Like many former soldiers, former Burnaby resident John Conway-Brown is jocular when he first starts talking about his 20 months serving in the Korean War.
He’d volunteered with a buddy, he says; both agreed it would be a great way to get paid while exploring parts of Asia.
After living in New Zealand for a year, he had joined the Commonwealth Division with the New Zealand army and spent his time driving officers around.
“I had one jeep blown off the road, but I wasn’t in it,” he says.
Was he ever worried?
“I was too young to worry,” he said.
But his tone changes abruptly when he’s asked how he feels during events like the annual Korean War Veterans Ceremony in Burnaby Wednesday.
“It reminds me of the friends I lost there,” he says, his eyes filling suddenly with tears.
After more than 60 years, the pain of loss has not faded.
“You figure it would, but no,” he says.
Another veteran attending the ceremony is Burnaby resident Soonil Hyun, who moved to Canada in 1982. Born in Korea, he was drafted into the South Korean army at age 20 and was nearly killed three times before a serious injury put him out of the war.
He too speaks passionately about thoughts the ceremony brings to mind, recalling how UN forces aided South Korea when it was on the verge of defeat.
“Whenever there’s a ceremony like this, he waits for it,” says an interpreter summarizing his words. “He thinks about his own country, but not only about his own country but the other nations that were involved and helped. He thinks about them because he owes his life to them.”
July 27 was Korean War Veterans Day, and veterans, their families, diplomats, politicians, the RCMP, Burnaby fire fighters, top members of the National Aboriginal Veterans Association, the Richmond Squadron Air Cadets and members of the regional Korean Canadian community gathered at the Ambassador of Peace Korean War Memorial in Central Park to honour those who served in the conflict.
More than 26,000 Canadians served in Korea between 1950 and 1953 – 516 were killed.
