[KS] Refugee children in Korean War

[Cameron Hurst]

Dear Paul:

Although there are some books on this issue,  you are likely to find 
more  information about Korean war orphans and refugee children on the 
internet. Starting with the major effort called Kiddy Car Airlift, there 
were many group and individual efforts, by service personnel, churches, 
and other organizations to aid in the effort to rescue Korean children 
orphaned or abandoned in the war. Dean Hess wrote his autobiography in 
1956--/Battle Hymn/ (later a film starring Rock Hudson) about this 
effort, and Chaplain Russell Blaisdell was honored by the Korean 
government perhaps six or seven years ago. (Considerable academic debate 
continues over the relative contributions of these two men to this 
effort). So from fairly early on in the war, there were many people 
trying to aid Korean orphans, and their stories are out there.

For example, Henry Holt and his wife started adopting Korean War orphans 
in 1955, and Holt International has been helping orphans for 50 years 
now--they have a web-site. The Korean Children's War Memorial in 
Bellingham, Washington has a good deal of on-line information, and is 
dedicated to "those we could not save." I could on, but these are just a 
few thoughts I have as I look at your posting this morning.  I think 
with a little digging you can find a great deal of information. When I 
have more time, I will try to offer some more assistance.

Good luck.

Cameron Hurst

Paul Yoon wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> Greetings. I am new to this list so forgive me if I'm going about this 
> in the wrong way. I am a fiction writer. My work has appeared in 
> various publications and my first book, a collection of short stories, 
> will be published in 2009.
>
> I'm wondering if anyone would be willing offer some advice: I am 
> interested in researching orphan children/refugee children during the 
> Korean War, in particular their geographical situation and their 
> living conditions--the camps that were formed, US presence/influence 
> on these children, those who were on their own in towns and villages, 
> what life was like for these children, etc. I am having some 
> difficulty finding literature (in English) on this and I was wondering 
> if anyone knew of any books that specifically address this topic.
>
> If not, is there perhaps a general book on the war that you would 
> personally recommend?
>
> Thank you very much for your time and patience.
>
> Take care,
> Paul
>
>
> ____________________________
> Paul Yoon
> Kennedy School of Government
> 79 John F. Kennedy Street
> Cambridge, MA 02138
> 617.495.3919
> paul_yoon at ksg.harvard.edu
>

-- 
G. Cameron Hurst III
Professor, Japanese and Korean Studies
Director, Center for East Asian Studies
(215)573-4203
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
(215)898-7466

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