Stories from the Korean War

>> Hello, everybody, from Paramaribo, I am extremely excited to be here again at the Korean War Memorial dedicated to the 102 Surinamese young men who went to Korea and fought for me, and there are only three remaining Surinamese Korean War veterans, and I got to meet two, so I am happy like a girl. So these are my two grandpas, Surinamese grandpas. In fact, Suriname is the only Caribbean country that fought in the Korean War, and he, despite how he looks, is 93 years young. Right?

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

>> Grandpa, what is your full name and so everybody knows.

>> I’m named Edward Derdrick.

>> And when did you fight in Korea?

>> That’s … When was that?

>> 1955, no?

>> ’40?

>> ’52 or ’53.

>> ’52, ’53 and …

>> No, ’52, ’53.

[ Chatter ]

>> Until the last day of the cease-fire.

>> Oh, until July 27th.

>> Yeah.

>> Okay, yes.

>> Yes, July 27th.

>> Yes, and, Grandpa, what is your full name? Tell them.

>> Wilfred Herman von Hom.

>> Von Hom, and he is 87 years young, so he, compared to him, is a young chicken, right? Well, guess what?

>> I was one of the youngest that left Suriname when I volunteered to fight in Korea.

>> Why did you volunteer?

>> Yeah.

>> Why did volunteer?

>> Because when I hear of the problems in Korea, and my father was a German, during the war, because we are Netherlanders here and Dutches, we got problems. We got problems, and with all the problems, when I hear about the problem in Korea, I go fight.

>> Oh.

>> Very good, tenacious.

>> Wow.

>> Yeah.

>> Oh, I, of course, showed them and expressed my love and gratitude [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] which is, I think, a thank-you in, muah, their local English, thanks to Diego right there.

>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

>> You have to show the patch.

>> This one?

>> Yes, so, everybody, you know how I go crazy about the Indianheads, the 2nd Infantry Division? Yes, so …

>> 2nd Division, oh, we’re the 8th Division of the eighth army in Korea.

>> Yes, so, they fought alongside the American 2nd ID. They’re called the Indianheads.

>> Yeah.

>> And this is their patch, their symbol, and so when I went to Netherlands, I saw that as well.

>> Who is that? That’s on the video.

>> See, this is his wife, and she’s wearing Surinamese colors. Surinamese colors are red, green, yellow and white, and red stands for love.

>> Yes, yes, yes.

>> So I wore red specifically for them. Grandpas, come with me to the memorial, and, Tanya, say hello. My local friend, say hello.

>> Hello, everybody, this is Tanya.

>> And, Raphael, come on. Don’t go away. Say hello. Raphael, say hello.

>> Hello, everyone.

>> Hello. I met Raphael and Georgiano yesterday through Chuuri, and I’m going to pull him over, but because he, we found out yesterday, is the grandson of a veteran. He didn’t know his father’s name was on the panel, so we’re going to show them the panel, okay? Georgiano, do you want to join us for a sec?

>> Grandson, granddaughter …

>> Yes.

>> Can you tell us about, anything about your grandfather’s service?

>> Okay. Then I have to begin at the beginning. My grandfather, he also fought in the Second World War.

>> Oh, Russia.

>> And I think because he was still in the army, the officer sent him to the Korean War out of Japan. What can I tell about my grandfather?

>> Did he say anything about the Korean War, tell any stories?

>> No, I was too young.

>> Okay.

>> But don’t keep telling me that then because I have a book, and it’s actually a funny story because the war, in 1954, they have … They published a book with all the fun stories about the veterans, and it’s a book by him.

>> Okay.

[ Chatter ]

>> There is a book with some of the veteran’s stories. I forgot to bring it in today.

>> It’s okay. I’m going to ask you for a favor, and that is to ask your father about any stories that he might have heard from your grandfather, pictures, and send it to me on PDF for me, okay?

>> Okay, I will do that.

>> Okay, I need to tell you something awesome about Georgiano. Georgiano is what we would look like if we all … He has white blood, yellow blood, brown blood and black blood, right?

>> Yes.

>> It’s amazing, right? What is it, Chinese?

>> Chinese, Javanese, Indonesian.

>> Javanese.

>> I have African.

>> African.

>> And I have Dutch.

>> And Dutch. Isn’t that wonderful? So he represents unity of all races, so I will now take you to the Korean War Veteran Memorial with Grandpa here. Grandpa Hom, so this memorial was built in 2008, right, that memorial?

>> Yeah.

>> Were you here for the ceremony?

>> Yes.

>> Yes, okay, let’s go, and I think I saw a picture of you in Korea?

>> Yeah.

>> You visited Korea?

>> After the war, I visit Korea two times.

>> Oh, you visited two times.

>> Yeah, visited two times.

>> You went in 2000, huh, 2010, 2010?

>> 2010, I was in Korea and before, in ’82.

>> Mm, what did you think when you went to Korea?

>> When I went in …

>> Over there. What did you think?

>> About Korea?

>> Yes.

>> Oh, it’s a nation that built its country. The time that I … The first time that I visit Korea, I … Yes, the Yellow River was only one bridge.

>> Oh.

>> In ’82, there was 60 bridge across the Yellow River to Seoul, from [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] …

>> Yes.

>> … to Seoul.

>> Wow.

>> Sixty bridge and a double bridge, there was one of a double bridge to get across, that go this way. They pass under, under the second stair, and otherwise, that go this way, they pass on the upstairs.

>> Everybody, all the veterans, are so amazed that Korea was able to become such a international giant and make progress. So that was thanks to your sacrifice and the sacrifice of your brothers in arm, so I will finally show you.

>> Here?

>> The names of all the veterans, and you’re … Where’s your name?

>> My name is there, or …

>> Right here.

>> Let me see. I will have … They have one …

>> Right here, so this is Grandpa … How do you pronounce your … Gohm?

>> It’s von Hom.

>> Von Hom.

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, von Hom.

>> Von Hom, thank you so much, everybody. I am going to interview them at length, and we’re going to go for lunch, so I have been happy and excited like a girl, and that’s what they make me feel like. The Grandpas make me feel like a little girl because the last time I saw my own grandfather was when I was 6 years old, and so I miss him every day, and so when I see you, I think of my grandfather. I become 6, and that’s what makes me so happy, and so, everybody, I shall see you guys tomorrow, bye.

>> Hi, everybody, from Paramaribo, Suriname. This is the Surinamese River, and I am going to take you to the Korean War memorial at this Independence Square. So it's very fitting today. I'm going to have to be careful because I don't want to fall into water, but today is Independence Day in Suriname, and that's why there's a lot of activities going on in the background. Suriname gained independence in 1975 on November 25th, and obviously today is November 25th, and they gained independence from the Netherlands. So the reason why I'm here in Suriname is because they were a former Dutch colony, and during the Korean War in 1950, the Surinamese, 115 of them ... Whoa! >> Watch out. >> Went to Korea, and two were killed. So you'll see over there, there is a memorial with three statues. Again, this is the Independence Square. And I was so happy because it seemed like obviously there's so many people here. It seems like a lot of people knew about this memorial. It was 2008 when the Korean government dedicated, donated money so that they could dedicate this memorial [INAUDIBLE]. This rain has [INAUDIBLE] a couple times throughout the day like a storm, so it's a little bit wet. So a Korean soldier, and this was erected [INAUDIBLE] monument in memory of Surinamese [INAUDIBLE] in 2008, June 25th. As you guys know, June 25th is the day that the Korean War started, 1950. So there's the beautiful Korean soldiers. If you look at them, they look a lot like the American soldier. If I'm correct, and I'll have to find out more, but the Dutch soldiers were attached to the 2nd Infantry of the U.S. Army, the Indianheads. That's probably why they're wearing, like, American uniforms. So I'll show you the [INAUDIBLE]. This side, so it basically says that it was dedicated to 102 Surinamese veterans, and like I said, two passed away. And on the other side ... Look, the [INAUDIBLE]. There are the names of everyone, and I am extremely excited because there are currently ... Among these, there are only three living, and so tomorrow I'll be meeting Mr. Gom and two more others, and we will be here in the morning to lay a wreath, so I am extremely grateful, and thanks to [INAUDIBLE] for filming and taking me around today ... >> You're welcome. >> ... and showing me this ... >> You're welcome. >> ... beautiful, beautiful country. I have learned so much from you, thank you, about the groups here, and I just wanted to quickly point out that the Surinamese are extremely diverse here, and I'll explain why a little later, but the flag has a star in the middle, and that star symbolizes the unity of all ethnic races, so ta-da. I'm wearing yellow to symbolize unity because I, wherever I go, pray for unity among just all of us, but at the same time, I keep praying for unity and peace between North and South Korea so that they become one Korea. So thank you, everybody. I will see you tomorrow. Bye.

