December 14, 2009

Both of his parents buried in same hallowed ground

Son of British soldier places Christmas decorations on Monument to Canadian Fallen in the United Nations Cemetery

Placing Christmas decorations on the Monument to Canadian Fallen in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery was a very special act of tribute by the son of a British soldier.

Patrick Heron, son of Corporal James Heron of the Royal Norfolk Regiment and Ellen Heron, is in Busan right now, paying tribute to his parents who are buried there and to Fallen servicemen from the Commonwealth nations.

Patrick's father was killed in action in Korea in 1951, serving with the Royal Norfolk Regiment. His mother was buried beside her husband in 2001 - her final wish.

Patrick also placed floral tribute at the Monument to Canadian Fallen and on the graves of British and Canadian Fallen whose next of kin had been guests of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs on November 11, 2008.

That is when Patrick and 40 other bereaved family members took part in the November 11 Turn Toward Busan National Ceremony of Thanks and Remembrance for United Nations Fallen. Patrick was so moved by the ceremony and so happy with the other family members that he met that he has stayed in touch with them ever since. In September he visited in Gueph, Ontario, Canada with Mildred Timbers and her daughter, Joanne Ware, both of whom he met in Korea. They had been in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery visiting the grave of Mildred’s brother, Private Kenneth Wellington Norton, who was killed in action serving with the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. In Guelph, Patrick received a hat from Mildred that had been given to her during a briefing of the Dominion Institute, which conducts the Memory Project to chronicle and archive remembrances of Canadian Veterans.

Patrick took it to Korea with him and used it to adorn the figure of the Korean boy on the Canadian monument. The boy is depicted being escorted to a new future by a Canadian serviceman who gave his own days for the boy’s tomorrows. While in Canada, before returning to the UK and then going on to Korea, Patrick also visited Larry Schwenneker, whose father Corporal Melvin Schwenneker, is buried in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery. Larry’s father was killed in action with a 1st PPCLI fighting patrol in June, 1951. He also visited in Canada with Fred MacDonald, whose brother Burce Merlin MacDonald is buried there. Fred’s brother, Bruce MacDonald, had been killed still firing a Vickers machinegun when his platoon position was over-run during the Battle of Kapyong, in April, 1951. He was serving with the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricias.

Patrick also placed a Cross, composed of scarlet poppies, on the Monument to Canadian Fallen.

Patrick, and citizens like him, ensure that those who fell in the Korean War are not forgotten.

That is also the fervent wish of officials and supporting staff from 15 Korean Ministries who serve on the 60th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee.

They are working hard to finalize plans aimed at honouring all the World's Korean War Veterans in 2010.

The programs will be will be held both in Korea and in the home countries of all 21 of the countries that provided Korea with armed forces, civilian medical teams and humanitarian aid workers during the Korean War.

Bury Me With Soldiers

Poet Unknown

From the website of

the late Norman Van Tassel

The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada

I've played a lot of roles in life; I've met a lot of men,
I've done a lot of things I'd like to think I wouldn't do again.
And though I'm young, I'm old enough to know someday I'll die.
And to think about what lies beyond, beside whom I would lie.
Perhaps it doesn't matter much; Still if I had my choice,
I'd want a grave amongst Soldiers, when at last death quells my voice.
I'm sick of the hypocrisy of lectures of the wise.

I'll take the man, with all the flaws, Who goes, though scared, and dies.
The troops I knew were commonplace. They didn't want the war;

They fought because their fathers and their fathers had before.
They cursed and killed and wept... God knows, they're easy to deride...
But bury me with men like these! They faced the guns and died.
It's funny when you think of it, The way we got along,
We'd come from different worlds to live in one where no one belongs,
I didn't even like them all; I'm sure they'd all agree.
Yet I would give my life for them. I know some did for me...
So bury me with soldiers, please, though much maligned they be.
Yes, bury me with soldiers, for I miss their company.
We'll not soon see their likes again; we've had our fill of war.
But bury me with men like them, till someone else does more

Links to Veterans Association websites

Above article provided courtesy of the Korean War Veteran, koreavetnews@aol.com