Seven veterans and their families were celebrated on Monday night for their contributions in the Korean War (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

KOREAN WAR VETERANS

Republic of Korea honours local veterans for their service during Korean War

Oct 29, 2019 | 2:28 PM

KAMLOOPS — It was a ceremony 66 years in the making. Seven Korean War veterans and their families were honoured for the service they provided to the Canadian Armed Forces during the three-year battle that resulted in a ceasefire between the north and south in 1953.

While the South Korean government has reached and honoured thousands of veterans who helped liberate the country, there were some still out there they insisted on recognizing. It was an emotional ceremony this week as the veterans reflected on their time at war.

“Just thinking of the guys that didn’t come home,” said Gerry Klein, who was a mechanic during the war doing frontline repairs.

Klein still gets choked up thinking of his fallen comrades from the Korean War.

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“A lot of good young men didn’t [come home] and you never forget them.”

Klein says he would be stationed on the frontlines for three months at a time, helping to ensure the in-ground, fortified tanks on the frontlines were operational.

“The biggest part of the work I did was keeping the little generators going. Because the tanks were sitting there, you couldn’t run it because the enemy was close by,” he remembers. “To run the turret and the guns and the radio, that’s all electric, so they had these little generators in the turret of our tank. Exhaust pipes sticking through the turret. If we had a problem with the generator, then we had to go in and repair it.”

Korean War veteran Gerry Klein from Kamloops received a medal from the Republic of Korea government on Monday (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

More than 26,000 Canadians served in the Korean War, helping to fight communists from the north. On Monday night, the Korean consulate from Vancouver visited the Kamloops legion to present the Korean war veterans and their families with medals.

“It makes me feel good that they appreciated our time over there,” said Klein.

The Republic of Korea consulate thought it had honoured all Canadian veterans, but through an advertisement from Veteran Affairs, it found there were more out there, including in Kamloops, Clearwater, Salmon Arm and 108 Mile House.

“We thought we were connected with most of the Korean War veterans so far,” said consul from the Republic of Korea Kangjun Lee. “We received so far in our jurisdiction, which is in Western Canada, more than 40 [veterans], including Kamloops, so we realized there were a lot more veterans we didn’t know are here.”

Stephen Lowry was at the Legion on Monday representing his father Robert, who passed away 22 years ago. Robert was a pilot during the war.

“This is really a great honour on his behalf to represent him here today. He died many years ago and the fact that the Republic of South Korea is still recognizing the efforts and sacrifices made by others, other than their own Korean army, to liberate them from communists many years ago is quite reassuring that they have not been forgotten.”

Salmon Arm resident Stephen Lowry accepts a medal on behalf of his dad Robert, who was a pilot during the Korean War (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

Lowry still has his dad’s pilot log that includes his flights and memories from the Korean War. He remembers listening to the radio at four years old while his dad was at war.

“To reflect back to when he flew 50 combat missions in Korea in 1952, it just really strikes home how dangerous a time it was for certain people,” noted Lowry. “Other people’s dads, some of my friends’ dads were accountants, came home with a paper cut. My dad might come home in a box.”

Five-hundred-sixteen Canadians came home in boxes after three years of the war. They will never be forgotten by those who survived.

“We were the lucky ones,” said Klein. “We came back.”