Korean+War+Interview+Project+Jenice+Lee+C+Block

=**Korean War Interview** = = **Jenice Lee** =

1. What is your name? When were you born? Tell me a little background about your family. 2. How old were you when the War started? 3. How did you feel about the War when it was progressing? 4. What did you hear from the news or the radio? 5. What was the reaction of people around you? 6. How did you manage to survive the war? What did you do? 7. Tell me about the life style of people during that period. 8. How did your life style change during and after the war, if at all? 9. When did you meet your wife? 10. If you went to a school, what did you learn there? How did the War affect your future studies? 11. What was the most cruel scene during the war? 12. What do you think the cost of the war is? Do you think any side won the war? 13. If you can change anything, what would you do different?
 * Interview Questions**

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 * Interview**

My name is Hogil, Lee. I was born in Korea, Kyeonggi-do, Pochoen-si, Aurong-dong, 282-2. My family members were my father, mother, 2 brothers and a younger brother. My father stayed in Seoul and my mother stayed here, at Pochoen. I was about 20 years old when the war started. Because I was young when the war started, I just paranoid and just followed my fellow soldiers. I was dropped out from the army at Kyeonggi-do, Neung-gok. While I was training in the morning at Munsan, Gwuarangpo, the war began. They didn't tell us anything. But I've noticed that the war started because I saw the tanks coming towards us and shooting at us, while I was training at the line of defense. It was crazy. There was no time for them to straighten up their minds. After the war started, refugees were crowded in the streets. They all tried to cross the Han River and go to South, away from the North armies. But because of them, I had to stay at my place. I was 1st infantry division 13rd regiment 1st battalion 1st company staff sergeant staff squad leader. After I saw the tanks and hand-to-hand fight in real life, I was afraid. But because I was a trainer, not a real soldier, I was able to stand in second defense line, around one to three kilometers away from the front line, which made us time to run away. Even though we were lined up, after seeing the tanks, my and my fellows ran away and were separated. After the war started, we retreated back and crossed the Han River. But, as soon as we arrived at Yongdeungpo, the North Koreans already managed to be there, therefore, we turned around and crossed the Han River again. I was afraid that I will get caught, therefore, I went to the mountain cave with few of my fellow soldiers. At night, some went down the mountain and got some foods from places that they knew. However, when I went down, I got caught by the North Korean army. Therefore, I was on my way to their camp. However, I was able to sneak out while we were moving so I ran away. After when our South Korean troops went up again, we went to dropout camp. There, I was reorganized to human supply unit. I couldn't experience or know how people lived because I lived on the mountain, hiding from the soldiers. When the war started, refugees came out to the streets and ran away from the North Korean armies. But because the street was too crowded with people who wanted to run away, when the North Korean tanks threw bombs, there were dead people hanging on the trees or lying down on the streets. But I didn't see any armies died. Instead, I saw a lot of innocent people dead on the streets. I lived in the cave with 6 or 7 people. I can't even talk about the foods that we ate. One of the foods that I ate was boiled pumpkin with salt water. I married when I was in the military with my wife. I couldn't even stay for an year with her before I went back into the war again. After the war, I lived with her family because all of my families were either dead or missing. After we were liberated from the Japan at 1945, when I was in 6th grade and 17 years old, I graduated after 6 months. After graduation, because of my family's poor financial situation, I did labor works. After that, I volunteered to army. But when a year passed, there was Yeosu revolt. So, I went to Gwuarangpo defense line, by myself. I'm not sure if they recruited university students to army by force when the war started. Even though they did, those people were all the way down in South, so that they had time to train. Also, I didn't had any plans for my future. Because the Japanese forced us to learn Japanese instead of Korean, I learned Japanese my whole entire elementary school. I bought the Korean textbook when I was in first grade but I never used it until I was in 6th grade 2nd semester, when we were liberated from Japan. I was discharged from military at 1955, November. I served in military for 5 years 6 months. The most cruel scene was when I was in a supply unit. We were at Kim Il Sung high ground to install hedgehogs and mines. But at one night we were attacked with bombs so we ran away. Later that morning the survived ones went there again to check and there were around 8 people dead. I am not sure with the cost because I didn't see the real refugees living, but the worst parts were of course famine and lack of treatments. When I came back from the war, my house was burnt down. I think our side won because we were able to move up North if there wasn't 38th parallel. Even though these days, North and South tries to cooperate, I think the North is only doing it for their own good, not trying to give peace to both countries. To not fight again, I think even though we try to be peaceful, because their president is so stubborn, I don't think it'll work. I don't think there will ever be peace. Therefore, I think if we just put efforts on trying to unite and not have a war, just like now, I would be happy. War is the worst thing ever. Everyone will die and I can't imagine the cruelness. I strongly disagree with the war because eventually everyone will die.
 * Subtitles**
 * 1. What is your name? When were you born? Tell me a little background about your family.**
 * 2. How old were you when the War started?**
 * 3. How did you feel about the War when it was progressing?**
 * 4. What did you hear from the news or the radio?**
 * 5. What was the reaction of people around you?**
 * 6. How did you manage to survive the war? What did you do?**
 * 7. Tell me about the life style of people during that period.**
 * 8. How did your life style change during and after the war, if at all?**
 * 9. When did you meet your wife?**
 * 10. If you went to a school, what did you learn there? How did the War affect your future studies?**
 * 11. What was the most cruel scene during the war?**
 * 12. What do you think the cost of the war is? Do you think any side won the war?**
 * 13. If you can change anything, what would you do different?**

