The Camellia in Geomoon Island 거문도에 핀 동백꽃은 Novel by Kyuho Yun, MD. Translated by Chung Lee Map of Vietnam Table of Contents Preface by the author 4 First Story: Firework over Disneyland 8 Second Story: First of the two incidents 14 Third story: Second of two incidents 25 Fourth Story: Biography of Dr. Sukho Kang 30 Fifty Story: Captain and boat people at South China Sea 36 Sixth Story: The stony stairs to the cathedral 44 Seventh Story: Reunion after 30 years 55 Eighth Story: The maiden he met in Da Lat 64 Ninth Story: In the Valley of Affection 82 Tenth Story: Return from Vietnam then new life in US 96 Eleventh Story: Reunion with her, a depression patient 101 Twelfth Story: Voice form South China Sea 107 Thirteenth Story: At the Crystal Cathedral Church in Garden Grove 121 Fifteenth Story: Things to do before dying 132 Sixteenth Story: Back to South China Sea 135 Eighteenth Story: You can live if you have liver transplant 142 Nineteenth Story: Someone is praying for you 145 Twentieth Story Ferry boat to Geomoon Island 151 Reality and Fiction 155 거문도에 핀 동백꽃은(The Camellia Flowers in Geomoon Island) By Kyu-Ho Yun, MD Member of PEN club Korean literary Society Korean-American Literary Society Preface by the author May 30th, 1973 was the day my family arrived at raining Kennedy Airport in New York. At that time, I had a firm plan to complete my training as amedical specialist in internal medicineand pass board examination within 5 years. By then, I would become a very competent internist. Then I could proudly return back to Korea and qualified to get an offer as a faculty position at my alma mater, Yonsei University, Severance Medical Center. My dream was to help a lot of people who would need my skill and knowledge. But the life did not go as planned. Instead of returning back to Korea, I ended up settling in America after internship at UC Irvine Medical Center, I opened my clinic in Garden Grove ofOrange County and spent my past 30 years treating Koreans, Hispanics and Vietnamese patients. Now I have passed my 60th birthday. 60 years old! On the day when I became an "old man", my memory flashed back to my old home town where I was born and raised. My home town is Chungju, Choongchung-province which is in southern part of Korea. I graduated elementary and junior high school there. I got flashbacks for my dear friends with whom I shared my early life. Mr. Sang Jin Ko, one of my close friends, was a grandson of an Episcopalpriest but unfortunately, he died at his young age. But memory of this friend was accompanied by the scene of stony stairs leading to the Episcopal Church building. Sang Jin and I used to climb the stairs together. Another friend of mine, Mr. Soon Hee Yu, volunteered Vietnam combatduty during his sophomore year in college. He stationed at Quy Nhon in a combat unit, known as Tiger Corps. He completed his combat duty without incident and later, immigrated to Los Angeles. I met him some time around 1979. My high school friend, Won Hu Kim, was commissioned as an Army Lieutenant after he graduated from Korean West Point in 1967. He was proudly marched to Vietnam as a commanding officer but within first two weeks of his stay, he was killed in a combat at Pleiku. His silent body returned to Korea in a white box and he was buried in a military cemetery in Seoul. Many medical officers I served together at Korean Air Force also were ordered to Vung Tau, Viet Nam and they saved lives of many wounded soldiers. My medical clinic is located in Garden Grove City of Southern California and Korea town is nearby. Also the Vietnam town known as Little Saigon is located in a neighboring city, Westminster. But during 1980's when these two towns were shaping up, two ethnic groups were somewhat at odds to each other. The reason was rather straight forwardKoreans who fought in Viet Nam war somehow despised Vietnamese. Vietnamese people harbored equally bad feeling against Koreans who came to Vietnam as soldiers and showed roughness toward Vietnamese. But I ended up loving Vietnamese and every Vietnamese I met loves me too. I have been befriended with Vietnam people having last names like Le, Nguyen, Do, Tran, Huong, Pham or Dang. Why do we love each other? Because we share our emotion and we need to support each other. Every one of them has life story which is filled with misery and heartache. And all are working hard to achieve American dream. Eventually, around the year 2000, Koreans and Vietnamese became close friends and supportive neighbors. One decisive contributor to this unity was a Korean seaman who brought two community togetherhis name is Je-Yong Jun, ex-captain of a merchant ship. Captain Chun, now at his age 63, is from Kyung Sang province in Korea and currently a fisherman leading a simple life. But he started getting spot lights when his humane deed that he performed 20 years ago, became known to both Korean and Vietnamese communities. Captain Chun! In 1985, he rescued almost 100 Vietnamese nationals who were drifting South China Sea. But that rescue action was against the company rule and therefore, he disobeyed the company directives. Not only was he fired from his job but also he was blacklisted and could not get any merchant marine job. Therefore, past 20 years, he led a poverty stricken life as a common