Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
I am proud to have this opportunity to participate
in this event here this evening. This photographic exhibit is an emotionally
moving portrayal of the values our servicemen and women take with
them when they serve overseas in the defense of our nation.
Here in 35 panels of photographs, newspaper clippings
and comments we have a statement of the compassion of our young men
and women as they faced the horrors of war and saw the suffering of
the most innocent victims of any war, the children. I am deeply moved
by these images for I too served in the Korean War. I was witness
to the horror and destruction wrought on that small nation. I was
serving in the US Air Force while in Korea. Let me quote from a report
on some of the ways the US Air Force in 1953 helped the children of
Korea.
“Total voluntary contributions by officers
and airmen to Korean orphanages and schools reached $206,759.86
by the end of 1953.
“In addition to the money, Fifth Air Force
personnel also provided the orphans with 210,000 pounds of used
clothing, much of it coming from their relatives and friends in
the United States.
“The Fifth's units supported 86 orphanages and approximately
8,500 youngsters during the past year.
“More important contributions, however, were the construction
and rehabilitation of schools and orphanages. The 3rd Bombardment
Wing, for example, found 80 children living in a cave on a Korean
hillside last spring and promptly raised enough money to build a
six-unit orphanage for the youngsters. The children moved into the
new buildings by the end of the year. The men also raised $10,000
to build a new home for the children of St. Margaret's Orphanage.
“The officers and men of the 67th Tactical
Reconnaissance Wing, just one unit of the 5th Air Force, noted ‘The
problem looks pretty hopeless when you think of the thousands of
these homeless orphans in Korea today, but we're doing what we can
here at the 67th. Not just at Christmas time...it's a year round
thing with us. The Bupyong Orphanage at Ascom City, Oryu at Oryudong,
New Hope at Yong Dong Po, Colombia in Seoul, the Christian Mission
Orphanage also in Seoul, the school and church at Soss, the Kwahairi
Church near Kimpo, all are supported wholly or in part, by the men
of our wing.
‘Strange names most of them, not at all like Detroit, or Dallas,
or Des Moines, but these kids aren't any different, really, from
those back home...except that they need our help. And we've been
giving it for a long time, since we came here.’”
The list goes on and on and these figures are only
for the Air Force and only for 1953. There was also the Army, Marine
Corps and Navy involvements with the orphans and orphanages. Even
the Merchant Marine had their piece of the action. The scale and scope
of this humanitarian aid was immense.
Many books and articles have been written on the
Korean War but until the Korean War Children’s Memorial Project
began there had never been such a comprehensive presentation of the
role our armed forces played in providing humanitarian aid to tens
of thousands of Korean children.
This photo exhibit should make all Americans proud
of their armed forces. Our GIs, all branches of service and both men
and women, take with them to war the values they learned at home,
in their place of worship, in school and in their community. As Dr.
Drake has stated: “Our young men have to be trained to aim a
gun at another human and shoot to kill. They do not have to be trained
to offer food to a hungry child, take an injured or sick child to
the medic, find shelter for a homeless child or offer solace to a
crying child. That comes with being American.”
The Korean War is often referred to as the “Forgotten
War.” And within that “Forgotten War” there is this
element of love and compassion that has never really been studied
before. We need to insist that as historians rewrite the story of
the Korean War they include this dimension of the war as an essential
element in it.
Bill Asbury, retired editor of the Seattle Post
Intelligencer, referred to our armed forces in the Korean War as an
“Army of Compassion.” I think Dr. Drake has amply documented
that aspect of the war for which we all owe him our thanks.
This photo exhibit needs to be shown throughout
America so our fellow citizens can feel pride in their armed forces.
They need to know that even in the midst of a horrible war the basic
values taught at home were there to guide our young men and women.
This photo exhibit also needs to tour Korea. Contemporary
Koreans seem to have totally forgotten the love and compassion of
our troops in the Korean War who saved the lives of over ten thousand
of their children and helped support more than 54,000 in more than
400 orphanages, most of which were built or repaired by our servicemen.
We need to remind them of those dark days and what the American forces
did to aid their children in their time of dire need.
On behalf of Korean War Veterans I commend
Dr. Drake for the production of this photographic exhibit and Mr.
Al Zimmerman for his talented presentation of the material in these
35 panels. I wish it large numbers of viewers as it tours the United
States of America and, hopefully, Korea.
