[USFK Forums] 'Miraculous' Korean War rescue operation recalled decades later[Yonhap]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Wednesday, March 8, 2006

'Miraculous' Korean War rescue operation recalled decades later

2006/03/08 09:37
By Kim Hyung-jin

BUCHEON, South Korea, March 8 (Yonhap) -- Chung Jeong-sun, an 85-year-old former refugee from North Korea, is still grateful to the U.S. sailors who saved her life in one of the world's largest evacuation operations during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Some even compare the humanitarian act to the heroism of German industrialist Oscar Schindler during World War II that inspired the Oscar Award-winning movie "Schindler's List."

"Without their help, we could have been slaughtered by the communists," Chung said in a recent interview at her modest home in Bucheon, a sprawling city west of Seoul. "How can I fully express my gratitude to them?"

Chung, then 30, and her three-year-old son were among the 98,000 North Korean refugees transported by U.S. ships from the North's northeastern port of Hungnam to South Korea in December 1950. The North Koreans fled the harsh system of their communist homeland.

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