Toys for Tots

In a normal environment, USFK giving toys to orphans in South Korea would be a minor human interest story to me, and I wouldn't think of putting it on a website about major geostrategic alliance issues. 

However, since issues like GI Crimes and every negative or potentially negative aspect of the US-SK relationship is blown up in the Korean press over the years, and since they frequently don't report the good things GIs do, I have decided to report on things like Toys for Tots in Korea...

Marine Lance Cpl. Jacob Friesen remembers how the eyes of little children in a South Korean orphanage lit up last year when U.S. Marines dropped in with a load of Christmas gifts.

In South Korea, this year’s effort brought in more than 1,500 toys and about $250 in cash, said Gunnery Sgt. Windle Riles of Marine Forces Korea headquarters in Seoul. He coordinated this season’s effort, which began Nov. 23.

In all, toys will go to at least 400 children at no fewer than 10 orphanages in South Korea.

“It was great to see the smiles on the kids’ faces when they saw the toys,” Friesen said, recalling the 2004 distribution near Camp Mu Juk.

"They were shy at first. When they saw the toys you could see their eyes start to sparkle. It was pretty cool."

I think being prepared to fight and die if South Korea is invaded again should be enough to earn the respect of South Korean society.  Just because there has not been a war since 1953 does not mean the US military people are not in South Korea to give their lives if need be. 

The primary mission of the US-SK strategic alliance is to deter North Korean aggression but also to fight to defend SK if the peace breaks down.

Helping out with other things in Korean society, like giving Christmas presents to orphans or visiting orphans or teaching English for free in local schools are just nice side benefits.  I'm glad the soldiers do them.

I would prefer it, however, if there was not a need to harp on such side issues due to the fact South Korea has so successfully created a negative stereotype about GIs.  (23 Dec 2005)

Visiting Orphans

The Kae-Chong Orphanage houses nearly 50 people including teachers and children. It bustles with little ones and American visitors from Kunsan Air Base.   

In a normal world, I wouldn't feel any need to trumpet items like this news story.  You can find them often enough through AFKN and sometimes the Stars and Stripes.  But, I wouldn't expect it to be "national news" in South Korea.

But, since a common street fight, or GI v. Taxi Driver, is found to be national news in Korea periodically, I decided to put items like this up on the site, because you rarely, rarely catch wind of it in the Korean media.

It was founded in 1954 to help children who lost their parents during the Korean War and is still filled with the laughter and love of local children. The volunteers visit once a week for a little over an hour and the kids relish in the interactions with the Americans. SrA Hai Pham, a volunteer, tells about his experience:

 “The kids just come to you and grab you and you’re American so you seem a little different to them so they’re curious, they touch your hair, your eyes… it’s strange.”

A1C Jessica Waskow, another volunteer, shares some of her joy:

“You walk in here and they just attack you. It’s crazy, but it's so fun too. You just have fun and play with kids. I don’t know how they can call it volunteering it’s just going me going out and having fun with kids.”

It’s an evening filled with mutual fun, both children and Americans enjoying their time together. They don’t speak the same language but nobody seems to mind. If you’d like to volunteer contact the Kunsan Family Support Center.

Anti-US / USFK sentiment isn't the only reason this kind of stuff isn't newsworthy in Korea. 

Sadly, Korean society is much like the past in the US and Western culture when it comes to orphans.  It has been changing fairly quickly over the last years, but the idea of "blood" is very strong in Korean culture, so they do not naturally feel all warm hearted when reading a news story like this.   (29 Aug 2005)

Camp Red Cloud Visit to Elderly Home
(12/28/04)

Lt. Col. William Huber, U.S. Army Garrison, Camp Red Cloud commander, met with about 35 elderly residents of Share the Well retirement home to present gifts and good tidings.

"You are the generation, which remembers most the importance of the Korean-American alliance," Huber told the crowd.

I tried to speak my terrible Korean language with the old folks and got a great response of smiles and thank yous. All-in-all, it was a great experience. So few people visit the elderly, they feel neglected and alone. It's the right time of the year to renew interest in our common humanity.

South Korean kids spend a day getting to know U.S. soldiers
(Stars and Stripes 12/4/04)

About two dozen 10-year-olds looked impressed, and a bit relieved, Wednesday to find the U.S. soldier before them could speak Korean.

The schoolchildren had come to the United Service Organizations to practice their English and have lunch with American soldiers.

The children “don’t have any interaction with the military,” said Moon Chan Bae, their teacher at Seoul’s Moon Jeong Elementary School. “It’s a good opportunity to use English. And I want to give them a special memory.”

Wednesday’s visit, part of U.S. Forces Korea’s Good Neighbor Program, was the third by South Korean students since summer, said Rita Ehrman, the USO’s program manager. “The word really spread,” she said. “These are kids from a second school.”



The soldiers who came to the USO on Wednesday were volunteers who responded to a mass e-mail, Ehrman said.

