GREETINGS: This writer recently returned from a 30-day visit to Asia that could be said to consist of five parts. First was an organized private tour of China, and then followed a week in Beijing visiting with the Canadian Military Attaché. Next was a side trip to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea). The last two parts were to be a nine-day session in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) shooting a film on the Korean War, followed by a return visit to Beijing. Here, we were to meet Korean War Chinese veterans at an informal dinner hosted by Galafilms.

Briefly, our 15-day tour of China included the Three Gorges Dam under construction, the world’s largest in capacity for electrical generation. It was an awesome experience. Cruising up the Yangtze River, visiting Xian to see the Terra Cotta soldiers and cruising through the rugged mountains of Guilin, seen in many Chinese paintings, was “icing on the cake.” Wife Judy and I had a “second helping of dessert” when we stayed with the Canadian Military Attaché and his wife Penny. They were our tour guides for almost a full week in the Beijing area. (Col David Burke was also the best man at our wedding 21 years ago.) An intriguing fact was that China, with a population of 1.3 billion, apparently has the same sized armed forces proportionately as Canada.

Next came nine challenging days in Korea as a technical advisor to Brian McKenna’s four-hour documentary titled War In Korea. More importantly, I was thoroughly questioned (with cameras rolling) about my experiences with 2PPCLI as a combat infantryman, then a 20-year-old corporal commanding an infantry section.

As an ‘original’ battalion member who landed at Pusan, I took part in anti-guerilla operations, fought northward over six months to the area of the present Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) near Chorwon, and was at the Battle of Kapyong. There, during 24-25 April 1951, 2PPCLI fought off successive attacks by the Chinese Army. For holding Kapyong, the 2^nd Battalion was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation by the President of the United States, the only Canadian unit so honoured.

The film, to be released next fall, looks at Canada’s third bloodiest war from many aspects. Thus Brian McKenna and film crew next visited North Korea to film their side of the DMZ. It included the recollections of two Chinese generals who fought in that war. Meantime, the North Koreans barred me from entering North Korea. (Ostensibly, the endeavours of The King’s Bishop, title of my Memoirs of The Korean War in 1950-51, were not considered to be very friendly, even in the year 2002.) Thus, I cooled my heels in Beijing.

Our 12 to 14-hour workdays in South Korea commenced on the docks in Pusan. This is where 2 PPCLI landed in Dec.1950. Next was a visit to the U.N. Cemetery in Pusan. I laid a wreath on behalf of Korean War Veterans at the new Canadian Memorial on 11 Nov.

Myung Cook, who fled Seoul in 1950 as an 11-year old Korean refugee, landing at the Pusan docks on a fishing boat under most adverse conditions, graphically recounts her experiences. Husband Ed and Myung Cook (name change) as children, found refuge in Canada. Eventually, they earned PhDs becoming full professors at the University of Calgary, and now retired in Nanaimo, B.C. (They are related to Peter Oh, the gentleman who is striving to organize a 2003 return to Korea for Vancouver Island veterans.)

Travelling north by train near Miryang, 60 kilometers north of Pusan, came the most reflective part of my trip. This is where 2 PPCLI chased guerillas in January 1951. Could I still climb those mountains today without up to 70 pounds on my back?

I acted the straight man in the film, listening to recollections of a U.S. marine at Inchon where he landed at the breakwater on 15 Sep.1950. We visited a larger than life statue of General MacArthur overlooking Inchon Harbour where the marine, Don Gill, was mobbed by Korean school children in appreciation of his efforts 52 years ago. I guarantee this segment of the documentary will move you.

We also visited and narrated two sites where the U.S. Marines fought significant battles to recapture Seoul. The first was at a creek close to Seoul on the Han River. The second was the existing original part of the Seoul Train Station. You can still see dozens of anti-tank shell holes, imperfectly patched, as you leave the train station. The Inchon Landing, the advance and the capture of Seoul will educate and fascinate the viewer.

We also visited the DMZ that is still the most heavily fortified border in the world. Our hosts, the South Korean Army, helped us by calling out some of their troops for limited filming across the DMZ.

The DMZ has special meaning to me, as apparently, I am the only living officer who fought in the Korean War and later served at Panmunjom with the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission, 1982-84. This recently gave me a second bar (Peace) to my Special Service Medal.

We also spent a day at Kapyong visiting all memorials and made a special effort to look at Hill 677 from the enemy’s point of view. This included the routes the Chinese probably used to attack our Canadian positions.

On the final day in Seoul, Brian McKenna and crew attended a Cook family reunion, the first for Ed and Myung since fleeing Seoul more than 52 years ago - a truly moving experience.

My last day in Seoul included a visit to a Medical Centre where my 1982-84 Canadian Embassy driver, Mr. Han, a personal friend and a retired Korean army war veteran, resides. Unfortunately, he had a serious stroke and I was saddened saying goodbye to him, likely for the last time.

We returned to Beijing where we had hoped to socialize with Chinese Korean War veterans at a dinner hosted by Brian McKenna and Galafilms. Although initially approved by the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs vetoed it. Apparently, it was due in part to the perceived unfriendly activities of The King’s Bishop, and other members of Canada’s Armed Forces, who participated in Canada’s third bloodiest conflict more than half a century ago.

LCol John Bishop served in Korea with 2 PPCLI. He is a member of RUSI of VI

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