My dad was in the Navy 1951-59 and was 'support' personnel during the war and I was lucky enough to get him on a Nebraska-based "Honor Flight" to DC in March 2014. They toured the war memorials for a full day and, via social media - when it actually works for a GOOD cause - and various local news channels, were greeted at the Omaha airport well after midnight by an estimated welcome-home crowd of nearly 4,000 to give them their LONG overdue "welcome" they were so rudely denied during the 50s by the war-weary nation.
God bless the service and legacy of your wife's grandfather!
If interested in the Honor Flights (at least the Nebraska connection) their site is patrioticproductions.org - also did WW 2, then Korea, then Vietnam, then the WACs/female component of WW 2, Korea & Vietnam and most recently the Purple Heart awardees.
I never got into Pawnee City, NE native (Dan Whitney) Larry the Cable Guy's humor but a GREAT story regarding him - the very first honor flight couldn't reach the hoped-for funding and were stalled (the logistics of same are/were quite elaborate - accommodating quite elderly and frail individuals with their helpers, getting the commercial planes leased, etc, etc). Dan/Larry heard about their plight, called Bill & Evonne Williams (organizers from Omaha) to ask what amount they needed and promptly wrote a check. I've admired the guy since (he devotes a LOT of free time and fundraising to the state's Madonna Rehabilitation Centers as well).
He served for the ROK army. He was drafted, sent North, and never came home, and no one knew what happened. (My wife is Korean.) Thanks to Trump, they got his remains back, so now my mother-in-law can collect a pension. (Unfortunately, they start only when they have evidence that the individual died in combat.)
My grandpa served in WWII and fought in Guadalcanal as a Marine. He never spoke about what happened there except some anecdotal stories. After he passed, I asked my dad if he wanted to look into his dad's military service records, and he said no. He figured his dad didn't want to talk about it, so it's probably better to not know what he did there, and what he saw.
When I brought my new wife to meet my grandpa, he said, "Is she Japanese?" I said, "No, Korean!" He threw his hands around her and said, "I love Koreans." He shed a tear, saying, "The Koreans served along side us in the Korean war. I love them."
It turned out that my grandpa and my father-in-law may have worked in Saudi Arabia together. My grandpa became an accountant and was trusted to distribute payroll to the Korean workers in Saudi Arabia, at the time my father-in-law was working in Saudi Arabia. They may have met each other and never known it.
Anyway, we can never honor our veterans enough. People in both Korea and the US didn't put on the uniform for personal gain. They did it to serve others, people they would never meet.
My family heritage is such that we expect no repayment. Honor flights are cool, but if my grandpa were alive he would never take the seat that someone else could fill. He lived a life of service to everyone around him.
PHENOMENAL story(ies), my good sir and thank you for sharing. I'm fascinated by other cultures, especially the Koreans (and especially recently their mindblowingly good FILM). I'm a history fanatic and two of the absolute best books I've EVER read about specifically the Korean WAR (not 'conflict') are the mighty David Halberstam's The Coldest Winter - massive biography of the war (700 odd pages) and a quicker read about the intense Chosin Reservoir battle On Frozen Ground by Hampton Sides.
Dad was stunned at the outpouring of emotional admiration from the Korean groups and individuals he met on his DC trip - and especially there to greet at the airport intermingled with all the rest of us lining their exit from the plane - not a dry eye in the place. They're wonderful people and, like the EAST Europeans, they can FULLY understand the absolute dangerous FALLACY of each succeeding generation thinking Socialism Is "Neat-o", being torn asunder by the Japanese marauders, then ripped in half by communism, etc. And South Korea was no walk in the park under the 18 year brutal reign of assassinated Park Chung-Hee. I ALWAYS regret the fact I remained state-side (in the Army) rather than go to Korea.
Here's an excellent Korean film I just watched - Joint Security Area: JSA from 2000. A S. Korean soldier leaves his post and decides to just waltz across the DMZ and befriend the Completely Human NORTH Korean sentries. Great story.
My wife's grandpa was one of them. He was MIA but now we have his remains.
