Hunting for Heroes
As time starts to run out for veterans of the Korean war, the President of South Korea, Lee Mung-bak, wants to send a letter to every surviving veteran, thanking him for helping save the country from being absorbed by North Korea 60 years ago.
It is an unprecedented gesture of gratitude, and part of the elaborate 60th anniversary ceremonies planned for this year in Korea.
Every year, South Korea invites veterans (and pays expenses) to re-visit their rebuilt and prosperous country. In this special anniversary year, a commemorative coin or medallion is being considered for the 100,000 or so letters from President Lee.
Korean Veterans Associations (KVA) in the 21 countries that sent soldiers to help defend South Korea have been asked to locate veterans who don’t belong to any formal organization - roughly 80% of all who served.
Terry Wickens, national president of KVA (Canada), is developing a database of surviving vets. Some 2,400 Canadians belong to the KVA. Of over 30,000 Canadians who served in Korea, maybe 8,000 are still alive.
The Republic of Korea (ROK) Commemoration Committee is also planning a series of banquets in Canada for veterans, hence their interest in locating as many as possible.
A key program in Korea will be ceremonies marking the 1950 Inchon landing at Seoul by General Douglas MacArthur, that turned the tide of the war. One who participated was Bob Welland, captain of the destroyer HMCS Athabaskan at Inchon who was awarded the Korean Presidental Unit Citation, and eventually retired as a rear-admiral and Deputy Chief of Defence Staff.
If he attends ceremonies, Admiral Welland will be 91 and the oldest veteran there. Almost certainly he is the last of eight captains of Canadian destroyers that served in Korean waters.
Admiral Welland lives in Surrey, B.C. In WWII he won the Distinguished Service Cross, then earned a bar to it in the Korean war. Three Canadian destroyers (Athabaskan, Cayuga and Sioux) were part of a flotilla that rescued refuges by sailing up the estuary at Chinnampo -- port for the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. The Americans awarded Welland the Legion of Merit.
An aspect of South Korea’s long record of honoring those who came to its defence in war, is that many who served as soldiers, felt frustrated by the apparent stalemate and the UN policy of refusing to win (fearing war with China and the Soviet Union). Return visits have persuaded most veterans that they won the peace.
Terry Wickens says perhaps 50% of living Canadians who served in the Korean war are already on his data base. Vets who want to register, can contact terrywickens@sympatico.ca.
Vince Courtenay of Koreavetnews, is one of the few non-Koreans who advises the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA). He hopes two of the VIP guests in Korea this year will be Bill Speakman, a former Black Watch soldier, and Derek Kinne of the Northumberland Fusiliers – both celebrated heroes of that war.
Speakman won the Victoria Cross by leading a series of charges against Chinese who’d overrun his position in November, 1951, enabling others to safely withdraw. Kinne won the George Cross while a prisoner of the Chinese. He withstood torture and brutal treatment with “unbreakable defiance” that inspired other PoWs.
Meanwhile, the hunt goes on for unregistered Korean veterans.