The Korean War reminds us that freedom must be defended

The American Legion’s George W. Benjamin Post 791, a small storefront on Shermer Road in Northbrook, was packed with veterans on Thursday, July 4. Brianna Owen, 18, read her essay that earned her a $1,500 scholarship toward next fall’s tuition at Ithaca College, where she will play volleyball as an outside hitter.

“The planet we are on is beautiful,” she began. “We are all very lucky to be here. However, this planet is also dangerous…”

After she had finished, those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Thomas Mahoney, post chaplain, led the opening prayer.

“Please uncover it,” Mahoney said. He thanked God, “the source of all our freedom,” then added, “We humbly ask for a special blessing upon the people in this room tonight who, in service to God and our country, have preserved our freedom and the freedom of the people of the Republic of Korea.”

The Republic of Korea — what we refer to as “South Korea” when we think of it at all — is not often mentioned by name during prayers in the halls of the American Legion. But there were three guests from the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Chicago: Consul Taesu Yeo, resplendent in his police uniform, Vice Consul Jongyun Ra, and Cultural Coordinator Eojin Shin.

They brought with them two Ambassador for Peace medals, awarded to soldiers who fought in the Korean War. The medals were presented to 95-year-old Evanston resident Salvatore Casali and posthumously to the family of Mario Faldani.

“We honor the courage, sacrifice and selflessness of those who answered the call of duty and served,” said Vice Consul Ray. “We remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives in the Korean War. On behalf of the Korean people, I express my deepest gratitude to you. Your service and sacrifice have secured the blessings of freedom for generations to come.”

That last line summed up the reason for my visit. While South Korea does not regularly participate in honors ceremonies, it is a lesson that Americans should be reminded of as we fight to strengthen freedom around the world and, in particular, support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

Freedom seems to bore us. Freedom makes you yawn. Look at the news. North Korea is often found there. Kim Jong Un, the all-powerful dictator and son of the previous all-powerful dictator Kim Jong-il. He was the son of Kim Il Sung, who was president when the country was founded in 1948. In a totalitarian state, only death can change leadership, which is why North Korea has had three rulers in 76 years.

That may seem like a sign of strength. But Kim Jong Un’s incessant threats and saber-rattling – or more accurately, missile-rattling – are a sign of weakness. His constant barrage of garbage – mostly verbal garbage, although lately they’ve taken to floating real garbage over the South and releasing it from balloons – is a junkie’s fight for undeserved attention. Dictatorships make mistakes because when they’re surrounded by sycophantic underlings, it’s easy to make mistakes. Ask Vladimir Putin.

The North’s constant showmanship is so strangely fascinating that you might almost forget that South Korea exists. It has a population of 51 million and its capital, Seoul, is three times the size of Chicago. It is a true economic miracle. Perhaps the best way to understand the difference between the two Koreas is that South Korea’s GDP is 40 times larger than that of the North, where citizens regularly starve.

South Korea is also a vibrant democracy – perhaps more vibrant than our own. In 2016, South Koreans protested in the streets, and President Park Geun-hye was impeached for corruption and abuse of power. She ended up in prison. We have impeached a now-former president twice – the second time for inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 – and it looks like he’s going not to prison, but back to the White House.

In Korea, all of this was only possible because in 1950, when North Korea invaded the South, the United Nations and the United States responded and drove the communists out of the country after three years of brutal war that cost some 36,000 American lives. 50 million people are not living in a totalitarian hellscape because we made a sacrifice.

I would say it was worth it. But many Americans seem to be losing the plot. We don’t care about preserving freedom in our own country, let alone defending it elsewhere. We need to rethink that, not just for ourselves but for our young people.

“I want to make the world a better place,” Owen concludes. “By being open-minded and willing to work.”

I would say we have a lot of work ahead of us.