From Vermont to Alaska, Korean American couple’s 5-year journey honors forgotten Korean War heroes

Flowers left by family and friends of fallen soldiers are seen at the Wall of Remembrance during a special ceremony ahead of the official dedication of the wall at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, U.S., July 26, 2022. Reuters-Yonhap

By Kang Hyun-kyung

• Published Aug 20, 2025 9:00 AM KST
• Updated Aug 20, 2025 2:02 PM KST

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Ten Alaskans lost their lives during the Korean War, a bloody conflict that erupted on June 25, 1950, when communist North Korea invaded the South. Among them were three Indigenous Americans.

Most of these young men were just teenagers or in their early 20s when their lives were cut short in a faraway land few had known before their deployment. They died fighting for the freedom of South Korea.

Decades after the armistice of July 1953 brought the fighting to a halt, these little-known Alaskan soldiers have finally been honored, as Sung-yull and Chang-wha Koo, a Korean American couple based in New York, launched an initiative to locate and commemorate fallen Korean War soldiers across the United States.

On Friday, the couple held a memorial service at Northwood Elementary School in Anchorage to pay tribute to the 10 Alaskan servicemen. The ceremony included a donation of $5,000 to rename the school library after Private John Byron “Little Jack” Whitson Jr. (1932-1953), one of the fallen soldiers. Northwood Elementary was chosen as the site for the 50th and final ceremony in the Koos’ nationwide tour because it was Whitson’s alma mater.

During the program, Mr. Koo, founder of the 6.25 Foundation, which is dedicated to honoring Korean War veterans, invited three students out of about 100 gathered in the cafeteria to step forward and read aloud the names of the 10 Alaskans engraved on a commemorative plaque prepared by the couple.

“Very well done,” Koo said after the last name, Private First Class Victor J. Zapata, was read.

The hour-long event was as much about education as it was about remembrance. The Koos explained to students the origins and devastation of the Korean War, as well as the sacrifices made by hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who were killed, wounded or remain missing. They then presented the $5,000 check for the library project.

Northwood Principal Elizabeth Hornbuckle said the commemoration deepened her understanding of the war and Alaska’s contribution.

“It was an honor to learn about these men who gave their lives to help others,” she said. “I think this is something our students need to understand. Freedom is not always free.”

Katy Grant, executive assistant superintendent of the Anchorage School District, said she too was moved.

“I’m so happy we were able to make this happen and come together,” she said. “When Mr. Koo first called me, I wasn’t sure it would work out — it was only the second day of school after summer break. What an honor is to be part of the journey they’ve been on. The kids learned a lot. So did I.”

Alaska was the final stop for the Koo couple’s “Thank America” project. As they concluded their five-year mission to honor fallen but often forgotten Korean War soldiers, a special guest traveled from Seoul to Anchorage for the donation ceremony — golfer Kim In-kyung, better known internationally as I. K. Kim.

A seven-time LPGA winner, Kim is one of the key donors who made the Koos’ ambitious journey possible.

“I became emotional when I learned that Private Whitson Jr. died in 1953, the same year my father was born,” she said. “My father didn’t talk much about the Korean War while I was growing up — perhaps because he had no personal memories of it. But now I see that my family’s story and the war are connected.

“Like many Koreans born after the war, my father took freedom for granted, having lived most of his life after democracy came to our country. So did I. This experience helped me realize how little I truly understood about the Korean War. It was deeply meaningful to learn about it and remember those who sacrificed their lives.”

Since 2000, the Koos have worked with donors, volunteers and supporters nationwide to raise funds, research fallen soldiers and learn their stories. The soldiers were identified by state, with one chosen in each state to have a school library named in their honor. Others were remembered through plaques presented to the schools.

“Thank America” is the brainchild of the couple’s decades-long effort to give back to the country they now call home.

“Both of us came to the U.S. as immigrants,” Mrs. Koo explained. “We met here, married here and raised our children here. As immigrants, we’ve been blessed with opportunities to build a good life and a happy family. We always asked ourselves how we could give back to this society. This touring ceremony to honor the fallen soldiers became our answer.”

The couple launched their project on Oct. 29, 2020, at Readsboro Central School in Vermont.

For the Koos, the past five years have been an arduous journey. Before reaching Alaska, they drove from their home in New York to schools in 49 states, covering more than 112,000 kilometers in total.

Mr. Koo said they had originally planned to drive to Alaska as well, but this time circumstances forced them to fly.

“It takes about three weeks to drive from New York to Alaska,” he explained. “But the local educational authorities only decided to designate Northwood Elementary as the final venue two weeks before the event. So we had no choice but to fly.”

Mrs. Koo said she felt relieved to see their mission fulfilled.

“It was challenging financially, physically and mentally,” she said. “We spent countless hours researching the soldiers and their alma maters, raising funds and searching for any surviving relatives to invite to the ceremonies. My husband worked tirelessly on this, even while running his computer business full-time — he devoted all his spare time to the project.”

Despite the hardships, Mr. Koo said he never felt exhausted. Instead, he felt deeply rewarded by the families he met along the way.

“Generals and high-ranking officials from the Korean War have been decorated by the Korean government,” he said. “But many ordinary soldiers have remained forgotten. We wanted to remember them and thank them for their service and sacrifice.”

He recalled how personal encounters gave him a deeper understanding of the pain felt by veterans’ families.

“In Maine, we met the younger brother of the soldier we were honoring,” he said. “He was bitter, asking why it took so long for Koreans to reach out to the families of Korean War veterans. He felt his brother had died in vain. But as the hour-long ceremony unfolded, his heart softened. When he was invited to say a few words about his brother, he was moved to see his sibling finally remembered. By the end, he even pledged $2,000 in addition to our $5,000 donation to honor his brother through the library project.”

In Kansas, Koo said, a cousin of another fallen soldier drove in from another state just to attend the ceremony.

“She was deeply touched and told us she was proud that her late cousin would be remembered with a school library named in his honor,” he recalled.

As their five-year journey concluded on Friday with their $5,000 donation to Northwood Elementary School, the Koos are now considering how to preserve and share what they have learned. Publishing a book is one option under discussion.

“We’re certain that the material we’ve collected will be valuable for scholars studying the Korean War,” Mrs. Koo said. “But we haven’t yet decided whether publishing it will be necessary.”