EVERY VIDEO WE FILMED
The Trip, in Motion
OUR CAMPAIGN
Carrying the Memory Forward Freedom Isn't Free, Korean War
We could not keep what we found in Busan to ourselves. So we printed T-shirts that say "Freedom Isn't Free, Korean War" and started telling people about the war, at school and beyond.
We also shared the story with students overseas. Watching friends on the other side of the world wear the same shirt, with the Korean flag, the UN flag, and the American flag printed side by side, reminded us that this is more than Korea's history. It belongs to everyone. Seventy five years ago, they crossed the world for our democracy. Now it is our turn to remember them.
BUSAN FIELD TRIP 1
UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea 재한유엔기념공원
The UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea lies in Busan's Southern District. It is the only United Nations cemetery in the world. The soldiers who fell in the Korean War rest here, and the flags of their home countries fly over the graves. The UN Command created this cemetery in 1951, while the war was still going on.
Near the entrance flows the Daunt Waterway. It is named after the youngest soldier buried here, an Australian private named J.P. Daunt. He was just 17 when he fell in November of 1951. He was no older than a high school student today, and he gave his life for a country he had never even seen.
On the day we visited, a memorial ceremony was underway. Veterans, families and visitors from all over the world came to honor the fallen, and we were there to witness and never forget its history.
On-site Videos
BUSAN FIELD TRIP 1, PAYING TRIBUTE
Returning to the UN Cemetery Paying Tribute at UNMCK
We went back to the UN Memorial Cemetery. This time we were not there to report. We came to pay our respects. Dressed in dark clothes, each of us holding a single white chrysanthemum, we stood before the graves and bowed our heads.
We found the grave of Brian Wood, a British engineer who survived the war, lived a long life, and asked to be buried in the land he helped defend. Inside the memorial hall, the faces of the fallen hang beneath the UN emblem like a mosaic. Losses we had only known as numbers suddenly had faces.
We also interviewed visitors that day, and heard in their own words why this war still matters.
Flowers for the Fallen
We laid a bouquet on the graves, one by one, and photographed each name so that every soldier we visited would be remembered, not as a number, but as a person.
Interview Videos
BUSAN FIELD TRIP 2
UN Peace Memorial Hall 유엔평화기념관
Right next to the cemetery stands the UN Peace Memorial Hall. It keeps the record of the Korean War and the soldiers of the UN forces. Uniforms, weapons, letters and photographs are displayed country by country, so you can see exactly how the young heroes of 22 nations arrived on this land.
What stayed with us the longest were the worn out combat boots and a Korean flag that a soldier gave to an American captain as a gift. Behind all the big battles and strategies, every single object belonged to a real person.
Exhibition Videos
BUSAN FIELD TRIP 3
Provisional Capital Memorial Hall 임시수도기념관
The Provisional Capital Memorial Hall in Busan's Southern District was once the wartime home of President Syngman Rhee. It tells the story of the 1,023 days when Busan served as the capital of the Republic of Korea.
Refugees from all over the country built shacks on the hillsides, sold goods in the Gukje Market, and kept studying in tent schools. Even in the middle of a war, Busan was a place where hope kept growing. Today's Busan, and today's Korea, stand on the shoulders of the people who made it through those days.
On-site Videos
INCHEON FIELD TRIP
Incheon Student Soldiers Memorial Hall 인천학생 6·25 참전관
On a busy street in Incheon stands a small museum with a big story. The Incheon Student 6.25 Memorial Hall honors the boy soldiers of Incheon, students aged 14 to 17 who put down their books and volunteered to fight. From Incheon alone, 2,393 student soldiers went to war, and 208 of them never came home. Their names are written above the entrance.
The hall grew out of one family's lifework. For decades, a father and son tracked down surviving boy soldiers one by one and recorded their voices on the 150 cassette tapes that now line the wall, next to memoirs the veterans wrote out by hand. Thanks to them, the stories of these young students will never disappear.
Before we left, we signed the guest book with the words we keep coming back to: Freedom Isn't Free.
On-site Videos
As Long as We Remember, No War Is Forgotten
Walking through these three places, we found a memory that is still alive. A waterway named after a seventeen year old boy from Australia. A pair of worn out combat boots. A photo of children studying in a tent school. Every one of them was asking us, do not forget.
Keeping the Korean War from being forgotten is our job now. As long as we remember, no war is truly forgotten.
"IN MEMORY OF ALL WHO SERVED TO DEFEND KOREA"
CONTACT
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To give us an opportunity, or to share a story of your own, we would love to hear from you.
E-mail: globalleaders21@gmail.com