By Andy Jackson
An era has closed with the passing of former President Kim Dae-jung. While even people with goodwill can disagree vigorously on his accomplishments and legacy, there can be little doubt of his dedication to his political beliefs and his influence on the development of democracy in Korea.
The deaths of public figures like President Kim allow us to reflect on the meanings of their lives and the values they fought for and represented.
However, there was another passing recently that touched me closer. I was in the United States last week to attend the funeral of Joe Jackson. My brother was 39 years old.
Like many men, Joe struggled in his youth and early adulthood. He dropped out of high school at the age of 17 due to lack of interest and wandered in and out of work for several years. He was also no stranger to the rounds of drinking and fighting that often pass for a weekend's entertainment in some parts of the American South.
However, with the support of his family and a strong work ethic, he eventually took control of his life. He took and passed the General Educational Development (or GED) test and developed a life-long love of reading and learning.
He developed skills as a mover and a roofer before eventually becoming a long-haul truck driver. On those occasions when he was home, he spent much of his time doing odd jobs or making repairs at our mother's house.
During his long cross-country drives, he began listening to talk radio shows. While those programs helped him develop an interest in politics and current affairs, they did not fulfill his intellectual curiosity. In his own words, he had soon ``graduated Rush (Limbaugh)."
He became a voracious reader, going through books during layovers or the odd day off. His readings were varied and ambitious. Among the books he had bought just before his death were ``The Communist Manifesto," Adam Smith's ``The Wealth of Nations" and Plato's ``Republic."
Joe had a strong sense of service and was quick to help those around him. He did not seek to transform society in his image. Rather, he simply sought to help those he could.
His sense of service led him to join the United States Army Reserve. Despite being in his mid-thirties, Joe's determination and hard work helped him thrive in training and he quickly rose to the rank of sergeant. His dedication to his duties and his conscientiousness earned the respect of those in his unit as a good friend and soldier.
On August 9, 2009, Sergeant Joseph H. Jackson died suddenly of natural causes while training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Soon after his death, we received a letter from his employer, which read in part: ``He never made his service to his country to be anything more than something he thought he should he do. That was typical of Joe; he simply did things because he felt they were the right thing to do."
``Joe was the type of person that would actually give somebody the shirt off of his back or offer to help others if he thought he could help make their lives brighter, easier or sometimes as Joe has said 'Because I did not have anything better to be doing with my time.'"
In death, he offered one last act of service: He was an organ donor. His body was kept on life support for a couple of days while recipients were lined up. In the end, his organs and tissue helped over thirty people.
His niece and nephew will grow up without a memory of how kind and helping their uncle was, how much he was driven to always do what he believed was right, how quick he was with a joke and a smile and how much he valued learning and knowledge. It will be my job to teach them those things. Among those lessons will be a creed he lived by (to broadly paraphrase Immanuel Kant's Second Categorical Imperative): Always seek to do right by those around you.
If they grow up with their Uncle Joe's sense of dedication and service to his fellow man, the world will be that much better a place and I will have succeeded as a father.
I owe Joe at least that much.
Andy Jackson has taught courses on American government and has been writing on Korean politics and other issues for four years. He can be reached at andyinrok@lycos.com.