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.