G.+Essay

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 //Analyze the historical significance of your interview, how has the interview added to your understanding of the war, and how you think it will help us better understand the Korean War in a 1.5 page essay.// =====

Through out this intensive, 30-minute interview with my grandfather of the Korean War, I was able to comprehend and fully develop an idea of this horrendous war. My grandfather was not like the characters that we have studied over the course of our class, for he was not much directly affected by the consequences of the war. However, the war presented itself to be the single most bloodiest event in history of Korea. Honed with my knowledge from class, I was able to sit down with my grandfather and discuss the motives and consequences behind this war. I was able to understand more deeply about this material because my grandfather had actually been in the war, meaning that I had a full personal perspective that I could rely on.

My grandfather was merely 17 years old when the North Koreans, supported by the Soviet troops, decided to invade South Korea. Luckily, my grandfather had lived in Sun-chun, a place near Pusan, so he did not get affected as much as the other Koreans living up near the North. My grandfather was very nationalistic about South Korea and kept mentioning how it was amazing for South Korea to get back up on its feet and progress towards development. I think it was very interesting how my grandfather was extremely pro-American. My grandfather firmly believed that it was the Americans who had made the advancement of Korea happen, and without them, South Korea would have become a communist nation like the North.

There were extreme hardships and difficulties during and after the Korean War. Being the single most bloodiest event in Korean history, the Korean War definitely had a tremendous impact in the people. You were not allowed to think during the war; only action. Even women were taking charge, like we saw within “Still Life With Rice”, where Lee had to tend for herself and the children. My grandfather was the only male in his family, and he had to also tend for his family. It was extremely difficult for my grandfather because he had to grow crops for all of the members of his family. Since it was during the war, there were scarce amounts of food, and certainly not enough for a large family. However, my grandfather managed to survive and feed his family. As a student as well as a devout Christian, my grandfather was stripped off of many privileges and rights during the war. He could not go to school to receive education, and he was banned from going to Church. However, my grandfather mentions that it was because of these obstacles that shaped and honed who he is as a person today.

Interviewing my grandfather was an extremely rewarding experience, and I have learned so much from him. I have learned that although many people died and was severely impacted by the war, people living in Pusan were relatively untouched by the war. I was horrified by how people lived during the war, but I believe that this interview had a much more profound impact on me as a person than a simple recollection of information in a textbook. I understood more about my grandfather as a person, and also more about the Korean War and its motives. I also learned that it is all about perspectives: how a person sheds light on a material really impacts the overall story.