Sunday, November 11, 2007

Korean War veteran recalls vivid memories of poverty

from the Timmins Daily Press

Posted By Brandon Walker
Posted 23 hours ago

Andr‚ LariviŠre was 19 years old when he stepped off a ship in Busan, South Korea, his first day in a new land, more than 50 years ago.

Little did he know what was in store over the next year.

He and his regiment immediately boarded a rickety train with wooden seats, heading north for Seoul.

"We were flabbergasted by the poverty there," he said.

People lived in cardboard boxes, or homes with cardboard covering holes in the roof or walls.

Kids ran alongside the train, begging for food.

"We gave them some of our rations," he said.

After getting off the train, the soldiers hopped into trucks that took them over the Imjin River, where they relieved the artillery regiment stationed there.

"We spent the first night in the trenches. It was nerve-racking to take all that in."

He said seeing all that poverty, along with spending nights in a hole in the ground, unsure of what the future held for them, left a lasting mark on the thousands of Canadians fighting in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.

LariviŠre was a radio operator. His job was to maintain radio communication between the regiment artillery battalion, known as the batteries, and headquarters.

"We did our duty, then the truce was finally signed and we stayed on as peacekeepers."

With Remembrance Day on Sunday, LariviŠre will pay respect to the more than 500 Canadians who died in Korea - some he knew and some he didn't - and to those who have died in other wars.

"You ask yourself 'why them and not me.' I'm thankful to have made it back safely to Canada," he said.

His war experience was an eye-opener.

Now 73, he has come to realize how important his role as a soldier was.

"I've met with several people from Korea who immigrated to Canada and they couldn't stop thanking us for helping them. They vowed to never let their children forget what we did."

Today, South Korea is a financial power in the world.

"That's because they could create a democracy with help from the United Nations," he said.

And that is the reason LariviŠre supports the war in Afghanistan.

"If in 10 years Afghanistan has a democracy we'll be thankful to our soldiers, and (the citizens) will be very thankful for us helping them out."

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