My interviewee’s testimony mostly fit in with what I have learned about the experience of civilians because he was a second defense line soldier during the war. Therefore he is not well aware of how the refugees lived, like Hongyong did. However, he is well aware of the fact that war, itself, is the cruelest act in the world. He has eye-witnessed the dead corpse lying down on the street by the attack of bomb. He has eye-witnessed the guns, bombs, and violent massacres. He has experience the life in cave to hide from the North Korean soldiers. Therefore, I can imagine how brutal and atrocious the war was to the civilians. This testimony made my viewpoint stronger because it was a primary source. I think the major events are the war affected severely on their life at the time because the war continued for few years and was a brutal war. Because South Korean army needed more soldiers, they recruited people from universities or just normal working civilians. From my interviewee, I have learned that army wasn’t a required before the war started. My interviewee even voluntarily went to army after working in labor because of his poor financial situation. However, after the war started, the government started to recruit every possible men to fight for the country. By this I can see that the war itself had a lot of affect to South Korea from the laws to the behaviors of people. My interviewee was able to stay out of danger by hiding inside the cave, when the army attacked the town. Because he was just a new, young soldier who just joined the front line, he was afraid of the tanks and bombs. Therefore he ran away with his troops and hid inside the cave. For food, he and his crew went out at night time and went to several places that they were familiar with and went back into the cave. However, one day he was caught by the North Korean soldier. So he had to go to their camp. But, he managed to escape while he was going to the camp and went back into the cave. After the South Korean army got back the place, they came out and went to the dropout camp and was reorganized to supply unit.
 * Analysis Questions**
 * 1. How does your interviewee's testimony fit in with what you have learned about the experience of civilians?**
 * 2. Using your background knowledge try to contextualize their testimony. How do you think major events of the war affected their life at the time?**
 * 3. Hypothesize or explain how you interviewee was able to stay out of danger.**

War is a crime. It is an unforgettable crime that no one wants to remember. However, in history, there were countless wars, including the Korean War. Korean War ended up with millions of deaths and bruises in hearts. Many families were separated North and South and much more were missing. The people from this time of period were hopeless and helpless. But for better understanding of what truly happened, interviewing each of them is a great tool to learn how one felt, experienced, and evaluated the war. The interview of the Korean War will be historically significant because it will remain as a proof of what happened during the war. People who see the war interviews in the future will learn quickly and thoroughly about how one was treated by the other countries and every little detail. Even though some of the interviews might be biased, since it is their own interpretation of the war, if we look it as a whole, then the interview is not biased, but truly how people felt. The war interviews also alarms people to be cautious and be careful about future events because they shows how things were handled wrong. It testimonies the truth from the people who experienced the war, which are the primary sources for the future references. The interview was added to my understanding of war quite effectively and everlastingly. Because I interviewed my own grandfather about what had occurred in the past, I was able to concentrate more on what he was saying about the war. The interview actually helped me to visualize the cruel scenes that my grandfather was talking about. It helped me to think about more possibilities on how to unite the North and the South. Thus, the interview itself broadened my knowledge with every little detail of one’s experience. I think this interview will help us to understand the Korean War better because it explains, illustrates, visualizes, and gives us viewpoints from the people’s point of view. Without the interview, textbooks and other primary sources might have been the best way to connect with the people who lived during the war. However, with the interview, I was able to connect myself with my grandfather’s experience by listening to his tales of stories that he never told me before because he was afraid to frighten me with the facts. But as soon as I finished the interview, I felt I was much closer and connected with my grandfather, which was one of the most important product of this interview. Therefore, the Korean War interview not only helped us to learn how people managed to survive, how they ate, how they worked, but also broadened our knowledge on what they thought about the Korean War.
 * Essay**

Release Form In view of the historical value of Korean War Interview, I, Hogil Lee, knowingly and voluntarily permit Jenice Lee, the full use of this information for educational purposes. This oral history interview will become available for future generations. I permit to donate this interview to Korean War Museum and other appropriate historical institutions around the world. Signature ___//Lee Ho Gil//___
 * Release Form**

Date ___05____/____10____/____2009___