Canada Toronto (1)
>> My name is Steve Davidson. I fought in the Korean War. I was 19 when I was in Korea. I started off as an army cadet, I guess, when I was 13 years old. I drove a tank when I was 14, and I joined the Reserve Army, which is like being in the army. You could be called in case of war, and then the Armed Forces in Canada, you had to be 18, so I joined, and I went to Korea when I was 19, and I guess I was looking for adventure. So I got to Korea, and when I arrived to Korea, it was on the 3rd of January in 1953, and when I had seen the devastation that had been caused in the country, we stayed at a staging camp in Busan for a couple of days, and then there was a troopship or a train that went forward, and it took a couple of days for us to get to Seoul or Tokchon, actually, which was the railhead where they dropped off. From then on, it was Tokchon to the no-fire zone. Along the way, there were little children. We’d stop. Some of them had their arms blown off, their legs blown off. They had no clothes. They had nothing to eat. We would take them on the train. We would give them chocolate bars and leftover sandwiches and anything we could and give them one of our jackets if we could to help, much too large for them, but to help them keep warm. So when you’re 19, you look at it and you say, “Boy.” You become a man very quickly. So my job in Korea was, I was a gun technician, a gun fitter, they called it, and I repaired weapons and artillery weapons, so it was my job to make sure that the guns were firing properly, and they fired where they should be firing and that we could kill enemy targets. I recall a battle, 197. It was a very intense battle, and that’s when Canada lost 23 soldiers in 1 day. They had only arrived from Canada. I think the Chinese realized that they were new, and they put an attack in, and it was very intense. The artillery fire was very heavy, and one of the loaders on one of the guns, he missed the breech on the gun and hit the side of the breech ring and set off the fuse, and when he’d done that, he blew himself and the gun up. My job was to repair that gun, so I had to pick flesh parts off the gun from him. The parts were very damaged. It took us 32 hours straight to repair the gun and get it back into action again because in the war, you don’t rest until the job is done.
>> That’s true.
>> Yeah, no matter how long it takes.
>> Well, that …
>> I always say, these people who would like a 30-hour work week have no sympathy for me who paid 32 hours that one day. I’ve revisited Korea twice since then. The first time was in 1984, which was 30 years after the end of the war, 31 years to be exact, and I was amazed at the progress that South Korea had made to rebuild the country from the ruins. It was devastating to see it. When I got there, it was lively, moving very quickly and buildings with high skyscrapers again. When I was there, there was one bridge across. Now, I believe there’s probably a dozen, and I was really impressed. I was national president for the Korean Veteran’s Association. In 2003 for the 50th anniversary, I went to Korea with the [INAUDIBLE] to celebrate the 50th anniversary, and I was, again, amazed. When I was there the first time, I had the okay to attend the opening of the Olympic Stadium where Seoul was holding the Olympics in 1988, and they had finished the stadium by 1984, and I was at the opening of the stadium. I thought it was just wonderful. The second time I was there, they built a war museum. In front of the war museum, there’s a big, beautiful monument, and I was amazed once again at the progress that they had made. I guess in summing that up, I was a kid looking for excitement, something different. I didn’t really know why I was there. I’ve seen the Korea of today. I know why I was there, and I’m very happy, and I guess I consider all Koreans my extended family, and my closing remark I guess would be, if you’ve been in war for 1 day, you have had enough war to last a lifetime.
>> Can you repeat that?
>> If you have been in war for 1 day, you have seen enough to last you a lifetime.
>> I know. Thank you. We are so grateful to you, the Canadian-Korean War veterans and the Korean War veterans all around the world, and as you know, there’s still an armistice and South and North Korea remain divided, so what do you hope for the future of …
>> Well, I would like to see in my lifetime them united. I had a chance in my second visit to attend the memorial service in the demilitarized zone, and the South Korean pavilion is absolutely beautiful. On the North, you have a very long building, but it’s only 8 feet wide, but I’m 6-foot-2, so I wouldn’t have much room to lay down at night, and the South has progressed while the North has de-gressed, and people are suffering from malnutrition and wasting their money on developing weapons of destruction. That’s not the way the world should be.
>> Well, I hope that in your lifetime and our lifetime, very soon, that there will be peace, and we’ll be united so that even North Koreans who are suffering will also gain freedom that we, Koreans all over the world, enjoy so much. So on behalf of my family and friends and Koreans all over the world, thank you.
>> It’s been so nice to be able to meet you, and I think what you’re doing, traveling to every country that participated in the Korean War, is certainly a big undertaking for a little lady of your stature. You’re a good representative of your nationality.
>> I may be little, but I am strong.
>> You’re mighty.
>> I am mighty.
>> Yes. That’s right. You sure are. You’re beautiful.
>> Thank you so much.
>> Okay.
>> Love you. All right. You’re so sweet.
>> Thank you so much for the warm reception. This was beautiful. Today was beautiful.
>> We tried our best.
>> Best was better than any best, better than any best.
>> But all we can do is try our best. That’s what that … So It’s been a real pleasure to have you today.
>> Grandpa Dog, Grandpa Dave, Uncle Bill, everybody, thank you.
>> A lot of people.
>> I know why I was there. I’ve seen the Korea of today. I know why I was there, and I’m very happy, and I guess I consider all Koreans my extended family, and my closing remark I guess would be: If you have been in war for 1 day, you have had enough war to last a lifetime.
>> Can you repeat that?
>> If you have been in war for 1 day, you have seen enough to last you a lifetime.
>> I know. Thank you. We are so grateful to you, the Canadian Korean War veterans and the Korean War veterans all around the world, and as you know, there is still an armistice and South and North Korea remain divided, so what do you hope for the future of …
>> Well, I would like to see in my lifetime them united. I had a chance in my second visit to attend the memorial service in the demilitarized zone, and the South Korean pavilion is absolutely beautiful. On the North, you have a very long building, but it’s only 8 feet wide, but I’m 6-foot-2, so I wouldn’t have much room to lay down at night, and the South has progressed while the North has de-gressed, and people are suffering from malnutrition and wasting their money on developing weapons of destruction. That’s not the way the world should be.
>> Well, I hope that in your lifetime and in our lifetime, very soon, that there will be peace, and we’ll be united so even North Koreans who are suffering will also gain freedom that we Koreans all over the world enjoy so much. So on behalf of my family and friends and Koreans all over the world, thank you.
>> It’s been so nice to be able to meet you, and I think what you’re doing, traveling to every country that participated in the Korean War, is certainly a big undertaking for a little lady of your stature. You’re a good representative of your nationality.
>> I may be little, but I am strong.
>> You’re mighty.
>> I am mighty. Yeah.
>> That’s right. You sure are. You’re beautiful.
>> Thank you so much. Okay.
>> Love you. All right. You’re so sweet.
>> Thank you so much for the warm reception. This was beautiful. Today was beautiful.
>> We tried our best. I …
