The Forgotten War Essay- The Forgotten War

Williams 1 Sheila Williams Prof. Swellander WRC 1013.045 18 September 2009 The Forgotten War The Korean War lasted a majority of my life while I was young, even though it had only been declared a war for about three years. I witnessed more inconceivable acts of hate and anger then I could have ever imagined humanely possible, but the memory that seems to continuously resonate through my head so vividly took place when I was thirteen when my younger brother and my mother both died all within a course of a week(…) (Grandma). It was June of 1950 when North Korea had forced their way in to capture my grandmother‟s hometown and the heart of South Korea; Seoul (Szczepanski). During the three years of this war it was estimated nearly two million civilian deaths occurred (BBC News). Luckily, my grandmother‟s family was able to flee into the country for safety. They lived in a small hut built out of anything they could find ample enough to block even a fraction of the cold wind during the night. It was crucial to keep their barely inhabitable living quarters warm because my great-grandmother was half paralyzed due to a stroke. It was a war in itself trying to keep her warm and alive, nonetheless to try and find food and water for the family. Anywhere that had any sort of resource was accompanied by other refugees fighting over it like it was their last lifeline. Anyhow, the refugees were the least of their worries. North Korean soldiers often set traps for refugees to catch the men and force them into their army, or women and young girls to give to their soldiers as entertainment.