Taegu families open their homes to culture-seeking servicemembers

(6/9/04)

Area students visit soldiers at Red Cloud

                                                                                                        (5/7/04)

Sixty children from Bojang School, one of two schools near Rodriguez Range, visited Camp Red Cloud on Tuesday, where they were treated to sports, lunch, a tour of the 2nd ID Museum and other activities supervised by U.S. soldiers.

Se-Jong (Daniel) Lee, the assistant director in charge of civil-military relations for Gyeonggi Provincial Government, accompanied the children and said his office is preparing a series of programs to promote relations between Rodriguez Range and nearby residents.

                                                                                                                (4/9/04)

Braxton is among members of Kunsan’s 8th Fighter Wing who’ve answered the wing’s call for volunteers to teach English on Saturdays in some Kunsan schools. The wing began the program after requests from local school officials eager to bring native English speakers into classrooms.

But Braxton, who began teaching last month, discovered almost at once that English or no English, a lot of the 13-year-old boys in his classes were just plain shy. Even with a Korean-speaking teacher on hand to translate, most of the 40 or so kids would not raise their hands to answer, he said. Instead he’d get blank looks or averted eyes.

So Braxton went shopping at the base exchange and showed up at school the following Saturday morning with him something perhaps more potent than Shakespeare: three bags of sour Blow Pops.

“One of the young male students, he took a chance and raised his hand,” Braxton said. “It was pretty neat because, he didn’t ... pop his hand up real quick. He put it up real slow. Kind of hesitant … It’s kind of like when you go to the beach and ‘who’s gonna be the first one to go in the water’ type of thing.”

“And when he raised his hand, I said, ‘This is our first brave student’ … and I walked over to him and I handed him the candy. ‘This is one of the rewards you’ll get for participation,’” Braxton said. “And I had the teacher translate that to make sure they understood.

“That pretty much prompted other students to jump in and participate,” Braxton said. “After that everybody wanted to talk.”

                                                                                                    (4/4/04)

The small, quiet hillside camp, just outside Seoul’s southeastern border, is home to about 240 soldiers of the 304th Signal Battalion, a unit responsible for setting up tactical communications. About two dozen soldiers donated their time Friday by joining other South Korean civilians in Hanam at an annual Arbor Day tree planting.

The city had torn down dying pine trees along a hillside and wanted to replace them with new pines. The floppy, needled saplings — which looked a bit like Charlie Brown’s depressed Christmas tree — were gingerly plunked into pre-dug holes and covered with clumps of thick muck from the mountainside.

Similar scenes played out at other camps Friday. On Camp Red Cloud, Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor Chun Myung-soo and Uijeongbu Mayor Kim Moon-won joined Maj. General John R. Wood, the 2nd Infantry Division commander, in planting a yew tree outside Freeman Hall.

Chun said the two trees planted in 2003 and 2004 by the province and 2nd ID “symbolize hope and cooperation.”

Lt. Col. Clinton Bigger, battalion commander, said the city shows great hospitality toward the small base and “we always try to look for ways to get involved in the city.” It also helps soldiers mingle with local civilians, improving relations, he said.

And local tax office worker Lee Cheon-hyung said it reminds people that U.S. soldiers are here not only for the defense of his country. “We realize they are here and helping us” in other ways as well, he added.

                                                                                             09.16.03

Troops representing the Better Opportunities for Single and unaccompanied Soldiers organization, handed out candy, food, and drinks at Share the Well retirement home, and Isaac Children's Home.  The items the BOSS representatives delivered were donated by vendors of the Camp Red Cloud commissary. 

 “We have had close relations with the American military community in Uijeongbu for almost 20-years,” said No, Hye soon, Isaac Children's Home director. “The children are very happy to meet the Americans.”

Red Cloud is the home of the armored unit of the vehicle that accidently ran over the two middle school girls.  Also note the group that is doing this is volunteer.  When I mention deeds like this to many Koreans, they believe the soldiers do them under orders.)

The 49 residents of Share the Well retirement home were delighted people came to visit. “We have had a relationship with the retirement home for about a year,” said Lt. Col. Brian Vines, commander of U.S. Army Garrison, Camp Red Cloud. “It is always a pleasure to see faces light up when our soldiers visit.”

Kunsan airmen continued to support the Kae Chong Orphanage as they have done for the past fifty years. Airmen spend some time on Thursday nights with about 40 orphans.

On 22 April Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, 7th AF Commander, along with Col. Guy Dahlbeck, 8th FW Commander, formally presented two refrigerators and a room air conditioner purchased by the Air warrior Courage Foundation (AWCF). The AWCF contacted Smith to see if there were any organizations in South Korea in need of supplies or financial assistance. A committee was formed to help identify the local organizations and then the AWCF picked whichones they wanted to support. Due to limited military space available airlift, the foundation was unable to ship the supplies, but still wanted ot support the request from the Kounsan orphanage for new refrigerators.

The Moses Children's facility was founded in 1957 as a private facility. It is now mostly funded by the Korean Government and is currently home to 40 children ranging in age from newborn to four. The time Wolf Pack members spend improving their facility and playing with the children is greatly appreciated. "People from the base have been coming here for 20 years and they have always been a great help," Jeon said. "I can tell that they are doing it from the bottom of their hearts," she added. 

