 2009. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When they were coming back from Korea, they went really fast. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When the plane landed really hard on the ground, all five of us lost our balance really hard, and it did to us something that [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> People who see us might look at his age, but he's still [INAUDIBLE]. >> Oh, thank you. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Thank you. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Okay.
터키 이스탄불 (8)
>> You saved. They remember you too. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He's really happy, and he's hoping that South Korea stays strong. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He's telling you that ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> ... when he went back to Korea, he realized the kids these days are taller and bigger [INAUDIBLE]. >> Aw, don't cry. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Oh, thank you. Do you remember me from 2009 when you visited Korea? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He went to Korea in 2012. >> Oh, '12. >> He didn't go in 2009. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When they were coming back from Korea, they went really fast. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When the plane landed really hard on the ground, all five of us lost our balance really hard, and it did to us something that [INAUDIBLE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> People who see us might look at his age, but he's still [INAUDIBLE]. >> Oh, thank you. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Thank you. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Okay.
터키 이스탄불 (9)
>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> We were invited in 2010 to go to Korea with my wife. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When I was injured back in the war, I took an ambulance that went past the Han River. >> One bridge [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> There was only one bridge that was about to be collapsed. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> But when I went back in 2010, I saw there were 29 bridges on the river, and I was really impressed. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He's saying all the Korean people are really polite and hardworking. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> One day, they took us to a village. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It was 75 kilometers away from Seoul. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It represented Korea 100 years ago. They made a village to present that old time. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It was sort of a museum where they created a scenario of Korea 100 years ago where kids would go to learn about Korean history. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> When I went there, I saw kids sit down in the [INAUDIBLE] and the teachers would explain them about the history of Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And after the teacher told the kids about the stories, the kids started running towards us, and they started hugging us and kissing our hand. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> There was one really handsome kid. I think he was around 13 years old. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> He hugged me and kissed my hand. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And he looked up to me and said, "Atatürk." >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> And when I looked, the teacher was waving. She was waving her hand. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> The teacher basically told them about the Turkish soldiers, how they lived thousands of miles away, but they came to our country and fought for us, and their leader was Atatürk, and she told this, and he cried. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> I went to his mausoleum in Ankara, yes.