{"id":639,"date":"2017-07-05T15:06:44","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T06:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nedforney.com\/?p=639"},"modified":"2019-05-13T10:53:25","modified_gmt":"2019-05-13T01:53:25","slug":"who-would-have-guessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nedforney.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/05\/who-would-have-guessed\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Would Have Guessed?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t\"Alice\n\t

When my cousin Alice told us she\u2019d be coming to Seoul for her first trip to Korea, we were thrilled. After somewhat randomly agreeing that she\u2019d arrive on June 23rd and stay until the 3rd of July, we patiently waited for the big day. We had everything planned out.<\/p>\n

Or so we thought.<\/p>\n

What we hadn’t taken into consideration when setting up her itinerary was that she\u2019d be arriving on the weekend of June 25, and that President Moon Jae-in\u2019s first stop on his US-Korea Summit would be the National Museum of the US Marine Corps. Headlines around the world would soon be focused on the Battle of Chosin<\/a> and the Hungnam Evacuation.<\/p>\n

Wait! Stop! What does any of this have to do with my cousin visiting Seoul?<\/p>\n

What Alice Ingle Krug, the eldest grandchild of Colonel Edward H. Forney<\/a>, USMC, hadn’t realized was that she had timed her Korean trip perfectly.<\/p>\n

A History Lesson<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On June 25, 2017 – the 67th anniversary of the start of the Korean War – our family was invited by the Korean government’s Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA<\/a>) to attend an emotionally charged, beautifully planned and orchestrated commemorative ceremony at Jamsil Olympic Indoor Stadium. Thousands attended, including many Korean War veterans. It was an impressive start to Alice\u2019s trip.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Alice and Ned at the June 25 Ceremony, Jamsil Olympic Indoor Stadium<\/p><\/div>\n

Two days later, I flew to the US as a guest of the Korean government to attend Moon Jae-in\u2019s wreath-laying ceremony<\/a> at the US Marine Corps\u2019 Chosin Battle Monument in Quantico, Virginia.<\/p>\n

The next day, Alice, and people around the world, read about Chosin, one of the most costly and epic battles in Marine Corps history, and the subsequent Hungnam Evacuation<\/a>, the operation that rescued nearly 100,000 North Korean refugees, Moon Jae-in\u2019s parents among them.<\/p>\n

Alice was now getting a first-hand history lesson on the Korean War and her grandfather, the evacuation control officer at Hungnam who had made it a priority to load as many civilians as possible aboard US Navy and Merchant Marine<\/a> ships in December 1950.<\/p>\n

But the best was yet to come.<\/p>\n

\"Refugees

Refugees at Hungnam, December 1950 (public domain)<\/p><\/div>\n

A Trip to Pohang and Forney Road<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On Thursday, June 29, the ROK Marine Corps hosted Alice as their guest at Pohang Marine Corps Base, the installation Col. Forney helped secure for the ROK Marines in 1958. She had lunch with the Commanding Officer of the base, was given a VIP tour, and had her picture taken at the marker for Forney Road, the only road on a ROK military installation named for a foreigner. The ROK Marines made Alice’s experience truly memorable, and she was even featured in the\u00a0news.<\/a><\/p>\n

And who would have guessed?<\/p>\n

As Alice told us before she departed for the US, her trip to Korea was life-changing.<\/p>\n

Thanks for visiting, Alice! We\u2019ll see you again in Seoul next year?<\/p>\n

Semper Fi!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Ben\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tBen Forney and Alice With Dr. Yang, a friend who helped organize the trip, and Major Youm Hey-lim, ROK Marine escort for the day\n\t

Top photo<\/strong>: Ben Forney with Alice Ingle Krug at Forney Road, ROK Marine Corps Base, Pohang (Photo credit: Yonghap News Agency-You can read full the article\u00a0here.)<\/a><\/p>\n\t