My experience in Korea and China, 2006.
by E. Leroy Hill

Revisiting Korea was one of the most rewarding experiences in my exciting life.

(Photo: Leroy at a veterans’ cemetery in South Korea)

For 53 years I grieved for my many friends who died in combat there. For the first 30 years or so I would wake up in my comfortable home with my loving family around me, but feeling guilty because my life was so rewarding and those boys lost theirs so early for no good reason.

(Photo: American veterans with much in common, a war five decades in the past)

Now I can sleep peacefully knowing they did not die in vain. All the soldiers who suffered there made it possible for the Korean people to make their own destiny -- and they sure did.

No doubt about it, Korea today is a wonderfully free country, one based upon rule by law instead of by tyrants. It is a nation of which every American should be very proud.

(Photo: the tour bus sign reads, “Welcome Korean War Veterans”)

I never thought I would utter the words “I love Korea,” but I really do. I will tell anyone who will listen, I LOVE KOREA.
 
I recall that my own parents were angry at President Harry Truman for his invasion of Korea. Thankfully, history has proven him right. It was a smart and brave thing for America to do and I am very proud of my small participation in the creation of such a wonderful nation.

Equally important, all the Korean people know what America did for them, and sincerely appreciate it. It seems they cannot say “thank you” enough.

(Photo: Leroy with Korean boys who came up to thank him for his service to their country)

They are teaching their young people to also be grateful for the opportunity America gave them. As we toured the country in our bus marked “U. S. Korean War Veterans Revisit,” people on the street, young and old, smiled, cheered and yelled, “Thank you.” School children ran up to hug us. It was a wonderful experience.
 
Sure, South Korea has problems such as corruption by some business leaders, global market competition, environmental issues and even some young people who think they can run things better. Korea is well aware of those problems and is working hard to solve them. Every free country has such problems today.

(Photo: Korea produces cars sold throughout the world)

North Korea, on the other hand, will only be able to hold itself together as long as its government prohibits its people from having any knowledge of what lies on the other side of the DMZ. It seems impossible to us that any government can hold a whole nation in ignorance, but this one does. It has a very strong military and a police force that does terrible things to its citizens if they ask any questions or have any unauthorized contact with the outside. What a shame.

(Photo: Leroy with an Army Colonel on duty at the DMZ, which separates the Koreas)

I also found China to be an example of what happens when a tyrannical government destroys individual initiative. I have a picture of the poor guy who peddled our pedicab wearing pants that had been patched and re-patched. China produces pants that we buy at Walmart, and yet their people can’t afford them in their own country.

(Photo: Leroy and Harlene in Beijing)

While the South Koreans stressed openness and truthfulness, the Chinese base their whole government on fiction. When we went to the Chinese War Museum we saw displayed some bugs in a small plastic box. Our guide pointed to a study that the Chinese government had conducted experiments “proving” that U. S. Forces used biological warfare against its army in Korea. The Chinese believe this because their government tells them to.

(Photo: In Inchon, South Korea, Leroy found a display of his Army outfit, the 45th Thunderbird Division. And at the Korean War Museum, there was a wall that listed the names of every American soldier killed in action. He said the Koreans seemed familiar with them all and were very respectful, something the soldiers’ families would appreciate knowing.)

The Chinese are very proud of the fact they “saved” North Korea, even though now, 50 years later, that country is so poor it cannot feed its own people. It is a place where citizens have to get a permit from the police to go to the next town. The tyrant the Chinese kept in power in North Korea is nothing to be proud of.

China wants the world to believe they have adopted the good things about capitalism and are no longer Communist, but rather Socialists.

(Photo: Leroy and Harlene in Beijing)

However, the government still owns every square inch of soil there. If you belong to the “company” you can get a lease of land at the pleasure of the government. Only four percent of the Chinese belong to the “company” and unless you are a member, there are no good employment opportunities.

Seoul and Inchon, Korea were two of the cleanest cities I have ever seen; no graffiti anyplace. 

(Photo: Harlene and Leroy in Inchon, South Korea)

People on the street wore clean and neat clothes and even their automobiles (which were plentiful) were always clean.

We saw no junk cars. Korea has the best and most modern airports and seaports on the Pacific. It is the tenth largest economy in the world. 

(Photo: Leroy and Harlene on the Great Wall of China)

China, on the other hand, gave me the impression of being very dirty. I saw young and old people sweeping the streets with straw brooms -- just a way of being kept busy.

While the President of South Korea is limited to only one six-year term, the North Korean and Chinese leaders hold office for life, or as long as their corruption is better than their competition’s.

The most amazing thing I saw in China was the people’s absolute worship of the memory of Chairman Mao.

(Photo: a depiction of former Chairman Mao hangs over the entrance of the “Forbidden City”)

While in power, he destroyed the nation’s economy and brought about the Cultural Revolution, which caused millions of people to lose everything they had worked for all their lives. He was responsible for the deaths of uncounted thousands and deprived hundreds of millions of the simplest of human rights. Yet he appears as their God. 

(Photo: Returning American veterans and their wives)

We were in Tiananmen Square twice and each time I saw people standing four abreast in a line over a mile long, just for an opportunity to gaze upon his corpse in a crystal coffin. His picture is still everywhere. When I asked our guide how this could be, he simply stated “He is forgiven.”

My experience in the Orient was much more comfortable this time, although I had many highly emotional experiences. Some brought back memories I have spent 50 years trying to forget. Still, my experiences assured me that my friends had not died in vain. Their lives and sacrifices made a big difference to millions of people. They served America well by making it possible for a great nation to be born from the rubble of battle.

Their sacrifices have improved the world for centuries to come and they truly are heroes in every sense of the term. I am so proud to have known them. I have not forgotten them, and they are not forgotten by a country they never knew, and people they never met.

I REALLY LOVE SOUTH KOREA. 
Leroy Hill SFC retired