>> My name is David Sothers. I'm a colonel in the Royal Engineers. I'm 88 years old, and I went to Korea in 1952 and came back in 1954. I worked on the docks in Busan and Incheon and K-9 and looked after all the ammunition that went out to the front and all the food and everything, and we had two harbor masters in Busan. I was one of them, and we looked after all the shipping and the railways, and we flew to Incheon to deal with the vessels up there, and I came out in 1954. I recalled to the army in 1956 for the Suez landings, and I then was with 3rd Armored Division, and I retired [INAUDIBLE] colonel a few years ago. >> Wow, so how many years did you serve in the ... >> Full-time? My full-time service was 2 years national service and 6 months in Egypt in the Egyptian landings, so in total ... >> Yeah. I was in the Territorial Army for 40 years. >> Wow. Well, thank you for your service, but what do you remember about the Korean War? >> The children didn't have any food, and we used to feed some of them, and sometimes the ladies working for us had babies when we were working, and we looked after them, and the people had a very bad time. >> You know, I have to say, a lot of the veterans, they all tell me children and that ... How much it left an impression, and if I'm correct, the British Korean War Veterans Association even supported an orphanage. >> Yeah. That's right and a scholarship, yeah. >> Yes, and a scholarship until pretty recently or even maybe until now, but yes. >> Yep. We have students from UK to go over to Korea to study for a year or 2 years. >> That's really amazing. >> Yeah. >> Well, I do want you to know that the Korea today you see is ... has been able to rise from the ashes of war thanks to your contributions, so thank you. >> Yeah. I went back when the Queen made a state visit. She took 30 of us, and we went back to Korea for 2 weeks, and we went around, the Queen. >> With the Queen. >> And we had a ... We were looked after. We all got medals and met the president and things. >> Wow. When was this? >> Ten years ago, I can't remember, when the Queen went. >> Wow, and how are you selected? How did they select the 30? That's a great honor. >> It came down from above. >> Well, you must have been very special. >> No, no, no, no. Just lucky. >> No, there's no such thing as luck, God's way. >> Okay. >> Thank you.

>> My name is [INAUDIBLE] Jones, 24th [INAUDIBLE]. I was born in 1933. I lost my friend in Korea. I was very lucky myself. It was the Hook, it was, and I was transferred to 29 Brigade, so I didn't go in the Hook, and unfortunately he was killed with a mortar bomb. I tried to go and see his family, but I transferred my home. I was living up [INAUDIBLE] Wales, so I would've liked to go up to see him, see the family, but [INAUDIBLE] but it's really awkward if you got transferred on your own, and it's [INAUDIBLE] or famine and all that way. Yes. >> Hmm. >> So I would've ... he must probably ... he got ... Well, I'm thinking they couldn't have relatives there. No, but it's a lot of ... as time has gone now. Yes. Yeah. >> What do you remember about ... You were part of the Welsh Regiment, right? >> No, no, I was with the Duke of Wellington Regiment. >> But you're Welsh? >> Yeah. No, that's Yorkshire. What it was, I was an officer in service, and the battalion ... The Welsh Regiment was pulling out when I was going into Korea, and then this battalion then, the First Battalion, the Duke of Wellington's, was coming from Minden in Germany, so being an officer in service, it was put in there because they was understrength. Battalion was understrength. >> Mm. >> So I ... >> But you're ethnically Welsh? >> Pardon? >> But your background, you're Welsh? >> Yes, oh, yeah. Mm. >> Mm. And you said the friend that died ... >> Yes. >> ... was ... >> He was from ... >> He was Welsh, too? >> Welsh, oh, yes. >> Was he one of the fallen? >> Pardon? >> Is he one of the 32? >> Jones, same as mine, looking for Jones, private he was.

>> Your full name. >> My name? >> Thomas Perkins. >> Thomas Perkins and your date of birth and where you were born? >> I didn't hear that. >> Your date of birth and where you were born? >> Oh, I was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales in a place called St Davids, the smallest city in Europe. >> Okay. When did you serve in Korea? >> When did I serve in Korea? 1951 to '53. >> Can you share what you brought with us? You brought something. >> I've got something? >> Mm-hmm. >> Yeah, just a photograph of me in Korea. I was 19 years of age. >> What do you remember about your buddies? What do you remember there? >> I was in the Tank Corps. I was a tank driver. >> Oh. >> Yeah, and this is ... That is actually the tank that I drove when I was Korea. >> Oh. >> That one there. >> Can you show it like this? >> Sorry? >> Can you show the picture like this? Yes. Wow. It's the real one? >> Oh, yes. >> Did you know any of the 32 that died in the war? >> Did I? >> Mm-hmm. >> Did I know any? >> Who died, yes. >> Who died? >> Yes. >> I ... We only a couple of men in Korea. >> Thirty-two. >> That one ... >> Were you part of the Welsh Regiment or the King's Regiment. >> No, no, I was Tank Regiment. >> Was the tank part of the King's or Welsh? >> I was a Tank Regiment. >> It's a separate? >> Not in Korea, no. Welsh Regiment Infantry. >> May I take a picture of that one too? >> Yeah, that's ... This is the crew of that tank. >> Oh. >> That is me. I was the tank driver with [INAUDIBLE] gunner, and that's a radio operator. >> What was ... What's your one story? >> That was during the actual war. We were on the battle of the Hook. Also ... >> What's the battle of the Hook. >> It's an area within the Commonwealth division in Korea. >> Mm-hmm. >> And we had a place called the Hook, which is the hook, and then we had other positions, which are relevant to the area, 355, 159, 210, 10, and they all had names, [INAUDIBLE], Little Gibraltar. >> Wow. Do you remember ... Have you been back to Korea? >> No, I have no wish to go back? >> Why not? >> When I went there, it was a lovely ... When I went there it was a nice, quiet country. There was no skyscrapers. It was very, very basic. >> Mm-hmm. >> The people were very basic. >> Mm-hmm. >> And there was this war going on, which wasn't very nice, and it was very cold. >> Very cold. >> Everybody talks about how cold it was. >> You could have a cup of tea and put it down, and 5 minutes it was frozen. >> I'm glad you made it back very safely. >> No, I've not been back. I've not ... I've no wish to go back there. >> Oh, no, I mean back home. >> Sorry? >> Back home. >> Back home? >> Yeah. >> When did I get back home? >> I went to Korea '51. I didn't come back home to this country because I went to other places. >> You were in the military. >> I was in a long time. I went from Korea to Malaya. That's in Malaya. >> Yeah, from very cold to warm. >> That's Malaya, further down, and I served in Malaya. These are letters I had from your ...

>> My present title is Major Tudor Price, MBE. In the Korean War, I was a sergeant in the First Battalion, the Welsh regiment. I joined the battalion in January, 1952 on a feature called the Shimyeondong Valley, and the feature in front was known as Hill 169. My date of birth was the 4th of the 2nd, 1929. Having been on a 12-hour patrol, up to my eyes in snow, I came back with the patrol, and this young officer put a tumbler of rum in my hand, and he said to me, "The King is dead. Long live the Queen." That was 2 days after my 23rd birthday, the 6th of February, 1952. Her Majesty, the Queen, came to the throne. I served in Korea right up until we left, which was in November 1952. By that time, the Korean War had become, as we were all concerned became static lines just like it was in the 1914, '15. The attacking forward up to the Yellow River led by General MacArthur had stopped and seized, and took over from the First Battalion. We lost a regiment, which was really wiped out. Now one of the things they handed over to us, like we took Korea, we took our regiment [INAUDIBLE]. They handed over to us a rabbit called Harvey. Do you remember the film, "Harvey," and the drunkard, played by Henry Fonda, I believe, or somebody or James Stewart. I can't remember. Anyway, we carried on patrolling the no-man's-land in between the North and the South, and this would continue for a number of months, and at one time, our B company did an attack on a hill called Hill 270, and this was fought on this hill feature called 355. Unfortunately, a lot of our boys were wounded and one or two killed. In fact, if you look at our title of our book of the Welsh Regiment, it lists 32. We lost 32 men killed in Korea and quite a number wounded. Now this book was compiled by the intelligence officer we had in Korea, a Lieutenant Norman Summon, who finally retired as Major Norman Summon, and he and the curator for the museum compiled the history of the Welsh Regiment in Korea in the Korean War. I should say, when I did arrive in Korea, I arrived after the battalion, and I landed at Busan in the south. Busan, in those days was a shanty-type of a city, [INAUDIBLE] city which had been devastated by war, and we were greeted by an American band that played us on ashore, and we then entrained right up to Seoul, and I think ... I can't quite remember. It was either Uijeongbu or Kumjongti, something like that, that we disembarked, and in fact at the end of the Korean War ... end of our joint in Korea, we handed over to the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, and again, we entrained at the same place in one of those two railway stations, and we embarked for Busan, where we got on the troop ship. Before we embarked the regiment went to the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, which is situated in Busan, and we held a service there to commemorate all those boys that we lost and were wounded or suffered whilst in the Korea. Whilst I was up in the line at one time, I was sent back to Seoul to carry out a ceremonial duty on a general that visited. His house man, the man that run his estate in Seoul, took us on tours of Korea ... Of Seoul, I should say, and we could see the devastation that was caused by when the North came down and, as you know, attacked the South, but in conclusion, I must say that the people of Korea have pulled themselves out of nothing and one of the leading people in this world today. Where we be? We'd be without out televisions and radios and so on. I thank the people of Korea, and I always enjoy the people, and in fact, I got this photo of platoon in Korea. That's a photo of my platoon, and on there are the house boys that looked after me or looked after us, I should say. They were apart of the Korean Service Corp. They came up first thing in the morning to make sure we were all right, help us with our chores, getting washed, getting dressed. We even shaved in the front line. If we didn't have water. We melted the snow, but those boys were very useful, and as I said earlier, we used to have a ration of 50 cigarettes in those days which I give to the house boy to thank him because not only did he keep an eye on me, he took my dirty washing down the hill to bring back a few days later. Now that is him. When we were out on the line, this is the picture that was taken of the sergeant's best that was in Korea. I'm on there as a very young 23-year-old, but will no conclude and say I was very, very proud for having served in Korea, and it noticed, other my first medal, my first two ribbons are the British Korean and the United Nations medal. I would now like to conclude this interview. Thank you very, very much indeed.

