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Commonwealth Veterans Visit Korea

By J.R. Breen Contributing Writer Commonwealth veterans gathered last Friday to commemorate a decisive Korean War battle 59 years ago in which they staved off massive Chinese forces supporting the communist North. Approximately 200 veterans and accompanying family members visited the area around Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province. Veterans toured monuments to those who fought in the battle, including Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British forces. ``It's been very amazing, South Korea is the only country that really appreciates what Australia has done for it,'' said Australian Eric Hayes, who fought in the same area in 1952, after the battle of Gapyeong, at the monument to Australian and New Zealand forces. ``They opened up the mortars. At the time I was running (up to my position), the next thing I knew I was down the bottom of the hill, I was hit by mortar fire.'' Hayes spent six months undergoing treatment in a Japanese hospital before returning home. Elsewhere in the Gapyeong area, alongside a towering monument to the British Commonwealth forces sits

Speakman: Briton With Highest Honor

Bill Speakman Among the veterans who visited Korea this year was a Brit with a unique honor, the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for military action in the British army. William Speakman, the first man to receive the VC from Queen Elizabeth II, is one of the few surviving recipients, and the only living veteran of the Korean War to have been given the prestigious medal. He arrived in Korea last weekend along with some 200 other veterans and relatives here to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. ``I am glad to be back here, this country is truly a part of me, thank you for inviting me back,'' Speakman said at a press conference last Tuesday, choking back tears. ``It has brought me back to this wonderful place.'' Last week was Speakman's first trip to Korea in nearly six decades, having never returned since the war. Speakman, originally of the Royal Highland Regiment, or ``The Black Watch'' as they were better known, fought in Korea with the King's Own Scottish Borderers regiment. He later became a member of the Special Ai

‘British Bulldog’ Revisits Battleground

By J.R. Breen Contributing Writer The man the U.K.'s famed wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, called ``my British bulldog'' and who is widely reputed among Korean War veterans as the prisoner the communists could not break was in Korea last week to revisit the battleground where he fought 60 years ago. Derek Kinne, 80, and now an American citizen, traveled to the Imjin River, north of Seoul, to revisit where he took part in the ``Battle of the Imjin River,'' one of the most crucial conflicts of the war. Kinne, a former member of Britain's Royal Northumberland Fusiliers regiment, came from his home in Tucson, Arizona, accompanied by two grandsons to join other veterans from other United Nations countries for celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the war. Kinne and his family members were taken around the battle site by historian and author Andrew Salmon, whose book "To The Last Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea 1951" recreates the chaotic events of April 1951 from firsthand accounts. ``That is where we were,'' said

Foreignline

House of Sharing English Tour The House of Sharing is both a museum and home to former ``Comfort Women,'' victims of sexual slavery at the hands of the Japanese military during the Asia-Pacific War (1932-1945). It is the world's first human rights museum centered on the theme of sexual slavery. The museum opened on Aug. 14, 1998 to record Japanese war crimes, to restore the honor of the victims and to function as a place of historical education. Daedong Construction donated the buildings of the House of Sharing, and it is a privately funded by citizens and organizations in Korea and Japan. The House of Sharing International Outreach Team works to raise awareness of the issue of Japanese military sexual slavery and to support the on-going struggle for historical reconciliation and justice. The team is comprised of both foreign and local volunteers who lead visits at the House of Sharing in English, and work to highlight the continuing crimes against humanity in the form of sexual violence during war. The visit includes a short documentary about one of the halmonis

Veterans Stranded in Korea Due to Iceland Volcano

By J.R. Breen Contributing Writer Veterans from British regiments marking the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War are stranded in Korea due to an erupting volcano in Iceland. Fortunately for the band of more than 60 Brits, the South Korean government has moved to cover the entire costs of hotel bills for the duration of their extended stay, the length of which remains unknown. Ex-servicemen from regiments such as the King's Own Scottish Borders, Royal Ulster Rifles and Gloucestershire Regiment remained stranded in South Korea last night after a 10-day visit. They have been affected by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano, which has brought air travel in and out of Europe to a virtual standstill, with their flights scheduled for Monday cancelled amid the continuing problems with volcanic ash in the atmosphere. Remnants of the volcanic ash reportedly entered the Korean atmosphere on Tuesday, with one local airline official saying it could be the end of the month before flights to Europe resume. More than 200 British and Commonwealth veteran

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