While at Ft. Riley Kansas, I met a Korean in my barracks by the mane of Lie. (I am not sure of the spelling or pronunciation). When he was 12 years old his family escaped from North Korea to South Korea. They crossed the border about 20 minutes apart at night; with his mother first, the younger sister, him and then his father. His father insisted that if they heard gun fire they were to keep going. When this young man heard gun fire he did as his Dad had told him. His father never made it. He became the man of the house at 12 years of age. They lived in Soul until he could find work in a small village out of town. He was teaching himself by reading everything, especially the bible. When he was 17 he went into the South Korean army for 4 years. He asked to serve with the Tigers, the equivalent of our Rangers. He left the South Korean Army a sergeant. He then went to the US Embassy with his discharge papers and offered to serve in the US Army in exchange for US Citizenship. The US Army gave him credit for time served in the South Korean Army and he was on a fast track for promotions. After 1 year in the US Army he was again a sergeant. He had no time for anything but work or study, he knew what he wanted and was going for it. Lie’s sister had married an American GI and was living in California. His mother lived in a small apartment in Soul; he sent all but $25 of his pay to her. She was frugal and refused to spend it all so he had money in a bank in Soul. He always carried two bibles, one English King James and one Korean. He was taking college classes on the base; free for GI’s. He was a straight A student. He was always Super Numeral when it came to guard duty, Soldier of the day, etc., etc. He couldn’t understand any GI complaining about the food; that made him furious. “I never ate so well.” His plan was to make a career of the Army as a doctor. All his classes were aimed at that. He wanted to apply at the Public Service Medical School. I had heard of this school that offers scholarship in return for public service, but I had heard that you needed to be in the top 1 percent of pre-med to get in. I understand that Dr. Coop, (The Surgeon General a few years back), was a graduate. I shipped out, but knew that one way or the other Lie was going to make something of himself. We didn’t appreciate our country as much as he did.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 23:21:21 +0000
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