The UN cemetery in Busan where Korean War veterans ask to be buried

(CNN) — For more than 30 years, British veteran James Grundy has made an annual 5,500-mile trip to South Korea, to visit the graves of bodies he recovered as a young man embroiled in war.

Grundy was just 19 when he joined the Korean War in 1951, according to the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea (UNMCK). As part of a recovery unit, he picked up fallen soldiers from the Korean Peninsula battlefields and transported them for burial at the cemetery, located in the southern coastal city of Busan.

The cemetery remains the only UN cemetery in the world – and for many, a final reunion between veterans, widows and loved ones lost in the Korean War.

It was established in 1955 after the South Korean government offered the land for permanent use by the UN, to honor troops and medical personnel sent from 22 countries under the UN flag during the war.

Although most of these countries have repatriated the bodies of their dead, more than 2,300 people from 11 countries are currently buried there, according to UNMCK.

Many of these soldiers were later joined by loved ones who wished 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, monuments dedicated by various countries that participated in the war, and a wall of remembrance engraved with all the names of UN soldiers who died during the war. conflict.

Every time Grundy buried the bodies he recovered, « he promised, ‘I’ll come back to you. I won’t forget you,' » her adopted granddaughter, Brenda Eun-jung Park, said. « That’s why he comes back to Korea every year, to keep his promise. »

From 1988, he made annual trips to the cemetery – until the pandemic stopped the trips. In May, although Grundy was battling cancer and weakening, « 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, » she added. « He wanted to come back one more time. »

Grundy died in August in the UK. His ashes will be airlifted to the UN Cemetery where he will be buried, as stated in his will. « He wanted to rest in peace in the cemetery with his comrades, » Park said.

A quick story

The Korean War – sometimes called « the forgotten war », despite the millions of lives lost – broke out in June 1950 after North Korean troops invaded South Korea.

The United States convened 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 where combat troops were sent on behalf of the UN.

The 22-nation « United Nations Command » helped turn the tide of the war, with US-led forces advancing towards the China-North Korea border. But Chinese troops intervened, pushing the UN back into the peninsula.

The two sides found themselves at an impasse along the 38th parallel, where the border between the two Koreas is today. An armistice signed on July 27, 1953 ends the conflict. However, the war never officially ended because there was no peace treaty – and its impact persists to this day.

A US corporal watches a 9-year-old Korean girl lay a bouquet of white roses at the grave of one of her fallen comrades at a UN memorial near Busan, South Korea, in 1951.

Archive Bettmann/Getty Images

For some veterans, the UN cemetery represents both the cost of war and the deep bonds they have forged with other soldiers and with South Korea itself.

Boyd L. Watts, an American veteran who joined the war at 18, told Korean publication Haps Magazine he had visited Busan at least once a year since 1991.

It amazed him how much the country had grown in a few decades, he said – a theme also underscored at the cemetery. In a memorial service hall, a video for visitors highlights South Korea’s transformation from a war-torn nation into a thriving modern metropolis made possible by the sacrifice of UN troops, a- he declared.

South Korean honor guards carry flags of UN allied nations during a memorial ceremony for UN veterans of the Korean War, at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan on November 11 2020.

Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images

Other veterans who made return visits to Busan echoed that sentiment.

Johan Theodoor Aldewereld, who served as a private first class and fought in hand-to-hand combat against North Korean soldiers, returned to South Korea in 2016 – his first time since being demobilized during the war. According to a report by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, Aldewereld said he was deeply moved by the country’s economic recovery.

He died the following year and was buried in the cemetery – in accordance with his will, which stated that he wanted his ashes « to be buried in the Republic of Korea where my comrades lie in eternal sleep », according to Yonhap.

Last resting place

As the small group of surviving veterans grows older, a growing number – from all over the world – have asked to be buried at the cemetery, alongside friends and comrades in a foreign land they once defended.

Watts, the American veteran, told Haps Magazine in 2010, « They got a lot of us old fogies buried there… I’d love to be a part of that. » His wish was granted after his death in 2020, with family, friends and representatives from the US military and embassy attending the ceremony.

Another American veteran, Russell Harold Johnstad, served in the military police during the war and was buried at the UN cemetery in 2020.

The United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea on August 21.

Jessie Yeung/CNN

The most recent overseas veteran to be buried at the cemetery is John Robert Cormier of Canada, who died in 2021 and was laid to rest in June this year. He was just 19 when he arrived in Korea for the war, returning to the battlefield even after sustaining a life-threatening injury, according to UNMCK.

It was his « strong wish » to be buried at the cemetery, the UNMCK said after his ceremony, adding: « He would have been missed by his 380 (Canadian) comrades who were waiting for him here, and today they are at together again ».

Today, the cemetery, located not far from the coast, remains a popular destination for war history travelers, accessible by bus and metro. Free admission, it also holds a daily raising and lowering of the UN flag, with special events to commemorate key dates like the outbreak of the Korean War.

Top image: United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea, located in Busan, on August 21. Credit: Jessie Yeung/CNN