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 The indomitable human spirit March 24, 2015California author Hi-Dong Chai was born in Seoul, Korea and was a boy during both WWII and the Korean War. Moving to the United States at the age 16, he earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, worked for IBM, creating both inventions and publications (including ELECTROMECHANICAL MOTION DEVICES) in his field. He has been a Professor at San Jose State University, retiring in 2002. Since retirement he has turned to writing to…Read More
California author Hi-Dong Chai was born in Seoul, Korea and was a boy during both WWII and the Korean War. Moving to the United States at the age 16, he earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, worked for IBM, creating both inventions and publications (including ELECTROMECHANICAL MOTION DEVICES) in his field. He has been a Professor at San Jose State University, retiring in 2002. Since retirement he has turned to writing to share his thoughts, feelings and life experiences with the world. In addition to magazine articles published in Guideposts magazine Writers Talk, and the Monthly Newsletter of the South Bay Writers Club, he has authored two award winning books about his experiences in the wars through which he lived – BLOSSOMS AND BAYONETS, CINDY AND A KOREAN BOY and and SHATTERED BY THE WARS; BUT SUSTAINED BY LOVE.To appreciate the full impact of Hi-Dong Chai’s book it should be read without interference by everyone sensitive to the horrors of war and the strength of resilience. But the author’w own words are a better introduction than an outsider’s summary; `Shattered by the Wars is a story of my family during WWII under Japan and during the Korean War. In a larger context, it is a story of a Christian minister’s family in an anti-Christian governments. It is a story of how wars and conflicts shatter the lives of happy families throughout the world by atrocities committed by groups such as ISIS in the middle east today. My childhood was a very happy one. I lived in a seminary compound where my father taught and preached. I had a brother, Hi-Seung, who was nine years older, and who loved me dearly. I also had a tolerant parents who let me explore the world around me. So with the tolerant parents and the loving brother, I looked forward to every tomorrow to explore the world around me and to play with Hi-Seung and my friends. Then the war came. The garden of happiness which was my home was totally shattered by WWII and the Korean War. During WWII starting in 1942, the Japanese forbade Christians to worship in their churches. Instead, they ordered all Koreans to walk up to the Shinto temple and bow down to the picture of their emperor. They expected my father to do the same. “Are they out of their minds, expecting me to go up to the Shinto Temple, and bow down to the picture of their emperor? No way, my God is the God of Jesus Christ.” The Japanese police took my father to prison. A few weeks after Father was taken away, my 15 year old brother, Hi-Seung, came to Mother: “Mother, I will be leaving for Japan in a week I volunteered to join the Japanese army so that Father may come home from the prison.” After Hi-Seung left for Japan, Father was brought home on a stretcher. He had a stroke in prison, and the prison did not have a medical facility to care for the sick prisoners. He was brought home under house arrest. Under house arrest meant that the police would check on him anytime of the day or the night. At that time she developed a shaking spell that lasted for years. Whenever she heard a loud noise, her eyes turned round and she started to shake. I, a child, sat next to her holding her shaking hands until she calmed down. August, 1945. The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan: one, named Little Boy over Hiroshima and three days later the second, named Fat Man over Nagasaki. The two bombs instantly killed over 100,000 people. I was taught that the Japanese were fierce warriors, and they would never surrender; they would fight until the last man alive. But a few days later, I heard the emperor of Japan speak through the radio: We have ordered Our government to communicate to the government of the United States, Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union that Our Empire accepts the provisions of their Joint Declaration. The war came to an end in August 15, 1945. The Japanese left Korea. Our young men forcefully conscripted to fight the Americans came home with a loud welcome. Our young girls who were forcefully taken to the front lines to serve their Japanese masters came home – quietly, without public notice. After WWII, we had no way of knowing whether Hi-Seung was alive or dead. Then in the third month, there was a knock on the door. I went and opened. In front of me stood a man. He was my brother. He did not have the strength in his voice and in his arms that I had remembered. My brother left home as a carefree vibrant 15 year old boy. He returned home as an injured 18 year old man. He died a year later from his injury. After the war, the church doors were open again. Father started to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Father had another son, Hi-Bum, 15 years older than I. He was the brightest in the family. He refused to attend the church, saying that the church was a place to escape for the weaklings who did not want to face life’s many challenges. He also became a communist in the democratic South Korea. The police took him to prison. And some of Father’s church members scoffed at Father. It was a difficult period for Father. June 24, 1950, five years after the end of WWII. The North Korean army with the support of Russian arms broke through the 38th parallel line, that divided the North from the South. Within days, the Northern army entered Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. For ninety days, we lived under North Korean control. North Korean officers started to arrest Christian leaders in Seoul. One morning Father and I went out to the community garden near our house to pull weeds and water the lettuce and radishes. As we walked back to the house, we saw two young men talking to Mother at the gate. When they saw us coming, they approached Father, bowed respectfully, and asked Father to attend a Christian minister’s meeting to discuss church-related matters. He never came back home since that day. In September, 1950, the South Korean army with the support of the UN soldiers pushed back the Northern army and entered Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, and continued to push the northern army toward the Manchurian border that separated North Korea from China. Many Koreans expected that two Koreas would soon be one nation under the flag of South Korea. Unfortunately, in October, 1950, the Red Chinese army entered into the war to support the retreating North Korean soldiers. Unable to counter the massive Red army, the UN soldiers were in full retreat. In December, 1950, Mother and I fled to the south. Then in February 3rd, 1953. Mother put me, a 16 year old boy, on Sea Serpent, a freighter, heading for the United States of America where I would be safe and get a good education.’
A long excerpt, perhaps, but few can describe the power of HI-Dong Chai’s book as well. It is a brilliant memoir and more. It is about the indomitability fo the human spirit. It should be read by everyone. Grady Harp, March 15 |
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