fisherman. He lost everything due to his good deed and finally the Vietnamese community remembered him and in the name of 96 rescued boat people, he was invited to Westminster and Garden Grove. Vietnamese people called him a hero. Captain Chun returned home after his visit to Vietnam town in Southern California but this heart-warming news brought two communities together. I recalled this story about Captain Chun. Then I recalled the memories of my old time friends, Soon Hee Yu, Kwon-hoo Kwon, and Sang-jin Ko. Then the faces of Vietnamese friends, Qui Le, Hui Tran, James Nguyen, Myra and Pham came alive. Then I dug out memory of my high school teacher, Mr. Won-Young Ko, who taught Algebra during class sessions, he frequently said, "My home town is Geomoon Island. I still love the seaside villages surrounded by blooming camellia flowers and the blue ocean which supplied abundant harvest of anchovies and mackerels. After I retire from this teaching, I want to tend the lighthouse in my home town for the rest of my life". Such collective memories of people and scene inspired this novel, "The Camellia Flowers Geomoon Island". It took a year to write this novel and now it is born. With this novel, I sincerely hope that the two communities keep close friendship of mutual understanding and support for each other. This novel is a fiction but I tried to use the real names of my friends and patients so to me, this is a real story. Thank you for reading my work. In Garden Grove, California Kyu-ho Yun, the author. ============================================================== In the year 1995, 50 year old Dr. Yun started his career as a novelist. He graduated from medical school of Yonsei University in 1969. After he completed his military duty as a medical officer of Korean Air Force, he moved to America. He received further medical training at the institutes in New York and Ohio states then in California as an internist and neuron surgeon. Since then, he has been treating his patients at a clinic in the city of Garden Grove of Southern California. His clinic has been open for 27 years. During his high school days, his dream was to be a novelist. His dream materialized after he passed his age of 50 by publishing a series of novels and essays which eventually qualified him as a member of international PEN club. In 2005, he published a couple of novels in English and accepted as a regular member of American PEN club. Though he did not have formal training in literature, he expresses his sincerity as an observer of day-to-day events and positive and negative sides of human lives. Therefore, his novels touch the reader's heart with his simplistic but fluent narration of reality. His novels often deal with the Question of life and deathbecause his stories are based on his first hand experiences from his Christian mission activities to many countries and his frequent encounters with patients in a life and death situation. This novel is composed of a series of 20 stories. First Story: Firework over Disneyland The dark sky over Disneyland, an amusement park knows as the "happiest place on the earth", was lighting up with the rocketing fireworks. The crowdcheered at each sight of multi-colored bright flames exploding and then splitting up high in the sky, drawing arcs and various shapes. It lasted exactly 15 minutes when the last flame vanished, the sky turned back to pitch darkness. A cynical comment can be made-- "The fireworksa brilliance for only 15 minutes!" The spectators, who were dreaming of fantasy land where everyone live forever, now pushed back to the reality. Their lives will vanish into darkness someday like that firework. The electronic board clearly displayed "9:45 PM, March 5th, 2003". Dr. Sukho Kang, an internist running a clinic in Garden Grove, California, was watching firework over Disneyland. His mind raced back to two incidents that occurred on that dayone happened in the morning and the other late in the evening. These incidents changed his course of life completely. Dr. Kangthis January, he turned 60 year old. This means he had lived long enough and experienced a lot. But what were the incidents that shook him so much? He had life-long desires to meet two persons and these incidents drew him near to these two people. Dr Kang has been respected as a medical doctor by humbly serving and eagerly helping Korean, Vietnamese, Hispanic and main stream population. His wrinkled face and grayed hair tells his life history that was not easy. People pities and even gossiped him as he stayed single at his late age of 60, living alone in a small condo. "Medical Doctor, Mr. Kang, lives alone and not married" "How can it be? He makes good moneydo you say he is still a single?" But this was trueand it created more rumors among Korean community. "Dr. Kang? He is hiding his past. He has a sad story of unachieved love with his past sweetheart. Foolishly, he could not give up on her and is still waiting!" "Is that so? I heard that he has not married because of a physical handicap!" "Wellthat make sense. That may be why he needs religion. Without faith, he can not survivehis needs consolation fro his physical handicap. " "Anyway, we can not fully understand him. Dr. Kang has too much mystery!!" Moreover, he had no close friends who