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For a larger view, please click on the pictures.
Program Cover
Page One
Page Two
Souvenir Bumper Sticker
Arirang Dance
The Cast
Traditional Korean Meal
************************************ Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space: Three (03) of the above photographs were taken with my Motorola W376g cell phone camera, and the rest were scanned with my Hewlett-Packard Printer/Scanner/Copier 1610. Here are several other photographs, courtesy of the official Armed Forces Retirement Home web site:             At 1900 Hours on Wednesday 23 December 2009, there was a special program honoring Korean War veterans in the Douglas Hungerford Memorial Theatre at the Armed Forces Retirement Home. It was put on by the Office of the Defense Attache of the Embassy of Korea in Washington, D.C. As we entered the theatre, each of us was given a program, a souvenir bumper sticker, a bottle of water, and a gift bag of candy and cookies, including a very nice traditional gingerbread man cookie. During the opening remarks, the Korean Embassy presented a fifty-five inch plasma television to the Soldiers' Home. As the program began, they showed a couple of videos, YOU AND I, and DYNAMIC KOREA, which can be viewed at the Korean Embassy's web site. There followed some traditional Korean music and dance, plus a really impressive display of the Korean martial art, Tae Kwon Do. During her performance, one of the dancers fell down on stage, but immediately got up and continued her dance. I was surprised that one of the traditional Korean dancers was obviously a blonde Caucasian girl. Afterwards, we went into the Scott Lounge (our Home's saloon, more popularly known as the "Snake Pit"), where we were given platters of traditional Korean food. I got a bowl of rice and ate it with kim chi sauce on top. I had tried to eat kim chi in Korea, but not knowing how it was supposed to be done, I tried to eat it straight, like a side dish, and the smell was so awful, I didn't even put it in my mouth. But, years later, long after I'd left Korea, a Korean gal told me I was doing it wrong, and that kim chi was supposed to be used as seasoning for other foods, such as rice. So, tonight, I bravely dared a mouthful of rice with kim chi and - - - it was great! Yes, tonight's program brought back fond memories of when I was a young soldier in Korea, where I served in 1973 at Won Ju with the 307th Signal Battalion, and at Yong San with the 142d Military Police Company. My father served in Korea in 1952, and I wish he were alive and could have attended tonight's event. The Korean government awarded him another medal that he doesn't even know about, but it's displayed along with all of his other medals on the wall of my room. Folks, it's Christmas, and I hope we'll all remember that there's still a bunch of American soldiers currently serving in Korea, and that the war there is not actually over, as it's only a temporary cease fire. God bless us, each and every one. Thank you. |
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