by PAUL RAYNER

Fifty-five years ago this past summer, the armistice ending the active phase of the first United Nations armed intervention was signed. This anniversary was celebrated, and a Boissevain man who was there the first time around was a part of the ceremonies.

Roger Goodin, who served with the 1st Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in the Korean War, returned to the peninsula from July 7-16 as a part of a Korean Veterans delegation from Canada. Organized by Veterans Affairs Canada, there were 12 Korean War vets as part of the group, each paired with a caregiver. Goodin, who went with his son Daniel, said he was contacted by the government to see if he was interested.

“They contacted us,” Goodin explained. “They wanted some vets to go. There were some guys I knew, some guys I trained with. This was my first time back. I always wanted to go. Veterans Affairs picked guys who had not gone back before.”

He said the process started back in March, with a lot of legal and medical work to be done prior to departure. Goodin added there was a good mix of veterans going, not only from different jobs within the army, but also representatives of the three different infantry units who served in Korea – the PPCLI, Royal Canadian Regiment, and the Royal 22nd or Van Doos.

Although the armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, the story of the Korean War begins much earlier. The nation, a former Japanese colony, was split between Soviet and American occupation at the end of the Second World War. Although it was meant to be temporary, two governments – a Communist one in the North and an American-backed one in the south – developed. On June 25, 1950, North Korea launched a major assault across the recognized boundary of the 38th parallel to reunify the country by force. Because the Soviet Union was boycotting the UN at the time, the US was able to pass a resolution to help South Korea through the Security Council, setting the stage for an eventual 17-nation intervention, led by the US, to help the southern Republic of Korea.

Eventually, assisted by a successful amphibious landing at the port of Inchon, the UN force, led by American General Douglas MacArthur, was able to drive the North Koreans back up the peninsula. They crossed the 38th and kept pushing north, ignoring Chinese warnings. By November, the Chinese responded in force, driving the UN down again, retaking the southern capital of Seoul. Eventually, they were driven back more or less to the 38th parallel, where the front stabilized. This was where the PPCLI fought their most heralded battle, holding Kap ‘Yong in 1951.

That battle site was one of the places Goodin and the other veterans visited this summer. Although the battle took place before Goodin arrived in the country in early 1952, he said some of the veterans in the party had fought there, and it was good to see the early battlefield.

Goodin joined the army in October 1951. He said he had been too young for World War Two, but was able to serve in Korea, so chose to do it.

“I was still young,” he said, “22 years old, and it was a way to serve my country.”

He arrived in Korea in the winter of 1952, after a nearly two week journey by ship and two weeks training in Japan. When he arrived, the line had more or less stabilized into trench warfare similar to World War One in the mountains. The purpose was to keep the Communists, mainly Chinese by that time, from breaking across the 38th parallel again. The main way to get at the enemy was patrolling.

“They were all at night. You couldn’t go out in the daytime or you’d get picked off. There was a lot of shelling in the daytime. We’d sneak out at night and cross their lines.”

There were different patrols of different sizes. Some were recon patrols of three people fighting patrols of around 25, and ambush patrols of around 30 men. Of course, the Canadians were not the only ones who patrolled.

“You’d meet up in a few patrols,” Goodin explained, “and fire a few shots and a few people would get killed. If you ran into a big patrol, you called in the artillery. We also had a .50 caliber machine gun on the hill to help us out.”

Weapons included the Thompson sub machine gun, Bren and Sten machine guns and carbines. The Canadian troops went to Korea with the old Lee Enfield rifle, but the bolt action weapon was not much good against thousands of charging Chinese.

“It was a busy place. We lived in trenches all winter and all summer. I got one 7-day leave in Japan the whole time I was there. Every couple of weeks we would be marched down for a shower down the line the US had. You would be good for another two weeks. There were mosquitoes at night and snakes there too. It was a dangerous, tough life.”

Different battlegrounds were visited when Goodin was back in the country. He saw one of the biggest, Hill 355, only in the distance, however. Although a major position of Canadian troops in Korea, it was turned over to the North as part of the armistice agreement.

As for other battlefields, it was difficult to tell.

“We were at about seven or eight different positions in the year I was there,” he explained. “We were at a few areas, but you could never really find the places. They were all bare then, from all the fighting. They are all grown over now. We could have gone past them without even noticing. You could get a feeling, though.”

Although they landed in Inchon airport, Goodin said they did not see where the landing took place. They went to the capital of Seoul and attended a memorial ceremony at the United Nations Cemetery at Busan (formerly Pusan).

Another highlight was visiting Panmunjon. This was where the armistice was signed 55 years ago. Lying along the 38th parallel, the building, which houses the famous conference table, straddles the two countries. Each has guards on their side, and one enters with care.

“You had to be really careful. It was split down the middle. You couldn’t talk to the guards on the North Korean side. You could walk around the table, but not even look at the other side. You bet it was tense. Remember, there is no peace treaty. The two sides are still at war. It was only an armistice signed.”

This is why the party met a Canadian colonel serving there, as part of the continued UN presence along the parallel.

As well as official visits, Goodin said he and the other veterans were interested in the state of the country. When he served during the war, up until spring of 1953, the country was not in good shape.

“The villages were in bad shape, really dirty,” he explained, “the kids were all running around looking for money or something to eat. It was swampy, full of dirt roads.”

The difference was amazing.

“Everything is so clean now. Where there were straw huts and no roads, it is all highways, not a bump on them. There are nice cities, nicer than here even. It was a great difference.”

The sacrifices made in Korea by Canadians have not been forgotten either.

“They like Canadians. They would do anything for us. We were treated really well over there.”

He said both he and Daniel were glad to go over. Goodin was able to visit the gravesides of some of his comrades, and see a few areas he had not seen for a half decade. He laughed at how a two-week trip by ship 55 years ago now took one day by plane. As stated, travel was only one change he saw in Korea. It was these changes that left him convinced he and the rest of those who fought with the UN from 1950-53 had done the right thing.

“We were really happy to see the state of the country,” he said. “We were afraid we were going to a slum. But everything is nice and seems freer. The kids are off the street and going to school. It makes you proud to have been involved. It was worth it to help them build this.”

“We figured we did something important there.”