>> My full name is Emerest Moore. I'm 89 years of age, which means I was born on the 4th of August, 1930. I was called up to do national service at the age of 21 because until then, I was deferred to get qualifications in my particular trade. Prior to that, national service was 18 months, but because of the Korean War, it was increased to 2 years. I trained for 3 months with the Welsh Regiment in Brecon in South Wales, and then we sailed to Korea on the Empire Windrush. I eventually landed in Hong Kong to do some training after 4 weeks on the troopship, and then we were shipped off to Japan to [INAUDIBLE] where I did further training in the [INAUDIBLE] battle school up in the hills above [INAUDIBLE]. And then I was fortunate to remain with the Welsh Regiment, and I was transferred across to Korea to serve with the First Battalion, the Welsh Regiment in July. I didn't spend a 12-month there because I was late being called up, I suppose, a national serviceman. So I served from July and came out with our battalion in October. Unfortunately, I didn't experience the Korean winter, which was very, very bad, but I knew all about the heat and the dust and the dirt and the monsoons, I suppose, and living in the bunkers, which wasn't a very nice place. The one thing that I can recall, I must say I was always a believer in fate and luck. I was lucky to join the battalion in July when a lot of the boys who went out there on my particular drat were transferred into the Black Watch Scottish Regiment, and they served the full 12 months in Korea. Some of the boys then who came out later with a Welsh badge, they were transferred into the King's Regiment, and they served for 12 months, so Lady Luck was on my shoulder, and I didn't do the full 12 months there. During the time I was there, there was no major offensive with the Chinese. It was mainly patrol work into no-man's-land, reconnaissance patrols, ambush patrols and so on, and one thing that really stands out in my mind was that on the 1st ... I'll never forget it, the day, 1st of July, correction, 1st of August, I was detailed to go on an ambush patrol in no-man's-land. We were out there for 4 hours in total, and it was uneventful, no contact with the enemy, and we came back in safely, but I learned 3 days later that the similar patrol from B company, I think it was, went out, and they were attacked, and they lost three dead and seven wounded, and again, I'm grateful that Lady Luck was on my shoulder because it was so uneventful. And then every patrol I went on after that, there was no contact made, so I'm one of the fortunate few who came out from Korea, and I'm standing here today. So whether that is of interest to you, I don't know. >> I don't believe in luck. I believe in God's faith, and He spared ... >> Fate and luck, I've always thought of in that way. >> He spared you. >> So I thought I'd keep it brief and just mention that one thing that really stands out. I could have been on that patrol on ... I think it was the 2nd of August, same patrol. The other things are small. We were shelled. We were shelled so often, we had to run for cover if your boys got killed, and on that particular patrol that was hit the night after we were out, one of the lads who trained with me in Brecon, John Hawkins, he was killed, good friend, and we were in training together. And of course, a couple of the other lads who were transferred into the Black Watch Regiment, they were killed out there as well. So the Welsh Regiment, in all, we lost 32 men. It was nearby. >> Did you know any of them? >> Oh, yes, I knew one particular from North Wales, Idris Evans. He was in the Black Watch. He was in the Welsh originally, but he was transferred in to the Black Watch and went up to Korea with them and served a 12-month there, but no, he didn't serve the 12-month there because he was killed. >> How was he killed? >> Apparently, from what I was told by one of his friends, the Chinese were shelling the positions, and they ran for cover to their bunkers, and a shell landed in the trench, exploded, and the shrapnel obviously flew into the bunker and killed him. Yeah, he was from North Wales, and John Hawkins, the one who was in the Welsh, was killed on patrol. I think he was shot, from what I gather. >> I'm glad God saved your life.

>> My name is William Longden Kurris. I was born on the 11th of March, 1932. I went to Korea in 1952 in about September time, and I was there then until September and October in 1953, so I was out there when the war was on, and I was out there when the armistice was signed, and the war never finished. >> Do you remember leading up to the armistice? >> Yes, I remember everything while I was out there. I think so. >> Tell us, and what were you assigned to do? >> To give the country freedom. >> Oh, you didn't fight? You were feeding people? >> Pardon? >> What was your position in the army? >> My position was a private. >> Mmm. >> But before we went in the army, I went in an army ... I went in the army when I was 20 years of age. It should've been 18, but I was in college. I was a student studying in Cardiff here, so I didn't go into the army until another 2 years, so that's why I went to Korea then, when I was 20 instead of 18. >> And what did you do in the army? >> I was a private, and I was in the front line, on ... >> So you were ... >> I was on ... >> You saw combat? >> I was ... Yes, I was on guard this one particular night, and it was a cold night. It was Christmastime, and a friend of mine, just before the morning came, he went down the front path of our hill, and there was Christmas cards on the trees, and I got one here. He came back, and he gave it to me. I was on guard, and he gave it to me, and that's from the North Koreans, and it says, "Merry Christmas," and it's even got the signature of the person that put it there. And it's from the Bank of Korea. >> Wow, this is different. >> I don't think there's many of them about. >> No, I have the ones that are not personalized like this, with a name. >> No, it's even signed by them as well, Bank of England ... Bank of Korea. >> Oh, my god, he's saying, "Don't fight in the war." >> Yeah. >> Oh, my gosh. Did you know any from the regiment personally that died? >> Yes, I did. I was with a personnel that was attached to my regiment for the [INAUDIBLE] and he was with me for quite a few months, and I got very friendly with him, and his name was Keith Stanley Osborne, and I was in the same position with him, and we slept almost together in our separate sleeping bags, and he said, "William." He said, "I'm going on patrol tonight." I said, "What for?" He said, "I volunteered to go on the patrol." I said, "What do you want to do that for, Keith?" and he said, "It will be experience." Anyway, he used to show me photographs of himself achieving a cap and gown from university and college and also a photograph of his fiance that also had a cap and gown, and he said that we were going to get married once he come out of the army after 2 years, and I got quite attached to him, and I thought he was a nice chap, a nice friend, and he volunteered to go on this patrol, and I got up in the morning, and I thought, "I wonder where Keith is. He's a long time coming back," so I went down, further down the mountain, to the CO's position, and the CO said, "William." He said, "I'm sorry, but he's been blown to pieces. There was enemy fire when he was on patrol. They all scattered. The patrol scattered, and he stepped on a mine, and he was blown to pieces," and that stuck in my mind, and I had a jaunt to get over that, and to this day, I still keep on remembering that. He was ever such a lovely person, and he was only doing his 2 years, and he wanted to get out, and he was going to get married to his fiance, but then he was at the end of the story, right? >> What was his full name? >> His name was Keith Stanley Osborne, and he was one of the 24 people that was killed for in our 1st Battalion of the King's Regiment, and four was missing. I don't know if any those was survived, the ones was missing. >> So you were part of the King's Regiment, not the Welch Regiment? >> Yes, I was the King's ... in the King's Regiment, but I went out to Korea with the 1st Battalion, with the Welch Regiment, but the Welch Regiment was in Korea then, but they only had 7 months to go, and they would be coming out, so what they did, they transferred all of us when the Welsh went out, and they transferred us to the 1st Battalion of the King's Regiment. >> But why is his name not among the 32? >> Pardon? >> Keith, Grandpa, Keith, his name is not among the 32 because he was British. He was English. >> He was English, yes. He was English. >> Hmm, he wasn't Welsh. >> Because he was born in Oldham. He was born in Oldham, and he was the only child, and he spoke about his mother, but I can't remember if he said anything about his father, but when I came out of Korea, I would have liked to have gone to see her and told her that I was a friend of her son's. But anyway, I ... >> You wanted to go see her? >> Yes, and ... But I never did that. >> Explain this picture. >> That's the cook. I was in the reserve position ... >> Hmm. >> ... when we went in reserve position. >> He's a cook? >> Yes, I was ... >> The little boy? >> No, he wasn't the cook. The cook was ... >> Oh, how about the little boy? >> And in the background there, there's big drums that held the kerosene that kept the all the transport going, the petrol, also the diesel, and after they were done, they made them the cooking ovens. >> How about the little boy? >> Yes, that boy was South Korean. >> He was a house boy? >> I can't remember his name, but he was a good kid, and he was always there to help. >> He was a house boy? >> Yeah. >> There were a lot of the house boys, huh? >> Pardon? >> There were many house boys. >> Yes, that's right. >> Well ... >> Yes, that's all the ships I ... troop ships that I went on to Hong Kong. I did Korean training in Hong Kong. Yeah, that's it. That's me sending them, my mother and father and my two brothers, and my two brothers, they have passed away since. >> Oh ... >> And they was younger than me. They both died of cancer. >> Sorry to say anything. >> And I've had cancer twice, and I'm under the cancer [INAUDIBLE] right now, but [INAUDIBLE] have saved ... give me more than 20 years life. >> Well, I am glad to hear that.

