It was anything but a walk in the park for Port Moody resident Guy Black, who spent two days trekking through the Tri-Cities, Burnaby and North Vancouver, all to honour veterans of the Korean War and celebrate 60 years of peace.
Black walked 82 kilometres in total to ensure that the Korean War is not forgotten.
"What did I walk away with? Sore feet, tired from not sleeping in 24 hours and a sense of achieving something important which was drawing attention to the Korean War and Korean War veterans and the message of peace," Black said in an email to the NOW. "I was extremely amazed at the number of people that believed in what I was doing, which was shown by the large number of people who joined me in my walk."
Black embarked on his walk Friday, June 21, from Banting Middle School in Coquitlam, following an opening ceremony attended by students, politicians and veterans. He marched up Burnaby Mountain, to SFU for another ceremony, complete with bagpipes. Black then descended the mountain, headed across the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge, and up Mount Seymour then over to the North Vancouver cenotaph, before returning to Burnaby for a ceremony on Saturday, June 22, at Korean War Memorial in Central Park. At the park, Black presented a collection of small stones he carried on his journey to the consul general of the Republic of Korea, and there are plans to take the stones to Korea later this year.
"(The stones) were a small part of Canada that would go back to Korea. They were touched by Canadian veterans and blessed and came from important places like Banting School, SFU and Hastings Lake on Mt. Seymour," Black said.
Various local politicians, members of the public and Korean War veterans joined Black for parts of the journey. Burnaby-New Westminster MP Peter Julian attended the opening ceremonies in Coquitlam and at SFU, Burnaby-North MLA Richard Lee joined Black for a long stretch along Hastings Street, and Burnaby-Douglas MP Kennedy Stewart set up a water station at his constituency office. Burnaby-Lougheed MLA Jane Shin, whose family moved to Canada from Korea, showed up on Mount Seymour, close to midnight, when Black was descending the mountain.
"She parked her car and walked with us to the bottom of the mountain which took four hours. What she did I will not forget. She said she would walk with me, and she did it," Black said.
According to Black, the Korean community came out in large numbers and walked alongside him, always ensuring he was in the lead.
"They said to each other it was my journey and they were helping me, so I should be in front," he added. "I came away with feeling a strong sense of friendship, respect and comradeship with people I had never met before."
Black decided to do the walk to ensure the Korean War is not forgotten. The war between the north and south lasted from June 1950 to July 1953. Canada's role in the war was to support the United Nations' efforts bolstering the south. The war never officially ended; both sides have simply held a ceasefire for the past several decades. The total death count for soldiers and civilians on both sides was an estimated 10 million.
