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| Children |
By Robert Neff
Chestnuts were abundant in Gapyeong and very popular with the soldiers, but it wasn't the chestnuts that captured the hearts of the soldiers ― it was the children.
During the war, Fred Dustin encountered several injured and maimed children ― innocent victims of the war. And yet, despite their hardships, "still in my mind, do I see [their] smiles and cuteness," Dustin reminisces and then adds, "I guess the young are cute all over the world in peace or war."
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| Siblings |
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| A curious little boy |
"[Only] God knows how much gum, chocolate and Chuckles were handed out [but] we always had our field-jacket pockets stuffed with those commodities!" laughs Dustin.
Sweets were not the only thing the children enjoyed. They loved to have their pictures taken. Some were a little shy, if not coy, but others relished the opportunity to stand in front of the camera with their friends and mothers, regardless of whether they were the intended subject or not.
Pictures of children with runny noses and dirty clothes charmed not only the soldiers but the soldiers' families back home. These visions of everyday life sent back in the soldiers' letters contrasted sharply with the images of death and destruction of the war-wracked country they saw in the newspapers.
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| Mother and son |
A little boy and his friends sledding on a frozen rice paddy, his younger siblings trying to stay warm in the cold, or the smiles of a boy while his mother works behind him ― all innocent images and yet, the picture of the young girl selling souvenirs to the soldiers gently reminds us that people were struggling to make ends meet.
These small items are still treasured.
"I guess we all bought those little ‘doll'-type statuettes seen there on the top of the chest," Dustin says. "I remember going home many years after my Korean tour and seeing mom had those dolls stuck around the house on shelves and bookcases. Actually, many of them were quite good and very representative of ‘Koreana'. I don't see them anymore, come to think of it!"
What became of the children? We can only hope that they survived the war and are regaling their own grandchildren with anecdotes of the war that ripped apart the Land of the Morning Calm.
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| Children everywhere |
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| Young entrepreneurs |
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| Sledding |
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