>> I was born in Cardiff, and I served in the army from 1951 to '53 and also 3 years in territorial. >> When were you born? >> Cardiff. >> When's your birthday? >> 28th, the 10th, 1930. I'm 88. >> 1930, and you said you joined the army 19 ... >> 1950. >> And you were, of course, conscripted. >> Yeah. >> Yes, and when in ... So did you fight in the battle of Gloucester? >> I was wireless operator and a signaler, so I could show you the proof of that. >> Yes, please. Show us. You collected these? You collected these? >> Yeah. >> What's that picture? >> That is the wireless I used to operate. >> You took a picture of it? >> Wow. >> Did they train you to operate that? >> It's was a 62 set, and then there was a 31 set and a 88 set. The 88 set was small one worn in the pouch. The 31 was worn on the back, and that was carried on the back, so ... >> Wow. >> From there on is all the members of the United Kingdom that were killed. >> I'll put it here. >> Okay. >> Wow. >> That was a memorial service. >> Wow. In ... At the United Nations' military? >> I can't believe you kept all of this. Where is this? >> The operator in Devonshire. >> Is in north of Wales? Where in Wales is it? >> Oh, no. It's not in Wales. It's in ... >> Is it in England? >> ... Derby. >> This is the memorial that's in St. Paul's plus the queen [INAUDIBLE]. >> Did you know anyone that was killed personally? Did you personally know anybody? >> That's the standard of the Cardiff branch, and we carried that for 30 years from 1985 until recently, and it's on the wall in St. John's church now where it will stay until it falls to pieces. >> So ... >> I'm glad you went to the Llandaff Cathedral to see the book. It's turned every day with the names of the ... >> The branch no longer exists. >> No. >> Because there was nobody left. >> When did it disband? >> Two years ago, no? It was finished. That's my wife. >> She's gorgeous. Can you ... What's her name? >> Gloria. >> Can you please thank her for me? >> Gloria Elizabeth. >> She's beautiful. >> Yeah, yeah. >> When was this? Oh, 1987. >> Yes, I think it was. >> Where did you say this is? >> In St. Paul's Cathedral in London. >> And you went there? >> Yes. >> Oh. Do you have any specific memories? You can explain them. You can explain the pictures. >> Yeah, yeah. That's ... You remained in barracks. [INAUDIBLE] we weren't allowed out, so the dance ... So the girls we were with came into the dance, and that's where I met the wife. >> Oh, you met her during ... >> 1952. Wow. During the war. >> Yeah, during the war. >> When did you get married. >> After the war. >> After the war, yeah. >> What was she doing? >> My wife? >> She worked in a factor making cigars. >> But you met her where? >> In the barracks here. >> Maindy Barracks? >> Yeah. >> But what was she doing at the barracks? >> She came to the dance with her friends because they arranged a dance. >> Oh, and then so they heard about it, and they came. >> Yeah. >> Wow. Where did you get married? You could have got married here? >> Oh, we got married in St. Paul's in ... >> London? >> ... Grayshott. No, in Grayshott. >> Gloria, you said, right? Wow, you kept everything so well. Everybody talks about the Christmas card. >> Yeah, oh, yeah, but there's the Christmas card that [INAUDIBLE] sent us. You can take it out. >> And what does it say? Read it. >> It's telling us to go home and to have peace. Don't fight no more, and what you looked at just now is the safe conduct passes. >> What is ... >> That is the ... >> Thirty-two. >> That's the 32 boys that were killed. >> Did you know any of them? >> Oh, yes, quite a few. >> Really? >> Yeah. >> How did you know them? How did you know with them? >> I served with them. >> You served with them. >> Being a wireless operator, you sort of go a lot of ... There we are. That boy there, he was the last one on that list. >> Williams. >> Yeah. >> Same last name as you. >> And the bunker came in on him. He was buried alive, so when they dug him out, he was dead. The bunk collapsed, and that's the three of us. We were all wireless operators, and that at the back is the bunker we were in. >> What was his name? It says J. S. Williams. >> Yeah, John. >> John Williams. No relations? >> No, no, no. >> Bunker collapsed and buried alive. How old was he? >> There, he's 17. No, what am I on about? He'd be 19. I think he was 19. >> That must have been very traumatizing for you, the war, if you saw friends die. >> That is myself, and that's the boy from the Falklands War. >> Oh, okay. >> You hear of the Falklands War? >> Mm-hmm. >> Yeah. That's the Cardiff Castle. >> The war must have been very traumatizing for you. >> It was. >> How are you able to cope with it? >> You can't ... You more or less got to put up with it. There's nothing much that you can do. You're there, and they're throwing stuff at you, shells and mortars and Hill 355. >> But you called ... >> But a lot of the boys were killed for your government. >> Yes, yes. >> One, six, nine. >> Do you feel like the Welsh no about their sacrifices? >> Oh, yeah, yeah. >> The Welsh, you think the general public knows about the Korean War? >> Oh, they do know. >> Oh, I'm glad to hear that, so it's not forgotten here. >> Yeah, yeah. >> That's very good. I'm happy to hear that, very happy to hear that. Do you have any story of your own that you remember? >> Well ... >> Any story, specific story that you'd like to share. >> That will give you the history of the boys [INAUDIBLE]. >> Mm-hmm, I took a picture of that. >> That's a photocopy, so you can have that. >> Oh, thank you. >> And ... >> This is wonderful actually.

>> With his bottle of whiskey, and he cut the circulation back, and the two doctors come back and examine me and say, "Well, Yuri has done has trick again," and he saved my foot. Anyway, a couple days later, before I got discharged, I said, "I'd like to thank Yuri for saving my leg," and he said, "Well, you won't be able to see Yuri for a couple of days." I said, "Why?" He said, "Well, you don't think he threw the whiskey away, do you?" [INAUDIBLE]. That's really speaking of my recollections of Korea really because it was such a long time ago. But I'd done 18 months in Korea, and then I'd done 18 months then in Malaya, so I went from one very, very cold country to a very, very hot country. All in all, I'd done 5 years in the Army and came out and got back [INAUDIBLE] and got money to raise a family. I'm a great-grandfather now. I've got six great-grandchildren. >> One more, one more. >> One more, yeah, seven, and really speaking, I feel like I didn't do anything heroic. I wasn't a hero. I was just an ordinary soldier doing what I was trained to do. >> Why did you join? >> I had to. National service, you had to go in. I was 18. >> It must have been ... But you went after the war started. >> No, yes, yes, yes. >> So that must have been terrifying because it's one thing to be conscripted before the war because you don't think it's going to ... They didn't think it was going to be a full-on war, but for you to hear of boys being killed and for you to have to go, that must have been terrifying. >> Actually, it wasn't really because at 18, it was an adventure. We never thought about getting killed, never thought. The biggest shock I had, we went to Japan first, and then from Japan, we went to Pusan, and we went by train and up to Seoul, and when we got off the train at Seoul at Seoul Railway Station, it went flat. Everything was bombed, and Cardiff was very heavily bombed during the Second World War. When I was growing up, I was 10 or 12 during the Second World War. And all my friends were with me. They were the same age as me, and they'd all seen plenty of bomb damage, but none of us have ever seen much damage around Seoul Railway Station as we've seen in this country. We even went to Hiroshima when we were in Japan, and even that didn't look as bad as Seoul Railway Station because Hiroshima is flat. There's no buildings in it at all, but to see all these bombed buildings and a railway station in pieces, and all of a sudden, we realized that it wasn't about a schoolboy adventure. This was serious, and it really ... I wouldn't say it frightened us, but it really shocked us. We thought, "This is not a schoolboy adventure. This is something serious," and I was only just 18 1/2, and my other friends were all about the same ago. None of us were 19, and it really shook us. It kind of sobered us up. I think from that moment we went from being boys to being men because it was such a shock to our system. >> Can you say your name one more time? >> My name is Kohn, Nicholas Kohn. >> And your birthday? >> Fifth of August, 1934. >> You're a Leo. >> So I've just gone 84 a couple of weeks ago. >> And you were born in ... >> In Cardiff. >> In Cardiff. I like Cardiff a lot. >> Cardiff is not a city. Cardiff is a big village because everybody seems to know everybody. It's a very friendly town, very, very friendly. >> Did you know any of the 32 that died? >> No, no, no, no. >> Did they ... >> They were there a year before me. They were there in '52, and I didn't get there until January '53, so I only had the last 7 months of the Korean War. >> The big ones where they suffered most casualties were in ... >> '51 and '52. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Well, God spared you twice. >> It was very static when I got there. It was something like the First World War. We were one side of the fence, and the Chinese were the other side of the fence, and that was it. There wasn't too much to-ing-and-fro-ing, not like in the early part of the war.

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

>> Hello, everybody, from Cardaff, Wales. Guess who I am with, with 12 of my Welsh grandpas. Everybody say, hello. >> Hey. >> Hello. >> I am very honored that 12. I was praying for one. I got all these doubles and quadruples of my prayers, and 12 of them were here. I want to hear stories from six of them. Half of them already, we're going to interview six of them more, but if we can show you, we laid a wreath or four wreaths, we're going to show right here, grandpa. See? There's four wreaths that we laid in honor of the Welsh regiment who fought in Korea from 1950 to 1952 up there, and I think ... Can you read this for us? This was very poignant, the last post, the Kohima prayer. >> Want me to read that? >> Yes. Can you read it very loud because it was so moving. >> "When you go home, tell them of us and say, 'For your tomorrow, we gave our today.'" >> And not one of them is forgotten, so, everybody, I want to show you and brag about my grandpas here. They've been so generous with their time. I beamed. I screamed, literally, as I walked in because I was so happy to see them. Many of them brought photos. His wife, Gloria, even brought me a Welsh doll, so please thank her for me, but again, I thank God for this beautiful weather, and we're going to head off to have lunch and continue to interview, so I will show you more of them later, but I just wanted to show, and we're going to loop around so I can show. Yes. So again, thank you all for following me. This was my last visit, but I will see more of you in there as well, so thank you again from Cardaff, Wales. Bye.

