thedrifter
06-14-08, 05:41 AM
Korean War vet returns to country 50 years later
By Jeremy Peppas \ Staff Writer \ jpeppas@nlrtimes.com
The last time A.W. Busbea was in Korea, it was one country, a war zone and more than 50 years ago.
That all changed when the South Korean government flew Busbea, a Korean War veteran and a North Little Rock resident, to the country as part of a historic exchange.
Bob Callans and Doyle Herndon went with Busbea on the trip.
Callans is the liaison to Hanam, a sister city to Little Rock, and Herndon is president of the Arkansas-Korean War Veterans Foundation.
It was in November 2005, at the groundbreaking for the monument at MacArthur Park, that Busbea caught the attention of the Korean people when he returned a flag.
“Well, I had been in the Marines and had been an ammo driver,” Busbea said. “At the Battle of Chosin, I had picked up the flag from one of the Korean soldiers and flew that from my truck. I know it meant a lot to the Koreans who were there, and it meant a lot to me.”
In the Korean War, Americans fought under the United Nations flag, and Chosin was one of the most bitter battles; about 3,100 people were killed and 12,000 were wounded. As for the 15,000 other American and U.N. forces there?
“The rest of us got frost-bitten,” Busbea said.
Busbea hung onto that flag, though. Brought it back to his home in North Little Rock.
It stayed there as he raised his children with his wife, Mamie, and worked 20 years for the North Little Rock Fire Department, where he retired a captain.
The flag stayed on the wall until Busbea received word of the groundbreaking, and that’s when he decided it could leave his living room wall.
Little Rock and South Korea have a long, shared history, mostly because Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who commanded the combined forces at the start of the Korean War, was born at the Little Rock Arsenal.
“I knew that I should take it back,” Busbea said. “So I brought it to the park and gave it back to the Korean officials who were there.”
The officials included Hanam’s then-Mayor Gyo-Bum Lee and the South Korean consul.
“The flag was homemade,” Herndon said. “You could tell that just by looking at it. It was hand-stitched. That was obvious, and you could see where they had traced out the images on the flag.”
The flag’s return caused a stir in South Korea; it would be roughly the equivalent of a Betsy Ross flag’s being returned to the United States.
“Mayor Lee was very proud to get it,” Callans said. “Everyone who was there was proud to get it.”
So in 2005 the planning started to get Busbea back to Korea.
“It was a tribute to him,” Callans said of the Busbea trip. “They flew us over, paid for everything, really treated us all like VIPs.”
The trio left May 25 and returned the 31st.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Busbea said.
The pictures the three had taken told the tale. Several showed Busbea surrounded by members of the South Korean press at different times.
“The national papers, the national TV networks, the local papers, the local TV stations,” Callans said. “I know more were there, but you had so many, it was hard to keep track of them all.”
The main event was at the Hanam Historical Museum, where the flag is displayed now.
“They had a wing in a museum just for the flag,” Herndon said. “They had really done it right.”
At the time, Mayor Kim said the trip was “to thank him for donating the Korean flag that carries a historical significance and to strengthen the friendship between Korea and the United States.”
The trip included visits to historic sites; of particular interest to Busbea was Hanam’s fire stations.
“It is this giant city,” Busbea said. “So many people live there, and they have two fire stations and 99 men. North Little Rock has 11 stations. But North Little Rock also has a lot more ground to cover.”
Hanam, a suburb of Seoul, is in the middle of one the world’s most densely populated areas.
“Seoul has 25 million people living there,” Callans said. “The whole country is 49 million and is roughly the size of Arkansas. When they come here, they talk about how ‘empty’ Little Rock is, how ‘empty’ the state is. They are just used to a lot more people.”
Busbea, who also served in World War II, doesn’t see a return trip to South Korea, even though he wouldn’t mind one.
“When I think of Korea now, I think of the friends I have there now.”
Ellie
By Jeremy Peppas \ Staff Writer \ jpeppas@nlrtimes.com
The last time A.W. Busbea was in Korea, it was one country, a war zone and more than 50 years ago.
That all changed when the South Korean government flew Busbea, a Korean War veteran and a North Little Rock resident, to the country as part of a historic exchange.
Bob Callans and Doyle Herndon went with Busbea on the trip.
Callans is the liaison to Hanam, a sister city to Little Rock, and Herndon is president of the Arkansas-Korean War Veterans Foundation.
It was in November 2005, at the groundbreaking for the monument at MacArthur Park, that Busbea caught the attention of the Korean people when he returned a flag.
“Well, I had been in the Marines and had been an ammo driver,” Busbea said. “At the Battle of Chosin, I had picked up the flag from one of the Korean soldiers and flew that from my truck. I know it meant a lot to the Koreans who were there, and it meant a lot to me.”
In the Korean War, Americans fought under the United Nations flag, and Chosin was one of the most bitter battles; about 3,100 people were killed and 12,000 were wounded. As for the 15,000 other American and U.N. forces there?
“The rest of us got frost-bitten,” Busbea said.
Busbea hung onto that flag, though. Brought it back to his home in North Little Rock.
It stayed there as he raised his children with his wife, Mamie, and worked 20 years for the North Little Rock Fire Department, where he retired a captain.
The flag stayed on the wall until Busbea received word of the groundbreaking, and that’s when he decided it could leave his living room wall.
Little Rock and South Korea have a long, shared history, mostly because Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who commanded the combined forces at the start of the Korean War, was born at the Little Rock Arsenal.
“I knew that I should take it back,” Busbea said. “So I brought it to the park and gave it back to the Korean officials who were there.”
The officials included Hanam’s then-Mayor Gyo-Bum Lee and the South Korean consul.
“The flag was homemade,” Herndon said. “You could tell that just by looking at it. It was hand-stitched. That was obvious, and you could see where they had traced out the images on the flag.”
The flag’s return caused a stir in South Korea; it would be roughly the equivalent of a Betsy Ross flag’s being returned to the United States.
“Mayor Lee was very proud to get it,” Callans said. “Everyone who was there was proud to get it.”
So in 2005 the planning started to get Busbea back to Korea.
“It was a tribute to him,” Callans said of the Busbea trip. “They flew us over, paid for everything, really treated us all like VIPs.”
The trio left May 25 and returned the 31st.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Busbea said.
The pictures the three had taken told the tale. Several showed Busbea surrounded by members of the South Korean press at different times.
“The national papers, the national TV networks, the local papers, the local TV stations,” Callans said. “I know more were there, but you had so many, it was hard to keep track of them all.”
The main event was at the Hanam Historical Museum, where the flag is displayed now.
“They had a wing in a museum just for the flag,” Herndon said. “They had really done it right.”
At the time, Mayor Kim said the trip was “to thank him for donating the Korean flag that carries a historical significance and to strengthen the friendship between Korea and the United States.”
The trip included visits to historic sites; of particular interest to Busbea was Hanam’s fire stations.
“It is this giant city,” Busbea said. “So many people live there, and they have two fire stations and 99 men. North Little Rock has 11 stations. But North Little Rock also has a lot more ground to cover.”
Hanam, a suburb of Seoul, is in the middle of one the world’s most densely populated areas.
“Seoul has 25 million people living there,” Callans said. “The whole country is 49 million and is roughly the size of Arkansas. When they come here, they talk about how ‘empty’ Little Rock is, how ‘empty’ the state is. They are just used to a lot more people.”
Busbea, who also served in World War II, doesn’t see a return trip to South Korea, even though he wouldn’t mind one.
“When I think of Korea now, I think of the friends I have there now.”
Ellie