LAKE ARIEL— On a night like any other night in Gunsan, a small city in South Korea bordering the Yellow Sea, you hail a cab, extending your right arm and holding it up with your left, waving your right hand as if you have noticed someone you know in a crowd. This is the tradition.
The car approaches, and you get in, and say, “Chinay, ka joo-say-yo”. He doesn’t understand your pronunciation, so you say it again, and, smiling, he says, “Ah...Ok,” ‘Ok’ being one of the two most understood phrases in the world, the other being “Coca-cola”, which you are drinking.
After a short ride, you arrive at chinay, or “downtown” in Hangul, South Korea’s official language, and this small street, what might be considered a sidestreet or alley in many American cities, is lit up like Las Vegas, and exiting the cab, as an American, the sight of a “Cheers” bar is comforting, as is the Australian accent of the English-speaking Korean bartender. Standing outside, one can hear Nelly’s “It’s Getting Hot in Here” play on the jukebox, and a friend calls you on your LG phone, which was made in Korea, asking you where you are.
Remarkably, this is Korea today, well, at least a few months ago, but 55 years ago this was not the case, as the villagistic, rural countryside was decimated by monstrosity and war.
Ninety-four year old Wayne County resident Carl Racine remembers what is was like, and can attest to the country’s progress. In 1950, after having served in World War II, Racine was stationed in Korea as part of the Army’s infantry with the 15th division, 205th regiment. Racine was on the lines when UN forces marched past Seoul, past the 41st parallel where the demilitarized zone stands today, all the way up to the 38th parallel—and then back again when the Chinese intervened and began pushing forces back.
“They used to come in droves,” Racine said. “We dug in, held our ground, and then we would pick up and run.” He went on to say, “Truman said we shouldn’t go, but MacArthur wanted to.” And with a gleeful tear in his eye, “Boy, we loved MacArthur.”
He recalls the treachery of the retreat, “climbing mountains through monsoon, eating soup, and fighting the Chinese. We marched up and down mountains, and then marched right back,” and how the Chinese slaughtered the Korean P.O.W.’s, “They had no sympathy, no love,” he said.
