by Lori Shevokas

Created on: December 26, 2006   Last Updated: April 30, 2007

The year was 2004. The place was an American Army Camp, just outside of Uijeongbu, Republic of Korea. My room was 210A. It should have been like any other year in my life, but it was not. The post should have resembled all things American, and on the outside, it did, but the inside was another story.

I was assigned to the Republic of Korea as a Private, First Class. I thought I would do my job during the day, some training mixed in with the tour, and on my off time, I would be on a vacation. However, when I arrived at Incheon Airport, the first thing I was told was that the Koreas (North and South) were technically still at war, and what we witnessed as peace was simply a 50 year cease fire. Then I met KATUSAs. These were the Korean soldiers who worked alongside of us.

I met one, Yong No Shi, whose family had been separated at the height of the war, and he grew up never knowing the other half of his family. However, he grew up in the Demilitarized Zone, knowing just on the other side, were others from his family who would never meet him either. He desired peace, a united Korea, and his goals in life included seeking a position as a diplomat in his country.

Then there was Min Ki Ka, who was one of "my soldiers." He was not interested in learning English at first. He did not care about anything the Americans were doing or saying to him. Then the day came when my unit received its moving orders. America was pulling away from the DMZ. Min Ki Ka came to me quite distressed. Earlier that day I had explained to him he would not be moving with the unit unless we could prove he was irreplaceable. He knew he had just under six months to learn English and his job to the point that no other KATUSA could took his place when the unit relocated.

As his English (and my Hangul) progressed, he became more aware of the role the Americans had played in his country. Min Ki Ka expressed concern, to the point of near grief, over the moving orders for our unit. He learned that once we moved, if he had not moved with us, he would report back to the ROKA (Republic of Korea Army) and he and his comrades would be defending that region of his country by themselves. A couple of months later, there was an attack on a ROK community near the DMZ. Our moving orders were delayed, and the alert status was increased.

The scare passed with no long term ill effects for the Americans, but my Korean friends were horrified to watch the Americans move away. I left Korea two months later, just before the moving orders were enacted for my unit. My KATUSA friends asked that when I returned home, that I remember the freedoms they and their family enjoy are still at risk, and that we pray someday, they can be free of the fear as well. I learned why American forces were still on the Korean Peninsula, and I learned that deep down, many who may say they want us to leave, fear the day we do.

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