Growing up in Northeast Iowa, Eugene Holmes thought he knew what it meant to be cold.
Then he arrived at P’ohang-dong.
“When I arrived in Korea — the 18th of February — it was late. The dinner was over so the cook said, ‘Come down after a while and I’ll fix something for you,'” Holmes said. “I got two fried eggs on my metal mess kit, went to the mess tent to eat — before I got them eaten, they were frozen to the mess kit.”
Holmes served as a Marine in the Korean War from 1951 to 1952, where he took part in Operation Ripper, the U.N.’s push to retake the initiative after Chinese intervention the previous winter erased most of its gains.
For his part, Holmes was kept in reserves during the operation. But that didn’t spare him from close calls. In one incident a series of explosions held up American forces, leading Holmes and two other Marines to investigate. He credited his demolitions training at Camp Pendleton with saving his life that day.
“There was a guy named Joe in front, I was in the middle, another sergeant behind me. We were walking along this path, and I’m watching the area and what have you because of my demolitions experience and training, and I was watching and all of a sudden … I said, ‘Joe, freeze!'” Holmes said. “I said, ‘Joe, you’re one step away from a trip wire.’ That would’ve taken all three of us.”
Other memories fit neatly into photo albums like the one Holmes keeps in his house.
“We found that little guy sleeping in our jeep,” he said, pointing to a photo of a grinning South Korean boy. “He was 15. We got him clothes. … We taught him English. He made the greatest interpreter we ever had.”
The Forgotten War
The fighting ceased with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953. Officially, the war is ongoing, with forces on guard at the 38th Parallel that separates the two Koreas. But 70 years later, the time Holmes and other soldiers spent there remains with them.
Outside the military community, it was a conflict that was overshadowed by the full national involvement of World War II and the controversy of the Vietnam War. It’s often referred to as the “Forgotten War.”
Richard Sulentic was drafted into the U.S. Army out of Loras College in 1952. He served with a medical company near Panmunjom in the closing months of the war. When he returned home, it was to a muted reception.
“Well, it was a lot like when they got out of Vietnam and they came home,” Sulentic said. “During World War II when the vets came home, they had big parades marching down … Times Square and honoring them. But when the soldiers came home from Korea and the Vietnam War — nothing. Nothing happened like that.”
“It seemed like we were always in the back of the news and we weren’t really in the forward of the news,” Holmes said.
But John Lee, former president of the Korean American Society of Iowa, says the fight to preserve freedom for millions of Koreans must never be forgotten.
Before coming to Cedar Rapids, Lee performed his compulsory service in the South Korean Army. Prior to his birth, his hometown was overrun by the North Korean Army, resulting in his uncle’s conscription. His fate is unknown.
According to Lee, the invasion is far from forgotten in his homeland and the youths of South Korea grow up hearing stories of the war.
“Well, 70 years is a long time … but we heard the story about the war and especially that war that was fought was an ideological war,” Lee said. “However, 70 years later, we know the human history a little bit about what has happened in the past, so the freedom fighting, it was worth fighting to keep the Korean Peninsula free.”
In all, there were 40,000 U.N. personnel killed in the war, 36,000 of whom were Americans. Lee says the sacrifices of those American, Korean and other international service members deserve a place of reverence.
“People these days — even young people — remember that, how America was dedicated to keeping the freedom of Korea and, of course, keeping the interest and freedom of the world,” Lee said.
The time Sulentic spent in Korea had a profound impact on how he views the world. He believes no wars should ever have to be fought. But going back to South Korea in the 1990s, he saw firsthand how the country had developed in 40 years. He was amazed at what he saw, a far cry from the small, war-torn villages he drove through in 1953.
“Well, I was shocked to see how South Korea had become, you know, just like a little United States,” Sulentic said. “And you still get a few North Koreans coming on down, leaving North Korea and coming to South Korea.”
Lingering tensions
Beyond South Korea’s success as a nation after the war, Lee says, the ongoing possibility of another war makes the sacrifices worth remembering.
“Would you be willing to live under the control of Kim Jong-Un’s North Korean leadership?” Lee said. “My answer is clearly, 110% no! I want a free world. So I’m very glad that 70 years ago in that conflict we fought against communism, and that 70 years later the meaning of fighting against it is pretty clear — your freedom — and people enjoy their freedom these days because someone had the dedication to protect their freedom.”
Sulentic says he has no animosity toward the people of North Korea. He feels sorry for them.
“That’s why every now and then you see some of them coming across the line and coming into South Korea,” Sulentic said. “South Korea is just like any other city in the United States but North Korea, under the dominance of a dictator, they want their finger on everything and control everything.”
Tensions remain between the United States and North Korea. Last week, North Korea detained a U.S. soldier who intentionally crossed the border from South Korea in an apparent effort to escape being sent home after getting charged with assault. The regime in Pyongyang has made no public mention so far about the fate of the man.
On July 18, North Korea fired two missiles into the Sea of Japan as retaliation for an American nuclear submarine docking in South Korea for the first time in decades. It was the third round of launches this month.
Surviving veterans who served 70 years ago read such headlines with concern.
“It’s concerning, yes. You think that North Korea’s not thinking right. You just don’t know what they might do. Hard to tell,” Holmes said. “But if they did, I think they’d be sorry for it.”
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