>> Hello, everybody, from inside the Maindy Barracks. I'm in Wales, so you can see the Welsh Regiment flag over there alongside the UK, so you can show, yep. Well, I am going to take you inside the officer mess hall inside. You can zoom out. So here's the picture. It looks pretty old, but I've just finished interviewing at least nine of the Korean War veterans. There are 12 here. Where's Grandpa Brent? Okay. Yay. Grandpa Brent said something that really ... >> Can I get through? >> Oh, of course ... that really ached my heart because he said ... What did you say? >> I said, "Thank you very much. You're the first person to say, 'Thank you.'" I've got it in print. I've got it here. You're the first person to say, "Thank you for your service." >> Everyone, as a young person, that breaks my heart, so let's please, please, please make a note to, when you see a veteran, right, thank them because it means a lot to you. >> It means a lot. >> Yes, and it means a lot for me to meet you, and I was so happy because I really, I was hoping and praying for one, and God showered me with 12. Thank you. [ Chatter ] >> ... for 62 years. >> Aw! >> They never liked it. >> And thank you. Muah. I'm also very proud to say, the daffodil pin because, well, daffodils are the national symbol. >> And that's social in the club, I tell you. >> So I'm very happy, and some of them, I gave this heart, okay, so, yay, and look at his tie, "Korean veteran." So I'll show you inside as well. Thank you so much also for your interview. [ Chatter ] >> We just had lunch. Oh, you have to say, "Hello." >> Yeah, we said, "Hello," earlier, not again. >> He was so articulate. I thought he was a professional broadcaster. He was so good with this interview, so thank you so much, and you brought a lot of pictures. You just brought so many pictures. >> If I could get the [INAUDIBLE], would you let me? >> Of course. Oh. I'll write you one later, okay? Okay. I wanted to also just introduce two last people. My friend Paul Song's aunt who actually lived through the Korean War, she drove with her husband from Bristol. So say, "Hello." >> Hi. >> What does it mean for you to meet some of the veterans who ... >> They're all in their late eighties, and so it is quite moving to listen to their stories, and also, I think it's amazing that you, as a young lady, are inspired by his work because ... >> Here, here. >> ... your generation forgot about the war, but this reminds everything. It's just amazing. I find it so touching. >> How old are you during the war? >> Eight or 9. >> Wow. >> Wow, so you must remember though. >> Yes, I do. >> She was in Pusan. >> Yeah, I was a refugee. >> Well, that is another reason why all of us literally are here because they sacrificed, and so I wanted to introduce you, last but not least, to Lieutenant Colonel Chris Kilmister, and who with many of his, of course, colleagues, but he mainly organized this entire ceremony event. >> My pleasure. >> And thank you so much, all of you. I was amazed, really. >> Pleasure, no, pleasure. >> Yes. Can you say just something about the Royal Welsh Regiment that you can boast about? >> Well, we're an amalgam of quite a few older regiments, South Wales Borderers, the Welsh Regiment, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and now we're the Royal Welsh, and people you see today are some of the comrades from those antecedent regiments, and we look after all of those, and we're very proud of them. >> What would you say even within the regiment? Because you fought in so many different wars. Maybe the Korean War is still the lesser-known of the different conflicts. >> Not in our regiment because the Welsh Regiment fought there. If we hadn't fought there, then we probably wouldn't know much about it, but because they did fight there, we do know something about it, and we've got many of our comrades over the years who told us the stories. We've also got a very good book, which one of our officers wrote about his experiences in Korea, which is a reading book for most young officers. >> I'm happy to hear that. Do you think the general public, the Welsh public know about the Korean War? >> I suspect not. >> Oh, that's a bit unfortunate, and I guess, in a way, that's what I'm also trying to do. I'm trying to preserve the stories so that my generation and the younger generations will be a little bit more interested and educated about their sacrifices. So thank you so much again ... >> Pleasure, no. >> ... for organizing all of this. I am just overwhelmed with the hospitality, the generous reception welcoming, and I won't forget them, and I hope they don't forget me either. >> No, I'm sure they won't. >> Thank you. So, everyone, this was my last country, last place after now 30 countries to honor veterans around the world as well as all 50 states in America, and it has been one of or the greatest, I know, fulfillment, I think, in my life, and it gets very addicting, everybody. You meet one, and you want to meet another. You want to go to another because you want to convey that same love and gratitude to everybody. So thank you for joining me on this journey, and I will visit the cathedral again tomorrow before I fly out. So thank you, everybody, and let's keep honoring veterans and promoting peace. Bye.

>> Hi, everybody, from inside the St. David's Chapel ... >> Correct. >> ... of the Llandaff Cathedral. >> Correct. >> Yes. I am here with Mr. John Kenyon, who is the archivist for the Cathedral, and I'm here to honor the 32 Welshmen who died during the Korean War. Yesterday, I met the veterans of the war and the regiment, and many of them knew a lot of them, and I just ... so again, they're not just names, but they are ... and we're. >> Still remembered. >> Yes, and someone's sons and friends, so I do come here and think of them. When was this built? >> Well, it was dedicated in 1998, and the inscription is engraved by Yein Reece, who is based in West Wales. He's a superb calligrapher, carving lettering on the stone, and this is one of four examples we've got of Yein Reece's work, the most recent work that he's undertaken, so I hear this place, this entire place is dedicated to ... Oh, here it is, the Welsh, the Royal Welsh. >> It was built after the devastation in the second World War when the cathedral was damaged by the war parachute mine. >> Yes. >> This new chapel was built linking the cathedral to the new offices [INAUDIBLE] regiment were inscribed by Mr. Cayon on the east wall there. >> Yes, we'll take you to over there, where it says ... I mean, it lists all the conflicts, but I couldn't help but notice Korea right here. Korea, 1951 to '52, and while the war lasted until '53 and technically still at war, the Royal Welsh was involved in it. >> In those years. >> It was in those years. They suffered heavily, but I just loved how all the pew has the Welsh battalion, different battalions, the first, second, this. >> [INAUDIBLE] Wales [INAUDIBLE] commemorative plaques of the colonels of the regiment, some generals, but known as colonels of the regiment, and that all is going back into the 1700s. >> I do want say because I brought my brother, Jan, on ... Today is Wednesday, so on Monday, during the [INAUDIBLE] cheese and prayer for the Korean War veterans, so I was so happy, so thank you, Chris. You must have shared our feeling with her, so thank you so much, and we're going to show you inside the cathedral, and Mr. Kenyon is going to lead us to another place where it honors Korean War veterans. >> That's right. >> So we'll follow ... >> Which way? >> Either one. >> We'll go this way. >> When was this chapel built? >> It was in the 1950s. >> 1950. >> '50s, yeah, all done by George Pace, who was the architect charged with restoration of the cathedral [INAUDIBLE]. >> It's such a hallowed place, and it couldn't be a better ending to my journey. Oh, wow, are those ... >> Yes, these are all ... >> ... original flags? >> Yes, yep. They're just left there, and they're unconserved, so they'll slowly deteriorate until [INAUDIBLE] church grounds, so they're left unconserved. >> So this church ... >> And hanging here as well. >> This church is how old? >> The church as we see it, the earliest part of it is 1120s. >> Wow. >> But it was a church here long before that going back 1,000 years or so, but the building we got is 1120. The big arch we see ... >> I'm in a place that is 900 years old, and I shared with Reverend Jan, but one of the veterans when we were reciting ... The citations of the Medal of Honor recipients, he said something that I will never forget, so look how beautiful this is, but he said as we were reciting ... Reading their citations, he said sounds travel all throughout the universe eternally, and as I was praying earlier, I felt I wanted to change that a little bit to fit this occasion, and I said also travels, and it remains in eternity as well, so think of all the prayers that were made in this hallowed place for 900 years. >> This is the big arch [INAUDIBLE]. That's the earliest one, and then this piece is postwar [INAUDIBLE] similar one on the church's new [INAUDIBLE] to the 1500s. >> Beautiful, so everyone, if you come to Cardiff, Wales, please, visit this cathedral. It is just absolutely beautiful. >> So we're walking on the south aisle now. >> And I have to say for ... I've never visited a cathedral that honored veterans. Some people think veterans, war, but as the reverend prayed, they defended peace. >> You'll find [INAUDIBLE] earliest thing. This stone is even earlier. This is probably about the year 1,000. It's known as the only the Christian monument. It's part of a cross. >> Year 1,000? >> Yeah, about year 1,000. >> Wow, and [INAUDIBLE] because even one death is precious and far too many. There is ... You can see right here, Mr. Seaton killed in Korea, and you think that he was ... >> He was a member of the Old Llandavian, so the Cathedral School. I don't remember whether a member [INAUDIBLE] but he was an old boy, but he wasn't serving in a Welsh regiment. Otherwise, he would have been commemorated in the David Chapel, so he must have been serving somewhere else in the British Army in a different regiment. >> So again ... >> So those are the two main areas, David Chapel and this memorial here. >> So again, everyone this is the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardaff Wales and the last stop in my 10-day journey across both Ireland and Wales to honor veterans and promote peace. I thank you for joining me on this journey. It has been extremely humbling and gratifying. Like I said, yesterday, one of the veterans told me that it was his first time in almost 70 years somebody in-person thanked him for his service in Korea, and that really devastated. I think we cannot say thank you enough to our veterans, so please, if you see a veteran, go and say thank you. It really does brighten their day and make everything worth it. >> And thank you for your visit as well. >> Oh, thank you. >> It's been a pleasure to welcome you to the cathedral. >> Thank you, so bye-bye, everybody.

