Incheon vet to tell students why blood was shed

Kim Jang-ryeol

Kim Jang-ryeol, 74, remembers the moment two years ago when he had to block a group of students intending to pull down a statue of General Douglas MacArthur.
“We were too naive back then,” said Kim, president of the Association of Soldiers of the 915 Incheon Landing Operation. “That thought came to me when I was guarding the statue.”
The last four digits of Kim’s cell phone number are 0915, chosen to correspond to Sept. 15, the date of the Incheon landing in the Korean War. The phone numbers at his office and home have the same four digits.
“Once a Marine, always a Marine,” said Kim, a proud war veteran who participated in the Incheon operation.
Today Kim is busy preparing a new event for the anniversary of the 915 operation.
It is a walking event called, “I can also be a part of the Incheon Landing Operation.” People can walk with the old soldiers who fought during the landing.
In past years the anniversary ceremony was limited to veterans of the landing, but starting this year, Kim will invite the younger generation and help educate them.
With support from the Incheon chapter of the Korea Freedom League and the Memorial Hall for the Incheon Landing Operation, 100 high school and college students, along with 10 former Marines in their 70s and 80s who took part in the operation, will tour the combat sites on Sept. 16.
The starting point will be Freedom Park in Incheon, which overlooks the sea and is where the statue of General MacArthur stands. The group will then move to Red Beach in front of Daehan Flour Mills in Manseok-dong.
The Green Beach, currently the beaches of Wolmido, will be the next stop. At the top of Wolmi Mountain, the old Marines will describe to the young marchers how intense the fighting was.
Down the mountain is Blue Beach, now the road on the coast of Yonghyeon-dong.
When the military band arrives at the Memorial Hall for the Incheon Landing Operation in Songdo, the 16-kilometer (10 mile) journey will conclude.
The journey will start at 9 a.m. and last about seven hours.
“I will tell the young students why we had to fight and shed blood,” Kim said.
When students were attempting to pull down MacArthur’s statue two years ago, Kim tried to persuade them to stop.
“You are the future of this country,” said Kim back then. “This is not right.”
Kim was astonished when a number of the students said they were at the site only because their elder colleagues asked them to come.
“Young students should be taught properly and then they can question responsibility,” Kim said.
Originally from Kaesong, Kim joined the Marines just before the Korean War.
For the 915 operation he boarded a ship in Busan and landed at Red Beach on the morning of Sept. 15, 1950.
He served in the military for 14 years and retired as a sergeant in 1964.
Four aircraft carriers and 255 warships from eight countries participated in the Incheon Landing Operation.
More than 75,000 Marines, including Koreans and Americans, landed on the beaches of Incheon.
It was one of the most successful amphibious operations in history.
For information on the walking tour, call (032) 832-0915.

By Chung Ki-hwan JoongAng Ilbo [yhwang@joongang.co.kr]