The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs announced that it has selected U.S. Army General James Van Fleet, who served as commander of the U.S. Eighth Army in Korea during the Korean War, his son Air Force Captain James Van Fleet Jr., and Army Captain Kim Kwang-soo, who was killed in action while defending the Bukjin Ridge, as the Korean War Heroes of June.
General Van Fleet is renowned as a distinguished commander who broke the Chinese forces' offensive during the Korean War and pushed the front line north of the 38th parallel.
He is known for an anecdote in which, shortly after arriving in Korea early in the war, he heard a staff officer's recommendation that "this is an unwinnable war, so we should withdraw to Tokyo," and immediately replied, "I came here to win. If you don't want to be with me, go home right now."
Even after his retirement, he contributed to the South Korea-U.S. alliance by founding The Korea Society, among other efforts. In his honor, the Van Fleet Award has been presented since 1995 to individuals or organizations that have promoted friendship between South Korea and the United States.
His son, James Van Fleet Jr., also volunteered to fight in the Korean War as a B-26 bomber pilot. He went missing on April 4, 1952, while carrying out a bombing mission near Haeju on the West Sea coast.
Captain Kim Kwang-soo (a lieutenant at the time of his service) contributed to the recapture of K Hill on the Bukjin Ridge near Mt. Oseong on the central front in June 1953, just before the signing of the armistice agreement, despite the Chinese forces' offensive. In the process, he was severely wounded by an enemy grenade and was killed in action.
The government posthumously promoted him by one rank and awarded him the Eulji Order of Military Merit in recognition of his battlefield achievements.