>> ... the door who had been captured and could walk over the UN forces with them, but the UN troops, the Astor Rifles and the others who were with them, who had been killed were just left to lie, and they weren't buried by the cruiser, and they went out, and in this hard, harsh ground, they buried the bodies because they felt they needed to give respect to these people from overseas who'd come to fight for them, so it was very poignant, and then we were told how after the ... What we were shown were the ... Albert showed a picture earlier of the bullet holes on the bridge, which another Astor Rifleman ... I think it was a lieutenant then, Merv McCordy, went on to become a brigadier eventually. He got an MC, a Military Cross. Himself and somebody else protected a sort of area and ... two of those who had died in Korea, and they ... I discovered when I was back recently in Korea that near that side of Seoul is where all the monumental memorial makers were, and so that's how they managed to find ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah. The Padre found ... was told to go and get a stone, and he found a stonemason as well. Apparently, they were in the back of an army truck. I assume he was paid, and they drove around with the ... wherever the battalion was going, and he was told to carve on this memorial to remember the Royal Astor Rifles and the others who'd been there and then in Happy Valley and who'd died there and others of the Regiment, who'd died nearby or elsewhere in battles that included Imjin because the Astor Rifles had heavy casualties at Imjin as well, and that was dedicated July 1951. My dad wasn't there because at that stage he was in Japan training people to go to Korea and things, so he wasn't there but some very famous, very poignant pictures of that. That memorial, we will see later. It came back to Northern Ireland in the 1960s, put up in Palace Barracks ... not Palace Barracks, sorry, the barracks by Mina where the Regiment, the Astor Rifles, had their depot, and then that closed in 2010, and it got moved to outside the city fort here in Belfast, and my father, Merv McCordy got the MC in career, and a lot of the others of the Regiment were very instrumental and moving in that getting it placed outside the city hall, and it's been recently refurbished, and we've now got access to it from the Cenotaph area, the city hall, and they're looking after it well. So my dad and I went back to Korea in 2011. Mr. Kim showed us around Happy Valley, and my dad, I think he never totally said this, but I think, to me, but I think he always felt guilty that he'd survived, and so many hadn't, and he really wanted to do something to remember those who'd died in Korea of the Regiment, and initially we were thinking about putting up a wee plaque or something in Happy Valley. We spoke to the British Ambassador when we were there. We spoke to Mr. Parker when we were there. When we came back, we spoke to members of the Regiment because obviously it would have to have regimental approval, and then when we were sort of just ... We were just thinking of doing something quite small, really, maybe in Happy Valley itself, and then I got ... We met Andrew Salmon out there. He'd already met my father. He'd been to Belfast 2 or 3 years before to interview my dad for his book, "To the Last Round." He interviewed quite a lot of the Royal Astor Rifles for that, and he was delighted to see my father in Korea. They got on very, very well. They enjoyed going out and both good storytellers, so they could sit around and drink and tell stories, top teacher, he was, with the stories. But anyway, Andrew Salmon sent me an e-mail and said that the Irish Association of Korea and the Irish Embassy in Korea were thinking of putting up a memorial in Korea to those from Ireland who had died in the Korean War, and because although Ireland wasn't a UN nation, it ... People from Ireland had thought and for the Americans, the Australians, and then many of people from the south of Ireland were part of the Royal Astor Rifles, which was a British Army Regiment, so it was part of the UN. So and they were also wanted to remember some Padre, some missionaries who died in Korea as well, and there's a link there with the Royal Astor Rifles too, which I'll explain in a wee minute. So anyway, we then started liaising with Ambassador McKee, and again, we had to get approval from the Regiment and from the British-Korean Veterans Association, and there were links between Dublin and Belfast and everything else because obviously, we have these politics involved in this country too, and in among that, that's when Mrs. Carol Walker came on board because my mother used to ... my mother? My father used to be ... He was very much behind the setting up the Somme Association, the Somme Museum to remember those of the First World War from the north and south who'd died at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and he knew that Carol had a lot of experience in memorials. She put up memorials for the First World War in France, in Turkey, in visitors places. I'd asked her initially for advice on that, and then discussion began about taking back veterans from the Royal Astor Rifles and from Ireland. Generally, Carol has had experience of taking back First World War veterans to First World War battlefields, and so that's how she become involved in the ... on the team, basically, and then a representative of the Royal Irish Regiment, the modern regiment for the Royal Astor Rifles, which the Astor Rifles, my dad's regiment in 1968 amalgamated with three other regiments into the Royal Irish Rangers, and then in 1992, that became the Royal Irish Regiment, and they're very supportive of their heritage and interested in their heritage. So lots of discussions about the memorial, lots of liaisons between Korea and Ireland and phone calls at 7 o'clock in the morning and to work with the time difference, and then in 2012, Carol, myself and Trevor Ross, who was representing the Royal Irish Regiment, went out to Korea at the time of the Commonwealth Veterans revisit the following year and met with the British Ambassador, the Irish Ambassador, members of the MPVA in Korea, went to see possible memorial sites, and it was then that it was decided the memorial should ... the key memorial should go up in Seoul because it'd be easier to look after it there by the War Museum and things, and the Irish Embassy said it was look after it and that there would be a panel put up in Happy Valley as well to remember the battle in Happy Valley too. 2013, and you'll hear more about this from Mrs. Carol Walker, the memorial was dedicated in Seoul. My father and I were meant to go to be there for that dedication and for all the other events and be there with the other veterans from the Royal Astor Rifles and from Ireland. Unfortunately, my mother had a very severe stroke just a week or two prior to us going out, and we, anyway, my father and I couldn't go. She died shortly after the veterans returned from Korea, but we were very close in contact with what was going on. My dad was very keen to know. He kept saying, "Have you had a signal from Carol?" because he's not quite into e-mails, but a signal, and so Carol, Trevor and the others sent back information of what was going on, sent photographs of the memorial being dedicated, being put up and everything, but me and my father were ... My father and I were very evolved with Carol and others, and everything had to be approved with the wording on the memorial and everything else. Then with regards to the memorial, my dad ... One of the sides of the memorial, one of the sides is the Royal Astor Rifles and reflects this memorial here in Belfast and the wording on the memorial here in Belfast, and it particularly mentions Happy Valley. Another side mentions those Irish birth and heritage. Another side is ... talks about seven missionaries from Ireland, who died in Korea, and one of those missionaries, my father actually knew. Father ... I think he's known as Father John O'Kane, is it? >> It's O'Kane. >> Yeah. Father John O'Kane, though, my father knew him as Father Jack. Quite often in Ireland, people who are called John are known as Jack, very confusing. Anyway, so my father knew Father Jack. He'd been a Royal Astor Rifles Padre in the Second World War. We think he might have been at D-Day with them, but we definitely know he was with the Royal Astor Rifles in the Second World War. He was older than my father, maybe 10 years older than my father, and then after the war, my dad was in Palestine and Egypt, and he was the Catholic Padre with the Regiment there. The Royal Astor Rifles has a Catholic Padre and a Protestant Padre, and he was Catholic Padre in Egypt, and he remembered him because he was a Padre. He was part of the officers' mess. He had a tent, himself, I think, because he's a Padre ... had his own tent because my father had to share a tent with somebody else, which are all the boys who are over there, had a lot more in the tents, and he remembers them being very good at cards. He remembers them being a lot of fun. He remembers them riding around the camp on a motor bike, and all the guys thought he was wonderful, so my father was very sad when he'd heard that he'd been killed in Korea. He knew he'd gone out to Korea as a missionary, and so that's a link between the Astor Rifles and the others in the memorial as well. Then in 2015, this ... the ...

