<아라우의 후예36> Arirang sung by an old soldier with tears in his eyes
[시사타임즈 = 이철원 시사타임즈 회장] When the Philippines, a support country for participating in the Korean War, suffered an unprecedented disaster, typhoon Haiyan, the Korean people were reminded of the kindness to the support country that they had forgotten for a while. Reaffirming once again that the foundation on which the Republic of Korea overcame the crisis of war at the end of the long hard tunnel of Japanese colonialism and achieved liberal democracy and economic prosperity lies in the noble sacrifice of the participating countries who willingly shed blood to protect the freedom of a foreign land. it was done.
Of course, even before the dispatch of the Arau Units, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs hosted an event to invite overseas veterans in Korea, as well as to promote the Korean War veterans and overseas veterans. The difference between these support projects and the dispatch of the Arau unit is that it was able to change the national debt to the countries that participated in the Korean War, which the Korean people had implicitly, into the confidence to experience the growth and development of the Republic of Korea through dispatch to the Philippines. it was Upon arriving in the area, it was not easy to find veterans. The Leyte State Veterans Affairs Office, from which we can get solid information, was completely destroyed by the typhoon, limiting confirmation.
In addition, due to the outdated IT system, there was no data on veterans, so there was no way to find it through the Central Veterans Association of the Philippines. First of all, we conducted publicity activities for each village by using the medical team that carried out quarantine activities in every corner of the operation area as urgently as possible.
So, I met the first Korean War veteran who was evacuating, Lobri Gorong (87 years old). Afterwards, with the advice of Lovriggon, Gresollaong (86 years old), who lives in a floating house that was being demolished by the sea, was found. When we first visited, he came directly to the gate and welcomed us even though he had mild dementia and chronic disease. During the conversation, an elderly veteran, whose memory was not even intact, sang ‘Arirang’ in slurred Korean in his fuzzy memories, and shed tears with emotion in front of the Korean military that he met again 65 years later. At that sight, the eyes of all the troops were red and they could not help but become depressed. According to Gresollaong, the Filipino army was dispatched to Korea and learned two songs, “Arirang” and “Bandal,” but did not remember “Bandal” but remembered “Arirang.”
During the Japanese colonial period, when Japanese songs were popular, Mr. Bang Jeong-hwan tried to create and distribute our songs to carry on our national spirit and to instill dreams and hopes in children. According to his will, Guk-Young Yoon composed the song ‘Blue Sky, Milky Way’ and published it in the Dong-A Ilbo as ‘Half Moon’ on October 20, 1924. For this reason, it seems that someone taught the songs of 'Arirang' and 'Bandal' along with the history of Korea's hardships to foreign soldiers dispatched to Korea during the Korean War. Coincidentally, 2014 was the year of the 90th anniversary of the birth of Vandal Song, when the Arau unit was dispatched to the Philippines. |
The third veteran we found was Tevez, 86 years old. He met with a tip about the whereabouts of a veteran who had dementia, where he repeats the same words every 5 minutes. The last veteran saw the Aarau unit's veteran support project aired several times through the local media, and she visited the unit herself and announced her resignation as a veteran. There were five veterans' families, including four surviving veterans and one veteran who died in May in Leyte, as identified by the unit. We restored the houses of the four surviving veterans and made a large plaque stating that they were Korean War veterans and installed them in front of the door. We took care of providing wheelchairs and hearing aids for veterans with reduced mobility and hearing loss so that they do not cause any inconvenience in their lives, and made regular visits to health care as well as medical treatment.
In addition, for one veteran who was identified immediately after death, the unit built a cemetery and supported a funeral. We invited over 120 veterans and their families from all identified veterans of Leyte to commemorate the anniversary of the Korean War. We also held events to commemorate the courage and dedication of the veterans, such as awarding Korean War veterans medals and providing one-year college tuition and laptops to our grandchildren. we supported the grandchildren of veterans to be able to realize their dream of going to Korea by preferentially enrolling them in heavy equipment vocational schools and Korean language classes. And before the withdrawal of the troops, we made statues of the four surviving veterans in the Korean War Veterans Memorial Park. The way we treat the Korean War veterans with sincerity gave another impression to the people of the Philippines.
글 : 이철원 시사타임즈 회장
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