Korean War
The Forgotten Fighting Irish of the Korean War
I always look forward to St. Patrick’s Day. My maternal grandfather, Patrick J. Sullivan, did too. His father had come to America from County Kerry, Ireland, at the turn of the 20th century and had settled in Holyoke, Massachusetts, home at that time to one of the largest Irish-American communities outside of Boston. He worked…
Read MoreBringing History to Life: The Power of a Road Trip
Let’s go! Bali, Bali, Hurry, Hurry! Grab your bags and get on the bus! We all remember our favorite field trip. Whether it was for a day, an overnight, or a week, it became a permanent part our of memory. Snapshots of the teacher, place, and key moments of the outing flash through our minds…
Read MoreChildhood Dog Tag Hunts
Country “A”: “We don’t study that.” “No, our teachers never talk about it.” “I may have heard about it in a movie but not at school.” Country “B”: “Oh, yes, we learn about it starting in grade school.” “It’s taught as a great victory.” “We study it in detail.” Living in Korea for the past…
Read MoreSmall Town, Big Heroes: South Charleston, West Virginia
I’ve never visited South Charleston, West Virginia, but after spending the past two days reading about the small city, located four miles west of the state capital and on the south bank (hence its name) of the Kanawha River, I feel like I’ve been there. I know it has six elementary schools and a middle and…
Read MoreWhat’s in a Name?
We all have one, and although we have no choice in deciding what it’ll be, it’s permanent, staying with us from cradle to grave. It becomes a defining feature of our human character, and long after we’re gone, a memorial to what we did or didn’t do during our time on earth. Whether it’s chiseled…
Read MoreDuring the Darkest Hours Shine the Brightest Stars
They lived for the moment. They struggled, loved, failed, succeeded, and carried with them the enduring sentiments of optimism and hope, uncertainty and fear. The days, months, and years of their lives passed quickly, and like many of us, they wondered where the time had gone. But despite their “ordinary” lives, they performed extraordinary acts…
Read MoreThe Marine I Never Knew
He’s one of the main reasons I’m in Korea, but he died when I was two, and our family rarely talked about him. He’s always been, in the words of Winston Churchill, “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” After spending over three years researching the man who’s made such an impact on…
Read MoreHonoring the Past
They’re a loyal, fun-loving bunch. The former North Korean refugees, men now in their seventies and eighties, get together four times a year to have dinner, reminisce, sing, and give thanks for the opportunity to live in a free, democratic country. It all started five years ago when, on a whim, a few members of…
Read MorePlanes, Presidents, and Presentations – A Look Back at 2017
Nearly eight months ago, on May 11, 2017, I posted my first blog. I had written an article the day before for the Korea Times, Moon Jae-in: From Geoje to Cheong Wa Dae, with my reflections on the newly elected president of South Korea, and the blog reiterated some of the points I’d mentioned in…
Read MoreThe Kimchi Babies
At some point during the early stages of SS Meredith Victory’s December 22-25, 1950, voyage from Hungnam, North Korea, to Geoje Island, South Korea, a baby was born. The ship’s crew was astounded. The men had never dreamed that a baby would be delivered on a Victory ship, certainly not theirs. But with 14,000 refugees…
Read More