A forgotten war remembered
Soldier recalls final days in Korea
Posted: 7/29/03
by Andrew Miller
Argus News Reporter
Itís known as the Forgotten War. But for Brownsville resident Ron Levendoski, who was behind enemy lines when the cease fire was called fifty years ago, the Korean War is remembered as if it happened yesterday.
American ground troops were first sent over in June 1950 just days after North Korea invaded South Korea. Levendoski was sent to Korea in 1953 as a private with the 7th Infantry Division. By this time China had entered the war on the side of North Korea after UN forces crossed the 38th parallel, the dividing line between North and South Korea.
Levendoski was soon assigned to a machine gun squad in the Chorwon Valley on the edge of enemy territory. ìLike most, I went in as a replacement,î he said. ìIn three days, I was on the front line.î
The afternoon of July 27, 1953, the soldiers in his company were called in for a briefing, and were told the war would end at 10 p.m. While the troops were optimistic about the possibility of a cease fire, it was business as usual the rest of the day.
Each night, three men from Levendoskiís company were assigned outguard duty, and went 500-600 yards into Chinese territory to do reconnaissance, and alert the base of any activity. That night, he pulled outguard duty, and witnessed heavy combat while out scouting. Stationed next to his company in the Chorwon Valley was a Republic of Korea unit, which engaged the Chinese troops until 10 p.m.
ìThere was intense fighting that night,î Levendoski said, ìartillery and man-to-man fighting right up until 5 minutes to 10 p.m. At 10 p.m., all was silent.î
During the night Levendoski could hear activity on the hill across the valley, occupied by the Chinese. When he got back to base the next morning, it became clear what had been going on.
ìWhen we got back in, we could see a whole bunch of flags on the Chinese hill,î he said. ìKorea was a U.N. war, and the Chinese had displayed the flags of every country in the U.N. they were fighting.î
Levendoski and several of his peers went down to the line separating the territories. There, he had an encounter with a Chinese captain that caught him off guard.
ìTo our surprise, he spoke perfect English,î Levendoski said. ìIt turns out he was a graduate of the University of California.î
Levendoski believes it was this captain who was responsible for much of the propaganda the Chinese sent to American troops. Pamphlets were sent out during the war, with the intent being to persuade GIs to fight for the Chinese; in return, the GIs were promised Chinese wives. The propaganda was written impeccably, and the Chinese captain, Levendoski noted, was a rarity among the Chinese for his skills with the English language.
After meeting with the captain, Levendoski and the other American troops were given gifts from the Chinese. Each soldier was given a square piece of cloth; in the corner was a dove, the symbol of peace. Bottles of Chinese liqueur were also passed out, and the Americans slaked their thirst.
Later on, the two armies returned to their respective hills, and then engaged in some good-natured revelry.
ìTheyíd get up and holler and wave, and weíd holler back and wave,î Levendoski explained. ìThat was quite an interesting day. The day before you were shooting one another, today youíre here waving and hollering friendly gestures, which was quite a change.î
Levendoski stayed on after the war, and what he saw was harrowing. ìI got to see Korea completely,î he said, ìand Seoul was really destroyed.î All that remained in terms of major infrastructure in Seoul, he said, were two churches and a university.
In 1997, Levendoski returned to South Korea with his wife, on a trip paid for by the Korean Veterans Association. Changes made to the country since he was last there, he noted, were dramatic. Seoul was no longer the crumbling wasteland he remembered, but a booming metropolis with modern universities and businesses.
ìI could hardly believe I was in the same country,î Levendoski said. ìThey rebuilt that country, and it was just unbelievable.î
What was interesting, he noted, were the ways in which Korea had commemorated the war. In the United States, the Korean War came in the wake of World War II, Levendoski noted, so ìpeople that didnít have families over there werenít too interested,î and media coverage of the war was minimal.
But in Korea, the war is somewhat less obscured from history. Museums were erected to tell the story of the war, and the children there are ingrained with what their country went through in the early 1950s.
As with the reconstruction of Seoul, the museums were a reminder that freedom comes at a price. Levendoski was pleased to see that the work he undertook as a soldier in the Army paid big dividends.
ìIn this country, we donít think too much about freedom,î he said. ìTheyíve had freedom for 50 years, thatís a long time. It was gratifying to see how their country had come back and recovered.î
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