» Wed May 02, 2012 9:23 am I've lived a long life. I was born in Townsville, Queensland, Australia and I grew up during the Second World War. I was too young to have seen any action of course, as I was only nine when it began and fifteen when it ended. But my father served and due to the Japanese threat, my family was relocated to Bundaberg in early nineteen forty two. I remember when we were in Bundaberg I had maps up on my wall of Europe and the Pacific all with the marked locations of where battles were being fought. Of course, looking back on it, most of the information given to us back then would have been almost completely inaccurate.
At the end of the Second World War, my family moved back to Townsville. When I was twenty, the Korean War broke out. I was studying to a be a teacher at the time and being young and foolish, I enlisted. I was put in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and given intensive training in Japan. We arrived in Korea in late September. By that time the North Koreans were already in retreat. We moved North and I was involved in some of the first major offensives near Pyongyang. During my time in Korea I also fought in the Battle of Yongju, the Battle of Kujin, the Battle of Uijeongbu, Operation Killer, Operation Ripper, the Battle of Kapyong and the Battle of Maryang San. The Korean War was a defining moment in my life not just because of the horrible things I experienced and endured, but also because that was where I met my wife.
Her name was Li Min Hee. She was a North Korean refugee. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. Even though she was covered in dirt and mud I had never seen a more gorgeous woman. She didn't know English of course, but I was taught some basic Korean during my training. So I tried speaking to her. She was cautious of me at first, but we grew close despite the language barrier. Before my Battalion moved again, I promised her that I would find her after the fighting was over.
I did of course, and thankfully, she was allowed to come with me back to Australia which I had been quite apprehensive about. You see, back in those days, the White Australia policy prevented non-whites from immigrating into Australia. Of course exceptions were sometimes allowed, as was the case after the Second World War when the Japanese War Brides of Australian soldiers had been allowed to immigrate. The same thing happened after the Korean war, on a smaller scale, however.
Min Hee settled with me in Townsville and I resumed my studies to become a teacher. In nineteen fifty six we had our first child, Mary. I had a job teaching at a High School by then and life was great. Looking back on it, those were the happiest years of my life. In nineteen sixty we had our second child, Thomas. Then in nineteen sixty three we had our last child, Valerie. They were all beautiful. Mary looked exactly like Min Hee except for her eyes, they were blue, like mine. Thomas had dark brown eyes like his mother, but he was a spitting image of me. And Valerie was hard to place. She was beautiful, with blue eyes like me, but with a face that did not look like me or Min Hee. Min Hee said that Valerie reminded her of her mother.
Eventually, I got an offer to become a lecturer at a University in Brisbane, so we moved there. All of our children grew up to live good lives. Mary went into Business and has become quite wealthy. Thomas became an activist and administered aid in third world countries. Valerie became a Nurse. I retired in Nineteen ninety two and decided to use some of the money had saved up for retirement to travel to Europe with Min Hee. It was wonderful. But my life took a bad turn in nineteen ninety four. Min Hee died of briast Cancer. It was devastating for me. I stayed at home crying and refused to see my family. I contemplated suicide numerous times. I didn't want to be left alone in the world.
I managed to fight back against my depression and out of sheer boredom, began looking for an outlet. That's when I discovered Computer Games. I discovered a small Computer Game store near my home and bought the very first Elder Scrolls Game; Arena. I fell in love with gaming then, and over the course of the years, expanded my Computer Game collection. When the Xbox was released I thought I'd try my hand at it and enjoyed it thoroughly. When the new Xbox 360 was released, I just had to buy it too.
But as luck would have it, my adventures weren't quite over yet. In twenty ten I heard about tourism in North Korea. I thought of Min Hee. Out of respect for her memory, I thought I would make a pilgrimage to North Korea, her birthplace, to honor her. I was afraid to go alone, however. I would be an old man traveling alone into one of the most dangerous countries on Earth. So I wrote a letter to Thomas, who was in Africa administering aid at the time, and he agreed to take a brief leave of absence and meet me in Shenyang, China.
I met Thomas at the Shenyang airport and we met with the North Korean Consulate. We paid a visa fee and left our passports there. We were taken to a North Korean Hotel and early the next morning they gave us our passports and told us we were going to North Korea. We were driven to the Airport and were not allowed to take anything into North Korea at all. We couldn't bring our Mobile Phones, or cameras, I couldn't bring my laptop, I wasn't allowed to bring any books, Thomas wasn't allowed to bring his iPod, nothing. We then flew from Shenyang to Pyongyang. It was a terrifying experience. If they found out that I fought in the Korean War I wasn't sure what would happen.
It was strange being in North Korea. I could remember fighting in places that were close to where we were. The funny thing about being in North Korea is that you aren't really a tourist. You're on a tour. We had guides with us at all times and the only time we were alone was in our hotel room. But we were told that the rooms were bugged. That they were listening to us. We were taken firstly, to the USS Pueblo moored in the Taedong River in Pyongyang and made to watch a video informing us of how terrible the American Imperialists are and how brave and stalwart the peace loving soldiers of the liberating North Korean Army are. Over the next few days we were taken to Kim Il-Sung Square, the Juche Tower and the Demilitarized Zone where we saw the North Korean Peace Museum.
I remember, the night we got back to our hotel room from the Demilitarized Zone Thomas and I had a conversation about Min Hee and the Korean War. It was a stupid mistake to make. The next day when we woke up, our guides were waiting for us in the lobby with the North Korean Police. They arrested us on charges of violence against the Republic of Korea and gross insensitive crimes to the Republic of Korea. We were kept in a cell for the next day and night. I was in absolute fear. Sometimes, I could hear them in the next room, discussing what do with us. Rather then charges us, the next day we were deported from North Korea and sent back to Shenyang. We were barred from ever entering the country again. We got off very easy considering North Korea's brutal reputation. I think the main reason they just deported us was to avoid a major diplomatic incident. They just wanted to keep it quiet, I think.
It was quite the adventure. After our escapade Thomas decided to remain in China, to try and help North Korean Refugees trying to get out of China and into South Korea. The last I heard he joined up with Good Friends, a South Korean humanitarian organization dedicated to helping North Korean Refugees leave China. I couldn't be more proud of him. He's fifty two now, but he still doesn't want to settle down! Bless his heart.
Mary and Valerie both have families now. Mary is living in Toowoomba with her husband Peter. They had one son, Robert. He's twenty seven and a Lawyer in Canberra. He's engaged to a wonderful Japanese girl. Valerie still lives in Brisbane. She and her husband divorced recently which is sad. He was a Bosnian Refugee who came out here during the Yugoslav War. They had three children Alen, Haris and Sara. She visits me with them regularly.
I'm still living by myself in Sunnybank, Brisbane. There are a lot of Koreans in the neighborhood and I enjoy talking to them. But mostly, I keep to myself now. I play my video games and I enjoy the time that I have left. I have lived a full life. No regrets. Even after all the horrors I witnessed during the Korean War, I'm glad I enlisted, because it led me to the love of my life. I still think of Min Hee all the time. She was beautiful and passionate. I miss her terribly. My mother died suddenly when she was eighty. A heart attack. I can only hope to be so fortunate. I know that one day, my life will end. It could be tomorrow, it could be in another ten years. But on that day I will think of my darling Min Hee and I will have no fear. Because I know I'll be with her again soon.
