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I served in Korea as an US Army officer during the war from July 1950 to August 1951. I was as young as many of the anti-American demonstrators in Korea, 22 years old. I watched South Korea flourish after the war with unbelievable growth and prosperity. When living in a free society, I have observed the ingenuity and hard work of the Korean people in building their country to compete most successfully in the international market.
When I returned for a short visit in 1990, I saw a much different country than the one I left in 1951. I could not believe the prosperity accomplished in 40 years. I had to go to the Korean Cultural Village in Suwon to see the Korea that I remembered. Mud houses, straw roofs, dirt roads, etc. I wonder how many of the young activist have been to the Cultural Village? I see what has happened to your fellow Koreans who happen to stay in the North. I remember the many Korean refugees from the North in the coldest of winters leaving the North on foot to seek refuge and a better life in the South.
What have we done to deserve the ire of the young Koreans? Was one year of my young life wasted?
Carroll LeTellier,
Major General US Army (Retired)
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