Unfinished story of my grandfather (친할아버지)

Yu, Yong Shik (1923-2004)

Memorial Day, 31 May 2010

In memory of my grandfather.

Born in YangPyung, KyungKido, Korea (Land of the Morning Calm), I was the fourth out of seven siblings, which makes me the middle child. 

My two younger brothers DongShik and ChunShik tragically died in their early teens and my oldest brother died in his early 30s. Which left me with an older brother(ManShik), a younger sister(MyungShik), and an older sister(SoonShik) whom I lost contact with during the Korean War. 

When I was only 13, my mother passed away. In the following years I was sent to middle school and then graduated high school in 1942, which at the time was rare since most people's education was limited at the elementary school level. 

Soon after graduating high school, however, I was drafted into the Japanese army (who occupied Korea at the time, a once independent nation) during World War II. I spent three years in the vicinity south of Beijing (Peking), China guarding Japanese distribution warehouses. I was very impressed with the Japanese war efforts and had eyewitness accounts of the immense quantity of Japanese war supplies as well as quality uniforms which were anywhere from 30-50 years old. This to me was proof that the Japanese army had been preparing for war against China many many years prior. 

Many soldiers from my unit were sent to fight against American forces in the South Pacific islands and most died through shipwreck. I was lucky enough not to be sent from my guard duty. I hardly ever saw Japanese officers; apparently they believed that an officer would lose respect from their subordinates if seen too often. They were trying to keep their mystic Samurai warrior figure even in modern warfare. By the end of the war I was guarding white prisoners of war who were laborers of the warehouses. 

Even after listening on the radio of Emperor Hirohito's announcement of "Unconditional Surrender" to American Forces in August 15, 1945, the Japanese army authorities were not freeing the Korean born draftees until the end of October 1945 and only because they could no longer provide food to the soldiers. It was then that I realized two separate organized groups called "Return to Korea" were being shipped across the China Sea back to the motherland. I neither had the money nor the time to wait for a third group to be organized, so I decided to return by land. I was able to sew on an extra layer onto my Japanese uniform in order to keep me warm during the extremely cold months of travel ahead. I rode trains as far as my money could take me and then hitchhiked the rest of the way through Manchuria on trains and carts pulled by oxen. Whenever the trains would stop, people would help themselves to sweet potato that grew out of nearby farming fields. When I finally crossed the Chinese-Korean border, (northwestern part of Korean peninsula) I would stow away on the south bound trains which carried disassembled heavy machinery from Japanese factory plants looted by the Soviet army. During this early time of occupation by the Soviet army in the North and American army in the South, there were very few border posts that marked the 38th parallel. So I then joined a small group of travelers and paid a guide who helped us walk across the 38th parallel into the newly unilaterally divided South Korea. I had just passed my 22nd birthday before finally arriving in my home town of YangPyung at the end of December 1945.

The Korean War had begun in June of 1950 within five years of my return. I was quickly mobilized and this time was commissioned as a Korean army officer in 1949, fighting side by side with Americans. I was in the 8th graduating class in the first official South Korean army (ROK army). In 1955, just after the Armistice, I made Lieutenant Colonel. Soon after, I retired from the army and went into politics. I was elected as a Congressman in May 2, 1958. 

My opposition to the quickly corrupted politics eventually led to threats on my life and my family and several kidnappings. It was probably at this point I realized that Korea was no longer the best place for my family. So I took refuge in Hawaii for a few years alone, living off of ramen noodles and trying to find a way to immigrate my wife and five sons to America. A new chapter was written for me and my family after successfully bringing them to America -- the land of opportunity and the free. The rest is an unfinished story left for my legacy.

"My story are the quiet untold sacrifices of a man and my legacy left to my children and their children for generations to come."

"Miss you grandpa, thanks for your sacrifice and all you did for your country, your family, and the countless others you impacted in your lifetime. You were truly a man of great character. We are grateful that you have been apart of our lives and you will forever be in our memories."

Joseph Yu, Grandson