could share drinks or play golf together. He hardly had a visitor to his condominium. Somebody who claims that he is very close to Dr. Kang once said this "WellI visited his condo and he did not have much furniture old bed, a tiny desk an outdated computer unit. But strange enough, the walls were covered with maps of Korea, Vietnam and USA. Moreover, he red circled two cities on the mapone wasChungju, Korea and the other was Da Lat in Vietnam. He did not say why these two cities were so important." What his friend said is true on late January 2003, that is only two months ago, he self-congratulated his 60thbirthday by closing his clinic and by joining a group tour to Korea and Vietnam. His itinerary in Vietnam started from Saigon city (Ho-chi minh City) followed by Ha Long Bay in Tonkin Harbor and finally the south-eastern city named Da Lat. The trip to Da Lat was extra cost because it was not included in the tour package. "Da Lat? Why Da Lat?" His travel agent asked out of curiosity. Though there were many visitors to that city, after the war was over and the country was unified, Da Lat was no longer included in tourist package due to heavy destruction and reshaping of the city. Then he scheduled his trip to Korea for 3 day sight-seeing tour but he insisted on visiting Chungju. "Why Chungju? During this winter, that city is too cold why not go to southern-most Cheju which is much warmer?"The travel agent was confused. But he replied reluctantly- "Why? Because I want to meet someone at Da Lat and Chungju." "Really? You want to see someone?" "Yes, indeed. A Vietnamese and a Korean woman." he replied shyly. We need some explanation about the Southern California where the Korean and Vietnamese immigrants are forming their respective ethnic communities. -- After 1960s, Koreans started immigration to US to achieve "American Dream". They formed a Korea Town in the center of Los Angeles area then another in the city of Garden Grove in Orange County which is a bit south of LA. By 1970, the towns grew large enough and more significantly, the children of first generation immigrants started getting best education from the Ivy League universities like Harvard, Yale and other prominent institute like UC Berkeley and Stanford University. Soon, a large number of professionals -- lawyers, medical doctors, university professors, engineers and accountants were produced out of these descendants. Equally significant was the proliferation of Korean-owned businesses including laundry, painters, eatery, shoe repairers, real-estate agents and insurance agents, to name a few. Even more significant was the growth in political powerKoreans started to be elected for city council seat, state congressman or even as US congressman. Even to the main-stream Americans, City of Garden Grove became the symbol of Korean power. Dr. Kang, who started his clinic around April of 1985, had been recognized as one of the major contributors in the growth of Korea Town. He willingly donated large sum of money for practically every event and fund raising drive intended for the causes related to Koreans. The relationship between Koreans and Vietnamese had been unique. Since the early 1960, Korea sent large number of troops to Vietnam in response to the request of then US President Johnson and Vietnam President Diem. To preserve the democracy of the nation, numerous Korean young men lost their lives and two nations, Republic of Korea and Republic of Vietnam maintained relationship of brotherhood in blood. But on April 30 in 1974, the South Vietnam government collapsed under the attack of North Vietnamese army and countless number of Vietnamese fled the country on boat and therefore known as "boat people". Some of them get rescued and went to United States as refugees. They settled in the city of Westminster that is just a neighboring city of Korea Town in Orange County. They would say "We are settling here next to you because we love you Koreans" But Koreans were somewhat reluctant to become a loving neighbor to Vietnam community. Anyway, about half of Vietnamese refugees ever came to US settled in Westminster and the Vietnam community had continuously grown. It is noticeable that they called their community a "Little Saigon"but the name, Saigon, had long vanished from official map as Saigon was renamed as Ho Chi Minh City. Immigrants used the lost name, Saigon, motivated by their determination that they would notforget the old days and through the usage of that name, they could comfort each other about the nation they lost. Some Koreans had prejudice against Vietnamese but a fair observation was that they were intelligent people and they maintained higher degree of unity among them, resulting in stronger political power. As they went through life and death experience, they were more determined to be successful in new life and therefore worked harder than Koreans. Such effort and attitude resulted in more successful business and higher level of education for their next generation. More Vietnamese kids were admitted to prominent universities like Stanford, Harvard, Yale and UC Berkeley. They have been producing many medical doctors, engineers, accountants and engineers. Increasing number of Vietnamese has been elected as council members and assemblymen. "Wowthe