KOREAN WAR ORPHANS

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26651, 9 February 1952, Page 5

KOREAN WAR ORPHANS

“ADOPTION” BY N.Z. ARMY UNITS NATIVE HELPERS WORK IN CAMPS [N.Z. Army Information Service) KOREA, December 26. Contact with New Zealanders has meant a change for the better in the lives of several young Koreans. These are the young war orphans which K Force units have “adopted” during their year’s campaigning. For a short time after their arrival, the New Zealanders looked with suspicion on all Koreans. They had heard tales of Korean children taught by guerrillas to pull pins out of grenades or make maps of gun emplacements. But it was only a few months .after their arrival that members of the original K Force transport platoon decided to adopt two young Korean orphans who had wandered into their camp one day begging for food. The two boys—now fully outfitted with cut-down Army clothing—are still with the K Force Transport Company, which absorbed the original platoon in September. The 16th Field Regiment was not slow to follow the Army Service Corps drivers' example. They adopted two Korean boys to act as waiters in their regimental headquarters officers’ mess. The boys—named Shim and Kim. which are typical Korean boys’ names —stayed with the New Zealanders for six months. Then the officers contributed sufficient funds to send them to school in Seoul. With the possibility of ration and clothing shortages in mind, the commanding officers of the various K Force units have been forced to limit the numbers of their Korean helpers. But invariably the limit is exceeded as the Kiwis encounter fresh cases cf poverty and suffering. At present each cookhouse has an adequate number of Korean helpers, and in the rear of the lines the New Zealanders have few worries about washing clothes and other domestic duties. For a small reward, usually food, they can always find assistance. Each member of one Kiwi unit which had adopted a Korean boy brought back a piece of clothing from rest and recuperation leave in Japan. The lad now has several outfits—both civilian and Army—to choose from. The boy, named Kiwiftis fully conscious of his position as mascot, and salutes each member of the unit individually each morning.