The children smiled and laughed as they took turns climbing into military aircraft. Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment lifted the Korean kids into an attack helicopter cockpit.  “They acted like any other kid would around a helicopter,” said Warrant Officer 1 Michael Doyer. “They really seemed to enjoy themselves.”

“Even though our children have problems with hearing, they can see well,” said Jeong So-ja, the school principal. “It means a lot for them to come visit the Americans, and see the helicopters.”  Fifty-six students and their teachers spent the day with the soldiers and civilians of Camp Page Sept. 19.

“We have partnered with this school in the past,” said Joe Bell, installation manager for Camp Page. “Earlier this year we donated a washing machine to them.”  After a short tour of Camp Page, the children had pizza and beverages for lunch at the community activity center. Later, the kids visited the bowling center for a little fun. For many, it was their first time bowling.

“I hope the children realize there are people out there who are willing to do things for them,” Jeong said.

 (Also note these two groups of people are not very welcome in Korean society -- orphans and elderly who do not have family to take care of them.)

(These kinds of activities go on all the time, but what made it in the news and especially around the Korean internet bulliten boards was how the US has insulted Korea by President Bush only giving $50,000 as a jesture of sympathy after the typhoon.  At the time, Virginia and the east coast of the US was also being battered by a Hurricane.)

By Monday, sailors and residents at the small base were well into the cleanup and were focusing on helping neighboring towns like Masan, which was pounded by the storm.  At least three teams of firefighters from the base have gone on volunteer aid missions, Martin said.  “The third team went to help out at the apartment building in Masan where 12 people were killed by flooding in the basement,” Martin said. The U.S. teams are supplying submersible pumps and other aid.  Mobile Construction Battalion 40, a detachment of Navy Seabees in Chinhae, was offering backhoes and other heavy equipment for the cleanup effort.  “We are soliciting for volunteers and are standing by to offer any assistance that we can to our neighbors,” said Kevin Jackson, Area IV spokesman.

When Pfc. William Dreibelbis saw the taxi window cracked like a spider web and the carnage of a scooter on the ground, he thought for sure the rider was a goner.  “He was laying there very still,” Dreibelbis said. “We thought he was dead.”

The soldiers started carefully feeling vertebrae in the back of the rider’s neck, checking for abrasions, broken bones, puncture wounds and torso injuries.  “It seemed like he had a broken right leg, a possible broken left ankle, a head injury and was in shock,” Dreibelbis recalled.  Kim was conscious and complaining about his head and ankle, and Crow said they “tried to keep him conscious and coherent” by talking to him, telling him he was going to be all right.

Dreibelbis, Burnette and Rutkowski are medics with the 168th Medical Battalion; Crow just finished a combat-lifesaver course with Camp Casey’s 2nd Battalion, 72nd Armor Regiment. 

Before leaving, the soldiers shook hands with the South Korean medical team that arrived. Crow said he was still shaking a bit from the event afterward, but the soldiers went on with their day.  Kim died from his injuries two days later, according to the fire station.  On Tuesday, the soldiers were told Yongsan Fire Station officials wanted to present them with an award for their actions. At a ceremony Wednesday, they met station chief Kim Kook Rae and Choi Duk-ki, the facility’s administrator. They were presented with certificates and the station’s official coin.

“I’m happy about it,” Crow said, referring to the recognition. “I wouldn’t say I deserve it. I was just trying to do my job.”  “We really didn’t expect anything to happen,” Dreibelbis added. “We were just helping out and doing our job.”

So, he said, his Seok Jeon Middle School staff and parents are pleased the U.S. Army’s 23rd Chemical Battalion has forged an “adopt-a-school” partnership with them. The Camp Carroll battalion is sending soldiers to the Waegwan school to teach English, plus some American history and culture.

“Only a school located in a big city or a luxurious private middle school will have a native-language English teacher,” Lee said. “We are a very small school, and now we have good native English teachers. The parents are very interested in this program.”

The soldiers walk onto the school grounds in civilian clothing. Almost immediately, a chorus of children's voices welcomes them. "Hello!" they shout. "Hi!" they say with big smiles. The soldiers are part of a volunteer program to tutor English language skills to Korean children. 

Each Wednesday, three to four soldiers from the academy walk to nearby Hoam Elementary School to meet with the children.  Each of the soldiers has a classroom with about 20 third-grade students. A Korean augmentation to the U.S. Army soldier from the academy stands by their side to translate.  The classes last about 30 minutes.

"I love it. It is fun," said Staff Sgt. Wesley Davis, a volunteer tutor. "The kids surprise me with how many English words they know." "Our goal is to improve the relationship of Camp Jackson, and the surrounding community," said Staff Sgt. John Wright, a volunteer tutor.  "If you watch the news, you get the idea that many Koreans do not appreciate us," said Davis. "But, you get the totally opposite feeling from these kids. They love us."