A lifelong hobby for one Korean American immigrant spawned an ever-evolving exhibit displaying artifacts of both Korean culture and the Korean War, most recently at the Niles Public Library.
Jin Lee, a Des Plaines resident and Maine Township High School District 207 School Board member, said he’s been collecting stamps since he was a child living in South Korea. After he immigrated to the U.S. in 1975 at age 13, Lee said his collection gradually grew to encompass Korean-related documents, postcards and “anything related to Korean history.”
Korean War photographs and memorabilia, all part of Lee’s collection, were loaned to the Niles library and are on display through the end of this month in an exhibit called “Remembering the Korean War.”
The library generally hosts war-related exhibits in May and November to honor both Memorial Day and Veterans Day, said reference librarian Neil O’Shea, who helped coordinate the exhibit.
“Remembering the Korean War,” which is cosponsored by Keumsil Cultural Society — a nonprofit organization that promotes and preserves Korean culture — is the largest veterans related exhibit the library has hosted thus far, O’Shea said.
“The Korean War is referred to as the forgotten war,” he said. “But our intention with all of these exhibits is to ensure the contributions made by American soldiers are never forgotten.” Lee said he’s motivated by a similar objective: To preserve the memory of historical Korean culture for future generations of Korean Americans and to expose those outside the Korean community to the richness of their history through documents, photographs and other artifacts.
It is also deeply important, he said, to thank and honor the American military members who served during the Korean War. Each iteration of the exhibit, which has been shown at libraries in Chicago and several suburbs, is slightly different than the one before as the collection continues to grow, Lee said.
“As a veteran of the Korean War, I think (the exhibit is) a great idea because history has a way of forgetting things,” said Lou Krueger, who said he served during the war as part of the 84th Engineer Battalion. He said the Korean War doesn’t command the same prominence in American history as World War II and the Vietnam War.
But despite that, he said, “Any time I have ever had the occasion to meet with Korean people, whether singular or in a group, when they find out I was there during the war, everyone, without anybody missing, always says thank you — it’s quite amazing.”
A photo of Krueger as a young man standing on the dividing line between South and North Korea before the war began is on display as part of the exhibit.
Krueger, 86, said he and Lee were introduced by his alderman years ago. Lee, director of business planning and development for the Albany Park Community Center, was looking for Korean War related material and Krueger offered the photo to be used as part of the exhibits.
The Chicago native said he was drafted at age 22 in 1951—eight months after he married his wife. Krueger said he spent a total of 17 months on the peninsula, including two winters, and his sharpest memories are of the cold.
“It sounds strange but I spent two winters there and 20 to 25 below zero was not particularly unusual at that time,” he said.
Krueger said he was also involved in construction work related to the Freedom Bridge, which spans the Imjin River and was used during the war to transport soldiers returning from captivity in North Korea.
Still, he said, it’s not an experience he regrets.
“It was a life education,” he said. “It was something you don’t get from a book and, quite frankly, I treasure it to this day.”
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Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.