The battle was fierce even during the ceasefire agreement. The 5thdivision of Korean army and 17thregiment 7thdivision of USarmy, where I was assigned, were deployed to Gachilbong Peakbattle. Gachilbong Peak was a key point advancing to Inje, Gangwon-do, but it was already occupied by the North Korean Army. The battle lasted nearly 40 days from September to early October 1951.
Our troops got a credit for the victory of the battle and moved to the rear line. I went to Geoje and was in charge of the guard duty of the concentration camp. This was the most comfortable time during the war. Early May 1952, I received a letter from my mother. The letter contained a notice that the third brother was killed in action and the second brother was injured. It was a bolt from the blue. I explained the situation to Captain Paul, and he gave me a 10-day leave.
The problem was that I didn't have the money to go to my hometown. Thankfully, the U.S. soldiers who noticed this situation collected compensation for me. I was very grateful at that time. In fact, even if I had money during the war, I had no place to spend it. So I didn’t mind about the money during my service time. However, the leave reminded me the necessity of money. As I later found out, we, the combat medics, were paid by the Army. Whenever the paychecks came out in dollars, the Korean government took all of it.
I got home, and I met my mother, who was awfully devastated. If the parents who lost their children had stayed calm, it would be rather abnormal. The ROK Army only sent the third brother's death notice and did not tell us about the recovery of the body. The second brother was sent to the 7th hospital of the Army. It seems that Miryang Elementary School was used as the hospital at that time. There was nothing else to do but stay at home and share the pain of lost with my mother.
The time to return to my base had come. Being with my mother made me lose my desire to go back to the unit. The day before my return, I had a tough confession to my mother that I don’t want to go back to the battlefield. But she said something unexpected. She told me that I should return to the army and hold up my end for my brother who died. She mentioned that she will wait until I return even it is not clear when the war is going to cease. In the face of the disastrous reality that one child was killed and another child was disabled, and another child had to go back to the military, she calmly demanded me to return to the unit. How many parents will tell their children that they should go back to the military in this situation?
I can’t easily get an answer even if I think about it now. Was that a mother’s patriotism or a parent’s thought concerning the child’s future? Nothing can be a clear answer. However, if I have to say a word, I would like to replace the answer by saying that woman is weak, but mother is strong.
I returned to the army after many twists and turns. It was the first and last leave after joining the army. The war lasted. Right after returning to the unit, our troops moved to the Central Front. We advanced to Inje, Yanggu, and Geumha and occupied the Kim Il-sung Highlands. We also seized the Cheorwon Plain and spent several days at the North Korea Labor Party Office. Both North and South Korea were extremely fierce to get even an inch of land. I participated in most of the battles that took place from the end of 1952 to the end of the war, including the Battle of Baekma Hill and the Battle of Pokchop Hill.
While participating in the battle, I kept my mother's words, "Do all your brother's part," in my mind while on leave, and protected the Republic of Korea until the end of the Korean War.
