UNMCK - UNITED NATIONS MEMORIAL CEMETERY IN KOREA

Dear, Veterans of the Korean war A new pandemic called Covid-19 has been taking the world by surprise by infecting more than 500,000 people globally with 82,000 cases in the US alone. The virus is easily spread. It is especially deadly to the older population. But young people are also dying because of the body's immune cells overreacting. Schools have been delayed for a long time. The economy is partly acting as a wartime economy. Companies are producing toilet paper rather than other products. Cosmetics companies are now producing hand sanitizers. Nothing like this was seen since the Spanish flu. I don't know what to do. A lot of students and people around the world are lost. We need your wisdom more than ever. You guys fought through one or more of the darkest days and saved our country when hope was lost. Korea is doing well compared to the other nations in fighting the virus. If it weren’t for your resilience and dedication, we wouldn’t be so safe. The battle against coronavirus rages all over the world. In this battle just like all other battles, we see people who think they are invincible and immune to bullets. I heard that sometimes there were similar cases where soldiers think that they are invincible and risk the lives of others, especially after huge victories. How did you guys deal with that? I am genuinely curious but at the same time want to know how we can stop this from happening. A virus has what we call a dormant phase, just like periods of time between battles. What is different about these two is that a virus can still spread to others while in this dormant phase. The person spreading the virus may be young hence stay safe from catching the virus, but they are going to spread the virus to the people around them who are more vulnerable. People are trying hard as they did in wartime, saving what they have to spare to the people who need it more, self-quarantine to prevent the spread of the virus. A campaign to stay inside as well. This situation really reminded me of war times and all of you who fought for our country. I can’t imagine being in the front lines. It must have been more panicking and confusing than what we have here today. I really hope that we could learn from you and fight this different kind of war. I also wanted to tell you about the time we met a Korean war veteran near our school. It was quite fascinating listening to his stories about being in the front lines. He told us what it was like fighting in the front. He told us stories of his platoon advancing and holding the line against enemy troops. How he was hungry for a long time. A time when he was almost killed. He even told us about surviving and staying vigilant. From hearing that I felt that all of you went through that as well if not similar or even more dramatic. I realized that each and every one of you are heros to the world and our country. I truly thank all of you for your valiant service. One other thing I realized was that a lot of these veterans were mistreated. This may not be true for all of the veterans, but many of the veterans when they returned home had a hard time finding jobs, didn’t get the rewards or the appreciation they deserved from risking their lives and their future for our freedom. I felt like and still do feel like there are people out there who haven’t gotten the right type of treatment or the compensation they deserve although unfortunately there are only a few remaining veterans left. I sincerely hope that this message could provide at least some sort of closure to those who haven’t had the proper opportunity to meet those of us who understand and appreciate the acts of valors you have made for us. I would like to personally thank you wherever you may be. We will fight against this new disease just as you did for us, just as you showed us. Sincerely, Jaewon Lee A student from HAFS