>> I think it was either [INAUDIBLE] and we stayed and ate there. Now when we stopped, during the summer months, these people [INAUDIBLE] and the ground [INAUDIBLE] stacked up during the summer to dry, and then at the end of the summer, they bring it in and stack up, say, the houses. Now these would be cottages [INAUDIBLE] and they stack them up. That's the fuel for the whole winter. Now having said that, the same applies in Korea. You know about the [INAUDIBLE]. You know the [INAUDIBLE]? >> No. >> [INAUDIBLE] famous thing in Korea, two hands to make a forklift, and the person has a stick with a hook, and when he goes out, he pats it on the ground, and he puts a hook on it and sits there, and he goes around, and gets all sort of stuff, jungle grass or twigs. Anyway, at the end of the day, a pail of stuff, and he'd go back to his cottage, and he'd put all that stuff beside the house. Now that was the winter fuel. Now cooking, they just have the one room, and at the back, they have a kitchen, as you would call it. Now the kitchen comprised of a roof and two sides. The rest was open. Now let's just say the house was [INAUDIBLE]. They have their cooking utensils, like two or three pots, and that was permanent there. That's where they cooked. Now all that stuff is there for the fuel to light the fire and do their cooking. Now I observed this before, seeing what they did, and luckily I had matches, and I got some of the fuel and put it on and lit the fire, and what happened was, the Koreans were very well advanced on the floor heating. Well, as soon as we lit that fire, all the heat went underneath, as well as cooking. It went underneath and heated the floor. Now the floor was big clay again and big clay I say. Holes were there for heat for ages afterwards, and what happened was, the smoke that went out through the back of the chimney, whatever it was, and inside about 1/2 an hour, and it was freezing while were in there, 1/2 an hour. We'd take our jackets off [INAUDIBLE]. It was so primitive but so very good, and that just shows you the ingenuity of the Korean peasants. I'll never forget it. You have your cup, which was aluminium, and you also had what they call a Tommy cooker. A Tommy cooker came in a wee square box of cardboard, and we took this wee metal thing. We [INAUDIBLE] could put either your mess tin ... I don't know whether you know what a mess tin. It's what you cook in, individual cooking. There's two parts, and you do your cooking and that sort of thing on the wee stand with something like if you remember fire lighters to light a fire. Well we had wee small tablets, and they didn't create any flame [INAUDIBLE] just a like a glow, and you cooked your food in that, and that's how you have on the field. Everything was there for you. The Americans' rations was far superior to ours, oh, yeah. >> How about the cold? Do you remember the cold? >> Oh, yes, very much so, yeah, mm-hmm, yeah. Not only that, when we went out there, we just had ... It's hard to explain, so you'll need to see pictures. We just had what they call a [INAUDIBLE] a tunic and trousers [INAUDIBLE] sort of thing, and the Americans and all these other things and Canadians, they had their combat suits and their liners inside, if you remember liners. You could zip them out in the summertime and put them back in in the winter. We didn't have that. All we had were ... You'll see a picture of a red coat. We called it a red coat, like a topcoat and your battle dress, and that's all you had, and whenever we got wet, that was just too bad. [INAUDIBLE] in good weather but nothing in the winter. We were ill-equipped, and not only that, but we only had weapons. [INAUDIBLE] was our main weapon, a very good weapon, automatic fire, and then we had a rifle, .303 Lee–Enfield, a very famous weapon, but it was one action. You have quick-fire. You had to keep loading and unloading every time, and you had a magazine of failed rounds on the rifle. No, no, I never had any Korean food. >> Oh, even now? >> Oh, I have tried it on the way out to Korea [INAUDIBLE]. I thought it was [INAUDIBLE] asked me, "Well, do you want English or Korean?" So I tried Korean, but it was a bit too complicated. It's too much little tubes of different things to add, but I got through it. Having said that [INAUDIBLE] on the last day of our last visit in May there, I forget the name of the [INAUDIBLE]. As I recall, it was a woman, and she had a seven course meal for us on the [INAUDIBLE] before departure and through seven courses, and you would hardly see what was on the plate, and it was very good. It was different what I got on the aircraft. >> Korean food at the time, but did you try Korean liquor at the time? >> No, the only thing we got was two battles a day of Asahi, Japanese beer. >> Oh. >> But having said that [INAUDIBLE] as it seems a terrible ship. You had a hole in the wall, just like the hole, square hole, a square in the wall, and you were issued out two bottles of Asahi beer. That's what we got. >> Oh, I would have never guessed that. So no soju, huh, no Korean alcohol? >> No, no, it was all Asahi beer. >> Oh, okay. Do you think you'll see a unified Korea in your lifetime? >> It's hard to see. I would like to see it. I would definitely like to see it because it's a [INAUDIBLE] having the knowledge of what has went on there, the starvation. Even the soldiers not being able to get [INAUDIBLE] and the feeling of the children and all those big pompous parades with their machinery and rockets and what have you. It's a terrible site. >> Well, I'm hoping for peace not only on the Korean peninsula but in all of Ireland as well. >> Uh-huh, thank you very much. Ten o'clock, 22 hundred hours, and what happened was, as we were going out [INAUDIBLE] and we're going across, and I remember going up this hill here, and I went in the dark and the windscreen I could see ... Sorry. It was heavy gunfire, consolidated gunfire, and you see the tracer bullets on the reflection of my windscreen, and I said to the guy who was with me, "This is good." [INAUDIBLE] our tanks, centurion tanks, and I said to the guy with me, "This is good. They're giving us covering fire to get out." What happened was, I found out later that the medical officer and his driver [INAUDIBLE] was quite some distance behind me. Apparently the Chinese had did a horseshoe movement. Instead of coming across, they came that way, a horseshoe movement, and closed it, and the people behind me, that was them trapped and taken prisoner of war. I'll never forget that. I'm surprised you don't know about the [INAUDIBLE] is famous.

>> Hello, everybody. I am back at the Belfast City Hall where the Korean War memorial proudly stands. I am here with the last remaining Korean War veteran, Grandpa Albert. Say, "Hello," and Ms. Carol Walker, who's been extremely instrumental in arranging everything today. She will tell you the story behind this memorial, how it got here and that there is another memorial in Korea, in Seoul, that honors the Irish Korean War veterans. So Ms. Walker ... >> Hi. >> Should we do a little ... We're going to loop around and then show you, so I just want to show you ... >> We just stay here. >> ... how it looks like. It honors the Royal Ulster Rifle, and, again, I love this inscription where it says, "The people that walk in darkness have seen the great light," from Isaiah, chapter nine, verse two, and then another ... So there's three sides that honor different ... So we're going to face way because I think this is prettier, so okay. So Ms. Walker, tell us how this memorial got here. >> Well, this memorial used to be in Korea. The soldiers themselves and [INAUDIBLE] Battle of Happy Valley. Actually ... >> Speak up. >> Oh, speak up? At the height of the battle in Happy Valley ... Afterwards, they decided, the commanding officer decided they [INAUDIBLE] something to commemorate the sacrifice of the 157 men that had made this great sacrifice at that particular battle, which as you can see from the memorial, it was on the 3rd and 4th of January 1951, so the padre set out on a task to go and find something, and he managed to come across a Korean stonemason. >> Mm-hmm. >> And they were able to get this beautiful pink Korean granite, polished granite, and create a memorial. It was on the field at the site, the battle site at Happy Valley on the 3rd of July in the 1950s, 1953, and at the service, there was a service that took place, and many of the soldiers themselves attended it, and they had the padre at the time, and he performed the sermoning, and the words that are on the memorial that you said, Isaiah, he actually used them as part of the scripture during the service that day and during the sermon, in the remembrance sermoning. Also they laid wreathes at the time, poppy wreaths like Albert has just laid. >> I do want to show this. >> They laid these wreaths to commemorate the 150 men that had made that sacrifice and that had died at the Battle of Happy Valley in trying to give Seoul the freedom. >> Oh, yeah. >> You can see ... >> Yes. >> ... it tells the story. >> Oh, it tells the story. I didn't realize that before. That's wonderful. >> But unfortunately, then what happened was after the Royal Ulster Rifles left Korea, there was nobody coming back to visit the memorial, and HMS Belfast, which is actually ironic that it was HMS Belfast, happened to be visiting Korea at the time in the '60s, '64, and it was decided then to bring back the memorial back to Northern Ireland so that the soldiers who were still alive from the Ulster Rifles could still have ceremonies and could attend remembrance services ... >> That is awesome. >> ... for their comrades. So it was brought back onboard HMS Belfast. It was brought to the [INAUDIBLE] barracks which was in Ballymena, and it was positioned there. Sadly then, Ballymena actually closed as an army base, and the memorial went into storage for a while, but people like Colonel Charley and Brigadier McCord at the time were instrumental in making sure that the memorial went somewhere important and had the honor that these men had bestowed wasn't forgotten, and the memorial was actually then given this very prominent place here in Belfast, and it has progressed over the years. It's been looked after. As Albert said, you know, there was a new path has been put in. People are able to come here and visit it, and the Ulster Rifles Association will come here and will hold memorial services and still remember the war dead oftentime. >> I guess I just want to show you that they put up that gate especially for this, you know, walkway because technically, this area right now, there's no pathway. That's the City Hall, and it is in a very prominent location. >> And it's so close to the cenotaph which is Belfast Cenotaph that's here to commemorate and honor the war dead of the First World War and the Second World War, and so it's still fitting to have it ... >> Very fitting. >> ... to have it so close to the cenotaph. >> So over there, Ms. Walker, pointing out the cenotaph honoring those who died in World Wars I and II, and it's literally ... You can see it from here, and this memorial is right here, and I just wanted to thank you because the one that's filming right now is the daughter of Colonel Charley, who was not only instrumental in getting this here, but in Korea, they now have a memorial honoring the Irish Korean War veterans. It's in Seoul. >> It's in Seoul at the National Museum, at the museum, because it's a very fitting site. It's where there's also memorials are from the Canadians, and all the other Commonwealth countries have now started as well on the back of what we did and what the Irish did with their memorial, and there's other countries, you know, from the United Nations have placed their memorials that are in a war memorial garden, and it means people can go and commemorate. The good thing is that every year, as well, the Irish, the Irish Embassy, still hold a remembrance service there and for people, so it's not forgotten. [INAUDIBLE] memorial, we spent a lot of time working out [INAUDIBLE], what shape it would look like, how the memorial would come about. It was decided that it wouldn't be a replica that we had here because it needed to reflect as it is today Ireland's [INAUDIBLE]. >> That's true. This was erected in 1951. >> And the Ireland that we are in today and we were in in 2012 when we started with the project was a very different Ireland. It was an Ireland that had started to come through the the peace ... >> Aw. >> ... process. >> Oh! >> [INAUDIBLE] >> Oh! >> I'm cold! >> I don't want him to freeze. This is Grandpa Albert, everyone. He's 91 years young, and his memory is impeccable, right? Oh, before we close, see, I wore this rifle green to match him, but can you sing [INAUDIBLE] for us? [Lyrics] [INAUDIBLE] >> Yay! Ninety-one years young. He's the last remaining Korean War veteran in Northern ... >> Well, one of the ... One of the last. >> One of the last Northern Ireland ... >> The last Irish one. >> Yes. >> He is. >> An Irish one. Many have passed just in the past month ... >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> That's it. >> ... including Colonel Charley and ... >> Uh-huh. >> And many of the veterans that we were able to take back to Korea in 2013, many of them passed very quickly after their trip back ... >> Yeah. >> ... when you think about it. >> So I want to thank you because actually Ms. Walker is part of a different organization and association that remembers and honors those that died in World War I, right? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> World War I and World War II. >> World War II. >> And the Korean War as well. >> Yes. So thank you for bringing the [INAUDIBLE] as well of their memories, and thank you again to Colonel Charley's daughter, yay, Katherine, who is filming this video. So, everybody, thank you so much for joining me in both Ireland, all of Ireland now ... I will be on my way to Wales, so thank you. Thank you. Bye!

