2019 Korean History and Cultural Seminar for Educators - Handbook 2019 NKS Handbook-0617 | Page 84

Stage 3: Repair the Pavilion Rededica)on: January 10, 2014 Stage 3: Repair the Pavilion Rededica)on: January 10, 2014 Please Stay in Contact •  [email protected] •  KFBPC 3601 S. Gaffey St. #12, San Pedro, CA 90731 Please Stay in Contact •  Like Us on Facebook: Korean Friendship Bell •  •  Follow Us on TwiGer: @friendshipbell [email protected] •  •  www.kgpc.org (opening in August 2015) KFBPC 3601 S. Gaffey St. #12, San Pedro, CA 90731 •  Like Us on Facebook: Korean Friendship Bell •  Follow Us on TwiGer: @friendshipbell •  www.kgpc.org (opening in August 2015) Location of Friendship Bell Korean Bell of Friendship and Fort MacArthur: What’s in the Name? by Ernest Lee, Executive Director, KFBPC The Korean Friendship Bell is located atop a grassy knoll inside the Angels Gate Park. The area was part of Fort MacArthur, an Army base named in honor of Lt. General Arthur MacArthur, a Civil War Medal of Honor recipient and the father of General Douglas MacArthur, a hero of World War II and the Korean War. Those visitors to the Bell who are familiar with the history should be able to recognize some interesting historical and genealogical connections between this Bell and its location. To some, the connections might evoke a sense of destiny. It was the Japanese surrender to the Allied Forces on August 15, 1945 that liberated Korea from 35 years of Japanese colonial occupation (General Douglas MacArthur formally accepted the surrender on the Battleship Missouri), and it was also General MacArthur’s landing in Inchon that turned the tides in the Korean War that eventually led to the Armistice and preserved democracy in the Republic of Korea. The inscription on the Korean Friendship Bell makes references to both of these historic events: In his farewell address to the U. S. Congress on April 19, 1951, General Douglas MacArthur specifically observed as follows: “Of the nations of the world, Korea alone, up to now, is the sole one which has risked its all against communism. The magnificence of the courage and fortitude of the Korean people defies description. They have chosen to risk death rather than slavery.” 82