Thank God for President Trump. Thank God for Kim Jong Un.
My dad was in the Navy 1951-59 and was 'support' personnel during the war and I was lucky enough to get him on a Nebraska-based "Honor Flight" to DC in March 2014. They toured the war memorials for a full day and, via social media - when it actually works for a GOOD cause - and various local news channels, were greeted at the Omaha airport well after midnight by an estimated welcome-home crowd of nearly 4,000 to give them their LONG overdue "welcome" they were so rudely denied during the 50s by the war-weary nation.
God bless the service and legacy of your wife's grandfather!
If interested in the Honor Flights (at least the Nebraska connection) their site is patrioticproductions.org - also did WW 2, then Korea, then Vietnam, then the WACs/female component of WW 2, Korea & Vietnam and most recently the Purple Heart awardees.
I never got into Pawnee City, NE native (Dan Whitney) Larry the Cable Guy's humor but a GREAT story regarding him - the very first honor flight couldn't reach the hoped-for funding and were stalled (the logistics of same are/were quite elaborate - accommodating quite elderly and frail individuals with their helpers, getting the commercial planes leased, etc, etc). Dan/Larry heard about their plight, called Bill & Evonne Williams (organizers from Omaha) to ask what amount they needed and promptly wrote a check. I've admired the guy since (he devotes a LOT of free time and fundraising to the state's Madonna Rehabilitation Centers as well).
He served for the ROK army. He was drafted, sent North, and never came home, and no one knew what happened. (My wife is Korean.) Thanks to Trump, they got his remains back, so now my mother-in-law can collect a pension. (Unfortunately, they start only when they have evidence that the individual died in combat.)
My grandpa served in WWII and fought in Guadalcanal as a Marine. He never spoke about what happened there except some anecdotal stories. After he passed, I asked my dad if he wanted to look into his dad's military service records, and he said no. He figured his dad didn't want to talk about it, so it's probably better to not know what he did there, and what he saw.
When I brought my new wife to meet my grandpa, he said, "Is she Japanese?" I said, "No, Korean!" He threw his hands around her and said, "I love Koreans." He shed a tear, saying, "The Koreans served along side us in the Korean war. I love them."
It turned out that my grandpa and my father-in-law may have worked in Saudi Arabia together. My grandpa became an accountant and was trusted to distribute payroll to the Korean workers in Saudi Arabia, at the time my father-in-law was working in Saudi Arabia. They may have met each other and never known it.
Anyway, we can never honor our veterans enough. People in both Korea and the US didn't put on the uniform for personal gain. They did it to serve others, people they would never meet.
My family heritage is such that we expect no repayment. Honor flights are cool, but if my grandpa were alive he would never take the seat that someone else could fill. He lived a life of service to everyone around him.
PHENOMENAL story(ies), my good sir and thank you for sharing. I'm fascinated by other cultures, especially the Koreans (and especially recently their mindblowingly good FILM). I'm a history fanatic and two of the absolute best books I've EVER read about specifically the Korean WAR (not 'conflict') are the mighty David Halberstam's The Coldest Winter - massive biography of the war (700 odd pages) and a quicker read about the intense Chosin Reservoir battle On Frozen Ground by Hampton Sides.
Dad was stunned at the outpouring of emotional admiration from the Korean groups and individuals he met on his DC trip - and especially there to greet at the airport intermingled with all the rest of us lining their exit from the plane - not a dry eye in the place. They're wonderful people and, like the EAST Europeans, they can FULLY understand the absolute dangerous FALLACY of each succeeding generation thinking Socialism Is "Neat-o", being torn asunder by the Japanese marauders, then ripped in half by communism, etc. And South Korea was no walk in the park under the 18 year brutal reign of assassinated Park Chung-Hee. I ALWAYS regret the fact I remained state-side (in the Army) rather than go to Korea.
Here's an excellent Korean film I just watched - Joint Security Area: JSA from 2000. A S. Korean soldier leaves his post and decides to just waltz across the DMZ and befriend the Completely Human NORTH Korean sentries. Great story.
JSA was epic and great.