While South Korea is preparing to mark the 75th anniversary of the Korean War on June 25, families of Canadian and Korean veterans hope that this war which is erased from memories in Canada is not forgotten.
On this morning of April, a slight rain falls tirelessly and a veil envelops the city of Pusan.
The ringtone with the dead resonates with a bugle in the vast cemetery of the United Nations Memorial in South Korea while a thirty people, Korean and Canadian soldiers, UN dignitaries and family members, are gathered.
William Chrysler, this Canadian veteran of the Korean War, is now resting in peace in the earth that he has never stopped loving.
He was happy to have helped South Korea to preserve freedom and become a prosperous and democratic country.
Kyung-Ja is the widow of William Chrysler, a Canadian veteran of the Korean War.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Philippe Leblanc
He was only 20 years old when he left for the other end of the world led by his ideals. William Chrysler defended freedom and democracy for more than a year in South Korea.
He participated in 1951 in the Battle of Kapyong, one of the turning points of the war in favor of the Allies and one of the greatest Canadian military successes.
During the war, William Chrysler saw the worst horrors. Whether it is a mother tightening her child dead under the rubble, hungry children surrounding the soldiers at mealtime or the bodies plagued by rats.
He has never forgotten these images and he often talked about it in Kyung-Ja, even decades later, in their residence in southern Ontario.
He always said to me: Look where they are now. When I was fighting, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. But they worked so hard and look at what they built
she says.
Hundreds of Canadians who fell in battle
A few steps from the commemorative ceremony for William Chrysler, we find the monument erected in memory of the 26,000 Canadians who defended democracy during this conflict, from 1950 to 1953.
Most have chosen to go there to defend a people whom they did not know against North Korea, supported by Russia and China.
More than 20 allied countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, focused on the defense of democracy in South Korea, then one of the poorest countries on the planet, in these crucial years after the Second World War.
More than 20 allied countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, lent a hand to South Korea in the 1950s during the Korean War.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Philippe Leblanc
The Korean War remains the third bloodiest conflict in Canada after the two world wars, killing 516 Canadian and more than 1,200.
Like many young people of his generation, Mr. Chrysler experienced a deep sense of duty. For him, defending freedom was not a question of geography, but in principle
supports the Canadian ambassador to South Korea, Tamara Mawhinney, in her tribute to the veteran.
William Chrysler is the 29th veteran of international forces to be buried in the UN cemetery in Pusan since 2015.
South Korean assistant minister of patriots and veterans, Lee Hee-Wan, came from Seoul to pay tribute to the Canadian veteran.
I was watching videos on Canadian veterans. I was deeply moved and some images even pulled me from tears. Despite their great age, they still tell what they experienced 75 years ago, saying: come and visit South Korea. I want to tell them how grateful to them and how proud of the way we are traveled by South Korea
he said.
Lee Hee-Wan, South Korean assistant minister of patriots and veterans
Photo : Radio-Canada / Philippe Leblanc
Keep memory
In a small room in the municipal center of Paju, a small town located an hour’s drive north of Seoul, a Canadian uniform used during the Korean War and other artefacts adorn the walls.
The veteran Oh Choul-Whan, 92, embodies the living memory of this conflict and he fights for the memory of the Canadian help does not die.
He had this exhibition developed in honor of these contributions and implores the city to erect a monument, because a large number of Canadians were based in Paju. A monument of the genre is already erected in Kapyong, the site of the important battle for allies and Canadians.
He would like the government and Canadian veterans to send other artefacts and memories of their presence in South Korea in order to enlarge the exhibition.
Oh Choul-Whan is one of the last survivors of the time when Canadian soldiers, who came from the other end of the world, risked their lives to defend freedom in Korea. He fought with them in a unity of the United Nations.
Oh Choul-Whan, 92, is one of the last veterans of the Korean War.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Philippe Leblanc
Canada was the first country to join the United Nations forces. I will always be grateful to him. We fought for 40 days tirelessly and had 50 dead per day.
Oh Choul-Whan proudly adds that his brother is living in Vancouver today and that he has several friends in Canada.
He remembers having visited the Korean war memorial in Montreal. He keeps a profound admiration for Canadian engagement.
Veteran William Chrysler returned to work in South Korea in the 1970s and it was there that he met Kyung-Ja. He has always kept an emotional bond with the country and he has even returned there in recent years.
He was still there, solid. I could rest on him. I never thought he would leave so fast
Dit kyung-ja.
William Chrysler was a defender of the veterans’ memory. He participated until his death in events to tell what he had experienced.
Canada is expected to teach the importance of this war more. Do not forget it
she said.
She claims neither a monument nor statue, that the very lively memory of war.
