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| Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) Chairperson Jeon Hyun-heui, center, poses with Georgia State Senator Ed Harbison, left, and State Rep. Bill Hitchens during a ceremony of delivering a Georgia House of Representatives resolution on expressing gratitude to the ACRC at the commission's office in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of ACRC |
By Nam Hyun-woo
A state senator and a representative of the U.S. state of Georgia visited Korea's Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) on Friday and expressed the state's gratitude for the certification of Korean American veterans who served in the armed forces of U.S. allies in times of war, to honor them properly.
Georgia State Senator Ed Harbison and State Rep. Bill Hitchens met ACRC Chairperson Jeon Hyun-heui and delivered a Georgia House of Representatives resolution on recognizing and commending the commission's efforts to provide documentation certifying 47 veterans' war records.
Harbison and Hitchens had each tabled bills on authorizing specially designated license plates and driver's licenses for war veterans living in Georgia who served in the military of a U.S. ally during World War I or II, the Korean War or the Vietnam War. The bills were each implemented in July 2021 and August 2020, marking the first cases of honoring veterans for fighting in an allied force of the U.S. as Americans.
However, these were not the cases for some Korean American veterans residing in the state.
To be honored under the bills, proof of participation in an allied force of the U.S. was required. However, the Korean American veterans had trouble receiving English certification of their military service, and many were further stymied from getting certification online because they no longer hold Korean nationality.
A volunteer worker named Brian Kim conveyed their difficulties to the ACRC, and the commission searched through scattered records in order to provide documentation with the help of the military, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and other South Korean government agencies.
As a result, a total of 47 Korean Americans were able to obtain the veteran mark and U.S. flag on their driver's licenses, the specially designed vehicle license plates denoting their service and other benefits given to war veterans.
"I would like to express my gratitude to the 47 Korean veterans who were unable to attach the veteran's badge, which is granted by the state of Georgia through the amendment of the law, to their driver's licenses and vehicles without the help of the ACRC," Harbison said.
Harbison mentioned the case of Hwang Kwan-il, a Korean War veteran and the first president of the southeastern region of the Korean American community in the U.S.
After his only son passed way, he was living alone as an elderly man suffering severe dementia. He couldn't remember his hometown address or military number, but remembered that he fought as a platoon commander on a sniper ridge in the Korean War.
Hwang's records were found after nearly a year of efforts and the certification was issued, honoring him for his service before he passed away in April.
"The ACRC joined 'Saving Private Hwang Kwan-il' and helped him to gain the honor of being an American veteran during his lifetime," Harbison said.
ACRC Chairperson Jeon said, "I sincerely express my gratitude to the senator and the representative for their endeavors to help Korean American veterans to be properly honored."
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