CPT Kim Rybak – From My Service in Korea, I learned…

From My Service in Korea, I learned…

Kim Rybak

I am a former dependent and my father served three times in Korea. The first time he went, he met my mother, fell in love for the first time and they eventually married, taking all the risks of marrying as an inter-racial couple in the 1970’s during the height of the Vietnam War.

The first time I had the privilege to move to Korea was from 1984-1986, during my elementary school years. This was the first time I was near immediate family members, and I learned from my Grandparents and Uncles the hardships of the war itself. Having fun navigating through Korea, playing with cousins and spending lots of time running up and down Mount Apsan in Camp Walker, Taegu, Korea was my true focus. I didn’t realize the impact of the threat of the Cold War and what was just 8 hours drive north of us in North Korea. The second time we moved back was just after the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. I spent my 8, and 9th grade years in Seoul, Korea at Seoul American High School. This time I was much more aware of the impact of. communism and dictatorship upon societies. We saw the Iron Curtain fall in 1989 while I was in History Class in Seoul. We visited the DMZ and saw the last bit of staunch Russian Red Umbrellas just across the border in North Korea. We drove through the South Korean College student riots proclaiming “Americans Leave Our Soil.”

This left a profound impact on me. My grandparents told us more about the horrors of war, and it was then I realized that not only I wouldn’t exist, but none of my cousins and possibly even my mother had the sacrifices that Koreans and Americans and all others from everywhere made to keep communism out!

I came back to the US with a renewed sense of preservation for continuing this story, the Forgotten War. Being more and more removed from the actual physical fighting, I delved into anything I could learn about North Korea and the tactics they take to oppress their people.

This story continues on with anyone I encounter who wants to hear it. My children are fully aware of this, and I remind them, had it not been for those sacrifices, they would not exist. Samsung, LG, Kia, Hyundai, along with so many other businesses would never be!  My hope is to take them to Korea, so they can see all the wonders of South Korea and how this would never happen without their freedom.

My children know that the war isn’t over. North Koreans live this story everyday and that is a tactic used to keep them in the military state of mind, along with isolation from the rest of the world. Many of my American colleagues do not even know this fact, and just muse over the latest Korean Netflix Drama or KPop. I remind them, that the country is still at war, that it is important that we continue to keep our forces there to work with Korean forces. We must keep this story alive so we don’t forget because the enemy hasn’t forgotten, and they are ready to restart.

Lastly, anytime I see someone with a Korean War veteran hat, I thank them and tell them, “ I wouldn’t be here without your sacrifice.”

My husband and I were both active duty US Army from 1996-2005, and he had the opportunity to serve at Camp Humphries from 1996-1997. He was the last Executive Officer for the unit that the show MASH was modeled off of!  We both had the chance to attend the ceremony!

Kim Rybak (US Army Veteran 1997-2005, CPT Army Nurse Corps)

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