UNMCK - UNITED NATIONS MEMORIAL CEMETERY IN KOREA

Hi,my name is Yoo Yehyun. I am currently a highschool student in Korea. This year, I have been visiting Korean war veterans (who are still very much alive) regularly. What do I do with them, you ask? Well, my honest answer is that I don't do very much. I just sit beside them and listen. The stories they tell me about war are very hard to take in. They tell me about how they marched up and down up and down the Korean peninsula by foot, marching through bombs, fallen cities, and dying comrades. The most terrible thing is the fact that they got used to it. They got used to death. Holding their friend in their arms and knowing that a shot fired from their gun will have pierced the heart of another friend, brother, father, and lover. And to know that they will have to keep doing it. They had no choice but to get used to it, or else they would have gone crazy. An old man with white white hair and watery eyes told me this story. As I listened, I couldn't help thinking that his ruddy face and watery, clear eyes made him look like a child. Most of the veterans were 17 to 18 years of age when the war broke out. Maybe he is still stuck in those years, never completely escaping from war. What was the color of your eyes? What was the name of your wife, your children, your lover? What was the name of your cat, dog, elephant, horse? What would you like to have done in your 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s? What was your dream? Most of the messages here seem to be talking about gratitude. Excuse me if this sounds rude, but I cannot feel any gratitude. I cannot feel thankful for your deaths. What is gratitude to a person who can't see the sky again, or feel the wind, or smell the delicous fragrance of hot chocolate? Instead, I want to say I'm sorry. I am so so sorry. I am sorry that you had to get used to death. I am so sorry that you died. In Korea, there is another kind of war going on. The war of examinations. Losers go to local universities and Winners go to elite ones. Living as a student in Korea means that you are a soldier in this warfield whether you want to be or not. I feel like I'm a step away from collapsing right now. I just can't no point in this war. And I can see no end. If you were given life again, would you have the courage to bend boundaries? Would you live for your happiness whether than do what others say is good for you? Would you march away from the marching crowd? From . someone lost