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| Flowers left by family and friends of the fallen are seen at the new Wall of Remembrance during a special ceremony ahead of the official dedication of the wall at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, U.S., Tuesday (local time). Reuters-Yonhap |
By Nam Hyun-woo
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| In this photo, deceased Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) veteran Han Sang-sun, holds his son, Han Shin-hee. Courtesy of Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs |
According to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Han, 72, and 800 other bereaved family members of Korean War veterans attended the memorial ceremony at Korean War Veterans Memorial, where the Wall of Remembrance was first revealed before its official completion ceremony.
Han was the only bereaved family member of a KATUSA soldier who attended the ceremony.
"My father joined the war about one-and-a-half years after I was born, and the last photo of me and him was taken in January 1953, when he went on leave to come home," Han was quoted as saying by the ministry. "I don't have memories of him because I was very young, but I've lived to this day thinking about him by looking at the photo."
Han's father, born in 1931, began his service in May 1952 with the U.S. 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He died on July 10, 1953, while fighting in the Battle of Pork Chop Hill, in which the U.S. 7th Infantry Division and Chinese 67th Division fought for three months across Mount Cheondeok in Gyeonggi Province. Han's father died just 17 days before the fighting ended with an armistice on July 27.
During the memorial ceremony, bereaved family members dedicated white roses to the fallen soldiers and took rubbings of the soldiers' names inscribed on the Wall of Remembrance.
"I believe the Wall of Remembrance will be a monument that will commemorate the war veterans and it will be visited by tourists across the world," Han said, adding he appreciates how the South Korean government shared the construction cost.
The wall, which will be officially dedicated on Wednesday, will include the names of 36,574 American service members and more than 7,200 members of the Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army who gave their lives defending the people of South Korea.
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