Grundy was just 19 when he joined the Korean War in 1951, according to the United Nations Memorial in Korea (UNMCK). As part of a recovery unit, it retrieved fallen soldiers from battlefields across the Korean peninsula and transported them for burial at the cemetery, located in the southern coastal city of Busan. The cemetery remains the only United Nations cemetery in the world — and for many, a final place of reunion between veterans, widows and loved ones lost in the Korean War. It was established in 1955 after the South Korean government donated the land for permanent use by the UN, to honor the troops and medical personnel sent by 22 countries under the UN flag during the war. The United Nations Memorial in Korea (UNMCK) in Busan on August 21. Jessie Yeung/CNN Although most of these countries repatriated the bodies of their fallen, more than 2,300 people from 11 nations are currently buried there, according to the UNMCK. Many of these soldiers were later joined by loved ones who wanted to be buried together, including their widows and other family members. Today, the cemetery is an idyllic 35-acre expanse of green grass and water features, with a memorial hall, memorials dedicated by various warring countries, and a memorial wall inscribed with all the names of UN troops who died during the war . conflict. Each time Grundy buried the bodies he recovered, he promised, “I’ll come back to you. I won’t forget you,” said his step-granddaughter, Brenda Eun-jung Park. “That’s why he came back to Korea every year, to keep his promise.” Starting in 1988, he made annual trips to the cemetery — until the pandemic halted the trips. In May, although Grundy was battling cancer and growing frail, he “insisted on coming to Korea” for one last visit, Park said. James Grundy, affectionately known as “Uncle Jim”, and his niece Sharon Hewitt. Sharon Hewitt “It was the only pleasure… (in) his life,” he added. “He wanted to come back one more time.” Grundy died in August in the UK. His ashes will be transferred to the UN cemetery where he will be buried, as per the instructions of his will. “He wanted to rest in peace in the cemetery with his comrades,” Park said.
A quick story
The Korean War — sometimes referred to as “the forgotten war,” despite the millions of lives lost — broke out in June 1950 after North Korean troops invaded South Korea. The United States called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, which decided just two days after the invasion to send troops to Korea — the only time in the organization’s history that combat troops have been sent in the name of the UN. The 22-nation “United Nations Command” helped turn the tide of the war, with US-led forces advancing toward China’s border with North Korea. But Chinese troops intervened, pushing the UN back onto the peninsula. Both sides reached a stalemate at the 38th parallel, where the border between the two Koreas is located today. An armistice signed on July 27, 1953, ended the conflict. However, the war never officially ended because there was no peace treaty — and its impact remains to this day. An American corporal watches as a 9-year-old Korean girl places a bouquet of white roses on the grave of one of his fallen comrades at a UN memorial near Busan, South Korea, in 1951. File Bettmann/Getty Images For some veterans, the UN cemetery represents both the cost of the war and the deep bonds they formed with other soldiers and with South Korea itself. Boyd L. Watts, an American veteran who joined the war at the age of 18, told Korea’s Haps Magazine that he had been visiting Busan at least once a year since 1991. He was amazed at how much the country had grown in just a few decades, he said — a theme also underscored at the cemetery. In a memorial ceremony hall, a video for visitors highlights South Korea’s transformation from a war-torn nation to a thriving modern metropolis — made possible by the sacrifice of UN troops, he said. South Korean honor guards carry flags of UN allied nations during a memorial ceremony for UN Korean War veterans at the UN Memorial in Busan on November 11, 2020. Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images Other veterans who made return visits to Busan echoed the sentiment. Johan Theodoor Aldewereld, who served as a private first class and fought hand-to-hand against North Korean soldiers, returned to South Korea in 2016 — his first time since being discharged during the war. According to a report by South Korean news agency Yonhap, Aldewereld said he was deeply moved by the country’s economic recovery. He died the following year and was buried in the cemetery — following his will, which stated he wanted his ashes to be “buried in the Republic of Korea where my comrades lie in eternal sleep,” according to Yonhap.
Final resting place
As the small group of surviving veterans ages, a growing number — hailing from places around the world — have asked to be buried in the cemetery, alongside friends and comrades in a foreign country they once fought to defend. Watts, the American veteran, told Haps Magazine in 2010: “They’ve got a lot of us old fogies buried … I’d like to be a part of it.” His wish was granted after his death in 2020, with family, friends and representatives from the US military and embassy attending the ceremony. Another US veteran, Russell Harold Johnstad, served in the Military Police during the war and was buried in the UN cemetery in 2020. The United Nations Memorial in Korea on August 21. Jessie Yeung/CNN “Mr Johnstad was initially opposed to the idea of being buried at UNMCK, saying he felt he didn’t deserve as much as others who are there, but his wife and family managed to convince him to change his mind,” he said. the UNMCK in a statement on its website. The most recent overseas veteran to be buried in the cemetery is Canada’s John Robert Cormier, who died in 2021 and was interred in June of this year. He was just 19 when he arrived in Korea for the war, returning to the battlefield even after suffering a life-threatening injury, according to the UNMCK. It was his “irrevocable wish” to be buried at the cemetery, UNMCK said after his ceremony, adding: “He would be missed by his 380 (Canadian) comrades who were waiting for him here, and today they are together again.” Today the cemetery, located not far from the coast, remains a popular destination for war history travelers, accessible by bus and subway. Free to enter, it also hosts a UN flag raising and lowering ceremony every day, with special events commemorating important dates such as the outbreak of the Korean War. Top image: The United Nations Cemetery in Korea, located in Busan, on August 21. Source: Jessie Yeung/CNN
