COVER STORY 'It feels like coming home': Korean War veterans revisit US Army base after 70 years

PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province — More than seven decades after the 1950-53 Korean War, a group of Korean veterans returned to a U.S. Army base where they once served — this time as honored guests of a new generation of American soldiers.

“It feels like coming home,” said Kang Ku-kon, who was 15 when he volunteered and began helping care for wounded American soldiers at an Eighth Army field hospital.

“I served here 70 years ago. The moment I walked in, even the smell was the same.”

Kang was among a group of Korean War veterans welcomed to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on Nov. 5. As their bus arrived at the Van Fleet Hall, a U.S. Army band began playing.

For many of the visitors, now in their 90s, the trip offered a chance to see a place tied to their wartime service and meet the soldiers stationed there today.

The visit grew out of a request from the veterans themselves. Vice Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Kang Yun-jin said several veterans, including Ryu Jae-sik, head of the Korean War Veterans Association’s Seoul branch, raised the idea at a memorial event in Seoul attended by former U.S. military commanders and the ministry helped arrange the trip.

“It was moving to see Eighth Army soldiers welcome our Korean War veterans with applause,” Kang said during the ceremony. “I am grateful to everyone who made this visit possible.”

Lt. Gen. Joseph Hilbert, commander of the Eighth Army, paid tribute to the veterans for their service during the war.

“The peace, prosperity and vibrant democracy we see across the Republic of Korea today did not happen by accident,” Hilbert said. “It was not guaranteed, but it was bought by and paid for by your courage, your sweat and your blood.”

Departing from his prepared remarks, Hilbert said the sight of Seoul still reminded him of those who fought to defend the country.

Every time he flies over the capital in a helicopter heading north, he said, he thinks of their sacrifice and what it made possible.

“I get emotional every time I see it,” he said.

The veterans then toured the headquarters, where photographs of those who fought in the Korean War line the walls. Some stopped when they recognized themselves or their comrades in the old pictures.

One veteran pointed out a familiar face, prompting others to gather around. Several veterans then posed with Vice Minister Kang Yun-jin in front of the photographs, recreating the poses captured decades earlier.

Hilbert wanted them to know that the display was not arranged for the occasion.

“We didn’t put those pictures up for your visit,” he told them. “They’re here every day.”

He said soldiers walking those corridors see the faces of the men who came before them, a daily reminder of the responsibility they carry.

For Kang, the welcome brought back his years alongside American troops. He said he had come expecting to express his gratitude to the U.S. soldiers who helped defend South Korea, not to be thanked himself.

“We should be the ones welcoming them, but instead they’re welcoming us,” he said. “I’m grateful.”

Ryu, who enlisted at 18 and fought on the front lines, had a similar message. On the bus to Camp Humphreys, he urged his fellow veterans to remember the Americans who died or were wounded in the war and to see how today’s U.S. troops carry on their mission in Korea.

The formal welcome was over, but an unexpected encounter awaited the veterans.

While touring the base museum, the veterans came across a group of Korean noncommissioned officers (NCOs) taking part in a professional development program at the Army Special Warfare School. The younger soldiers saluted the veterans, then gathered with them for photographs.

The two groups met again as the veterans prepared to leave. The NCOs stood on either side of the departing vehicle and saluted.

Through the windows, the veterans smiled and waved back.