South Koreans thank veterans

U.S. veterans of Korean War treated like royalty by people of South Korea 
By THERESA CAMPBEL

Left: Ralph Hoffmann was presented a medal from The Korean Freedom League for his service with the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War.

While it may be called “the forgotten war” in this country, Villages resident Ralph Hoffmann has learned the Korean War has not been forgotten in Korea, where many of the Asians bow with gratitude to the American veterans who served in the war more than a half-century ago…

Hoffmann said he was treated like royalty during a paid trip earlier this month to Seoul, where he and four other U.S. Marine veterans from New York and New Jersey were surprised when Kwon Jung-Dal, president of the Korea Freedom League, presented them with the Freedom Medal in appreciation for their service in Korea in the early 1950s.

“The Korean War has been called the forgotten war, the lost war, but to these people that’s not true at all,” Hoffmann said. “They say we saved their country, and they are very appreciative. They treated us like kings.”

Hoffmann and the other Korean War veterans received bouquets of flowers from Korean women, and many elderly people bowed when they saw the Americans.

Hoffmann was overwhelmed by the respect.

“The way they treated us was very humbling; they are so thankful,” he said. “And when you hear people here say, ‘Oh, we shouldn’t have been there, it was a waste,’ but when you see the Koreans that are so thankful, and you see how they’ve rebuilt their cities, it’s just incredible.”

It was 4 a.m. on June 25, 1950, when 70,000 North Korean troops with Russian T-34 tanks attacked South Korea. President Harry Truman appealed to the United Nations to take police action against the unwarranted attack, and under the name of the United Nations, the U.S. was able to send troops to the Korean peninsula.

Hoffmann was 18 when he went to Korea to serve with the U.S. Marines in defense of South Korea. Fighting under the banner of the United Nations, they were joined by small contingents of British, Canadian, Australian and Turkish troops.

China joined the war in October 1950 on the North’s side, and by the time a cease-fire agreement was signed on July 27, 1953, millions of soldiers and civilians had perished. An armistice ended the fighting, but Korea has remained divided for the decades since.

Hoffmann said the Korea Freedom League, an organization of 500,000 members, is committed and dedicated to promoting the universal values of freedom, democracy, peace and human rights, along with a peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula.

Hoffmann supports the league’s mission.

“They are really uplifting people,” Hoffmann said. “They sincerely believe that, eventually, they are going to reunify North Korea in truly peaceful means, and they have a number of humanitarian aid programs.

“They contribute food and have youth programs,” he said. “They really are trying to reach out, and hope to eventually remove the dictator, because they have relatives and families in the North, and they want to bring the whole country back together again.”

The league was established as the Asian People’s National Anti-Communist League on June 15, 1954, with the purpose of promoting and developing free democracy.

Hoffmann has a booklet about the league’s work.

League president Kwon Jung-Dal writes in the booklet: “… We have made it our mission to inspire citizens to awareness of national security along with education for, and cultivation of, democratic citizenship, which is indispensable to understand and practice the real value of freedom and democracy in line with the century’s trend of reconciliation and co-existence. … It is our strong belief that we can strengthen national reconciliation as well as national security, and shorten the length of time needed for our national reunification. … We strive to dedicate ourselves to world peace and prosperity in the spirit of U.N. goals.”

Hoffmann hopes for the same.

“I’m hoping for the reunification, and for what they are striving for,” he said. “When you take 500,000 people that are committed to doing it, it’s a pretty significant number. They are very optimistic that the reunification will happen.”

Hoffmann also learned Kwon Jung-Dal will be coming to the United States in July to present the Freedom Medal to more servicemen who served in the war.

“He’s coming to say ‘thank you,’ ” Hoffmann said. “He wants to say how grateful the Koreans are to the Americans for serving in Korea, and what we did was a good thing.”