>> Wow. >> ... [INAUDIBLE] kind of mold. The actually had the mortar between, and you can see the carriers going back, the centurions going back, they were actually retreating away from the Imjin. >> I've never seen that picture, nor the frame below. That is ... >> That ... Well, the picture's called [INAUDIBLE] at Imjin [INAUDIBLE] with Her Majesty on it. They were all made in Hong Kong. A lot of lads got these made in silk in Hong Kong. The picture to the left of it, that is General Majury. All right. He was a young lieutenant in Korea and was captured and spent a lot of time as a prisoner of war [INAUDIBLE] later on. The other one here, this is Brigadier McCord, who won an MC at Happy Valley as a young lieutenant, and then various pictures of the boys [INAUDIBLE] Belfast and different stories of the forgotten heroes and their stories. This is the [INAUDIBLE]. This was written by an American soldier and Lieutenant Majury. >> Wow. >> The original is in St. Giles' Cathedral. It was written in rice paper, and it's in St. Giles' Cathedral. This is just a copy of it. So each day, they held prayers, and they had different services for Easter, Christmas, all in the prisoner-of-war camp. >> Mmm. >> The original is in St. Giles', just in the cathedral. >> Wow. I couldn't but help notice the ... >> The Korean flag, the North Korean flag. >> Yeah, North Korean. >> That was found in the heist at Seoul when we went back into Seoul, so when we recaptured Seoul again, that was found in the heist. These weapons here: The first weapon is a Russian weapon used by the Chinese, and it had a folding bayonet [INAUDIBLE] that was quite vicious and [INAUDIBLE], and we couldn't heal the wound. Now, the second one is a Chinese copy of a Russian weapon, and you normally see them with the round magazine on them, but the Chinese preferred that type of magazine because it didn't jam. The third weapon is Colonel Charlie's rifle. >> Mmm. >> Now, Colonel Charlie didn't like carrying the big rifle that the militia got, so he swapped it for an American M1 carbine. >> Wow. >> So that belongs to Colonel Charlie, but we don't tell anybody that. >> Okay, don't tell anybody. >> The bottom one is a Mosin-Nagant, which was issued to the Korean ... North Koreans and the Chinese, and it's a Russian rifle, as well. >> So are these artifacts actually donated by the veterans? >> The weapons were brought back by the regiment, and then they were decommissioned. Most of these things were given to ... by people who had actually donated them. >> Wow. >> The little Korean flag [INAUDIBLE] signed by all officers just before ... >> Oh, my God. >> ... the Battle of Happy Valley. And ... >> That is amazing. And one of them must have drawn this, right? >> Yes. Yeah. >> Wow. So this is original, original. >> That's original. That's original signatures of the officers in the battalion just before Happy Valley. >> Wow. >> That's the Ambassador's medal that you seen earlier with a little miniature. The British-Korean [INAUDIBLE] Korean. These are medals issued to Chinese volunteers that fought for the North Koreans. >> That's amazing. >> And this is a book made up by Captain Sully. He found all these propaganda leaflets from the Chinese and ... >> Yeah. >> ... Korean, as well. North Koreans, as well, so it's a booklet of that. That's a little map of the Battle of Imjin. >> Mmm. >> And ... >> Well, Ms. Charlie, I want everybody to introduce Ms. Charlie, who is the daughter of Mr. ... Colonel Charlie, who passed away a month ago. >> Mm-hmm. >> But she told ... He told Ms. Charlie why Happy Valley, which is one of the major battles, is called Happy Valley because I was wondering ... Suffered 157 casualty, and it seemed a little bit ironic to call it Happy Valley. But why was it called Happy Valley? >> Well, it was called Happy Valley because the Regiment had already given the name to the area because they had ... When they arrived in Korea in Busan and Pusan, they had the early November 1951, 1950. Albert was one of those on the troop ship that came in, and they were moved ... It was still ... The war was nearly over, and they were moved up, up, up towards what is now North Korea by train, by truck and things. And they're basically pushing the forces the other ... the opposing forces north. Suddenly, the Chinese Communists, they go up the other river, and so these Chinese Communists ... Troops were involved, and they started moving down. And this was early December, down the Korean Peninsula. And the first time that the battalion was able to stop and have a proper meal and know they weren't going to have to pack up and move on at any minute was in this valley just north of Seoul. And, consequently, I think it was the [INAUDIBLE] Sarge "Shifty" Dawson. I don't know what his real name was, but ... >> Jack Dawson. >> Jack Dawson. He was the one, I think, who gave the name Happy Valley because, at last, he was in charge of the cooking, and, at last, they could do the cooking without being bothered by too much. Another nickname the troops gave it was Compo Canyon. Compo was named for the food ... tins of food they were given. And so Compo Canyon, Happy Valley, has to do with food. That's why that valley was given that name. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> Mr. Glass, can you tell us ... I know it's almost 200 years of history, but what would you say is one of the major accomplishments of the rifle regiment in Korea? >> In Korea, well, we were the only Irish regiment that were there, and the lads came from the north, the south, and we trickled out of [INAUDIBLE] tricked out of [INAUDIBLE] they were all ours [INAUDIBLE] at that time. We lost so many men. The Battle of Happy Valley [INAUDIBLE]. The real reason we lost so many men [INAUDIBLE] was because when the Chinese had started to come down, the Americans, on one flank, had been ordered to move at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, so they moved. The [INAUDIBLE] on this flank were told to move at 6 o'clock. They moved. The Chinese were watching this, so the Chinese infiltrated both flanks of the rifles. Captain Charlie's platoon was the farthest platoon when he was ordered back. We just got back when everybody ... The ambush happened, and the ambush was virtually 2 kilometers long. That's how many, and they just kept cutting the convoy into pieces. And then the small groups [INAUDIBLE] got surrounded and fought [INAUDIBLE]. >> Well, despite the odds, I know that it was a major battle which was significant in the entire war, this battle, so the contributions are immense. And last but not least, Grandpa Albert, what is the significance, because I know even in the Commonwealth, everybody has different color, but why does the rifles ... Why is this called the rifles green? >> What? >> Why is this color the rifles green? >> Well, it's Irish green [INAUDIBLE]. The green of Ireland, the Emerald Isle. >> Yes, I just wanted you to tell it to the people. >> Well, I think the pattern in the [INAUDIBLE] if you look in this cabinet here, you'll see the British army wore red. >> Mm-hmm. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Even in America. >> Yes. >> Whenever [INAUDIBLE] the Rifle Regiments were formed, and the Rifle Regiments took green to move forward and to [INAUDIBLE], so it was actually a bit of [INAUDIBLE]. >> That is very true. >> So when we turned from the 88th [INAUDIBLE] to the Royal Irish Rifles, we become a rifle regiment, so we took on the rifle green ... >> Rifle green. >> Yes. >> ... which we [INAUDIBLE]. So if we even look at the rifles in the British army now called the Rifles [INAUDIBLE], they wear rifle green. >> Yes. >> So that's ... >> Less conspicuous. >> [INAUDIBLE] and they march faster than everybody else because they have [INAUDIBLE]. >> Well, I was ... >> They walked. They marched faster than everybody. >> Well ... >> Oh, yes. [INAUDIBLE] Regiment march. Normally, the Regiment march is 120 paces to a minute ... sorry, 140 to the minute, but the rifles did 120. Now, people [INAUDIBLE] ... >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> ... [INAUDIBLE]. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> Oh. >> So all Rifle Regiments march faster than normal [INAUDIBLE] regiment. >> Why do you think? What do you think the secret is to the fast walking? >> Get there faster. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] walk fast. >> [INAUDIBLE]. The other major battle we had was Imjin, was, again, another part. Everybody talks about the Imjin River and the Glosters. The reason the Glosters were captured was ... and quite, I will say, because of where we were, we were holding blocking positions and ordered forward. The Belgians who were there had fell back, and the Chinese stopped in the Belgians and us and cut us in two, captured half the rifles. The other half just about flocked away, but they completely surrounded the Glosters, who were up in [INAUDIBLE] Imjin River. >> Mmm. >> But this was all [INAUDIBLE] Glosters being [INAUDIBLE] ... >> Mmm. >> ... but don't think we were there, but it's because we were in blocking positions [INAUDIBLE] we were cut in two by the Chinese, as well. But the Glosters were captured virtually intact because of where they were. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> And what happened to the Glosters was, they [INAUDIBLE] and the next morning [INAUDIBLE] aircraft come in with supplies [INAUDIBLE]. I'll never forget this [INAUDIBLE] and they couldn't [INAUDIBLE] the drop zone to the [INAUDIBLE]. It was just a catastrophe [INAUDIBLE]. >> Well, I do want everybody to note that the Irish contributed all significantly in the Korean War, and the reason why I'm here is to make sure that these unsung heroes are remembered, preferably honored. As you all know, the Korean War is called the Forgotten War, but that doesn't mean we should forget the heroes that fought then, and especially of the Irish and your father for their sacrifices and the 157 men who died. And thank you so much for opening, not only opening the museum for us today but really being the protector of the memories because this is all not only just history but stories that should be passed down, and I just appreciate you so much for being the keeper and the guardian of their sacrifices. >> Yes. No, we will never forget these. >> Yes, thank you. So, everybody, we're going to go to the memorial and pay tribute and lay some flowers. So I'll see you there. Bye! >> [INAUDIBLE].