whole city of Westminster is the Vietnamese village!" "Waitsooner or later, they will outrun the Korea town!!" Koreans now realized the potential power of Vietnamese community and started feeling threatened. When asked to characterize the relationship between Koreans and Vietnamese, both side would reply, "It was bad!!" During the earlier days of settlement to United States, they mutually disliked and despised each other. Koreans would say"Vietnamese? Well they lost their own country and ran away from lost country. They are refugees that are second class citizen. All I can say about the country is that I served in Vietnam long time ago and I just had fun with many Vietnamese girls…" Then Vietnamese had different feeling and would say -- "Koreans? They went to Vietnam just to earn money as mercenaries. They were ruthless savages killing innocent Vietnamese people women and children! You are ugly Koreans all over the world. Don't tell us you are a bigger country! Vietnam is a much larger country than Korea. Our population is 80 million strong compared to your 40 million which is half of ours!" Consequently, there were constant conflicts betweentwo groups and numerous bloody crashes were reported between youth gangs of two ethnic groups. Even the mainstream Americans lamented the cruel and senseless fights between two community gangs. "Vietnamese and Koreansthey don't even know the basic rule of gangs. Anyhow, both are miserable guys. One side is the bunch of refugees escaped from their lost country. The other side is Koreans whose country still divided into two. These two unrespectable nationals hate each other!" Some Vietnamese would say, "We have one nation we are better than Korea which is cut onto two small pieces." To the dismay of Koreans, this is a factual statement. Vietnam was unified under one country and whole nation is working together for economic prosperity. But Korea is stilldivided into North and South calling themselves as "Chosun" and "Daihan", respectively. But this conflict between two communities started easing off after a decade of settlement. With more contacts and close relationships, they started accept and respect each other. Eventually, the gang fighting between two groups was gone. Observers got surprised--"So, you two communities are reconciling?" Two communities said "We and you are minority in this society and there is nothing to gain by fighting each other. Rather we should support each other. See the Koreathey have advanced industrial power and good at sporting eventsuperb soccer teams and hosted World Olympics successfully. Moreover, Korean movies and dramas are extremely popular in old Saigon and Little Saigon. Korea? The number One!" "Vietnamtruly they gave up the outdated socialism and switched to modern market economy and they are learning from the success story of Korean economy. So we are forgetting old bad feeling toward Korea. Go to Ho Chi Minh City and you will see a number of cars from Korea showing Korean lettering. Same is true in Hanoi!!" It was true that the two communities came much closeryou could easily find two ethnic restaurant outlets side by side and various events co-sponsored by two ethnicities. The friendship between two communities was fast growing. Due to such close relationship, the kind of trip Dr. Kang's took to Vietnam early this year was not uncommonmany Korean-Americans who fought in Vietnam actually return to the site of the battle in Saigon, Viet Cong supply route, Mekong Delta, Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, to name a few. En route, they would stay in Korea for another sightseeing tour and return back to US. Such packaged tour would cost around $1,500. Dr. Kang wanted to refresh the fading memory of his tour of duty at Quy Nhon as a medic. He also wanted to find a lady he met in Da Lat. But none of the Quy Nhon military base, military academy or General Le's resident survived and he returned empty handed. "Oh Dr. Kang-- What kind of memory have you left in Quy Nhon and Da Lat?" "Wellnothing specialrather I am hearing the voices and I wanted to follow the voicesMr. Sungmin Han who was killed in Pleiku... and the voices of Ninh Le and Qui Le, who, I am sure, are alive and living somewhere." "So did you meet them?" "…" "Your silence means you could not meet them!" "TrueI have not. But I am going to meet them someday!" "Then why did you go to Chung-Ju in Korea?" "Because there is a stony stairs..." "What? Stony stairs? What is so special about it?" "WellI wanted to make sure my old memory is still intact. I engraved some names on one of the stones. That name had a great significance to me." "Sowas that name still there?""Yes it was. But …" He was telling truth. He had persons he wanted to meet one at Chungju and the other at Vietnam. Then he had a surprisethis day, there were several events that could lead to these two people he was very anxious to meet. Yesit could be a starting point for reunion that he was waiting for so long. Second Story: First of the two incidents To Dr. Kang, March 5th of 2003 was the day he would not forget all his life. It was the day which changed his life forever. Early in the morning on that day, Dr. Kang closed his clinic andheaded for Vietnam town which was nearby. There was a big ceremony scheduled for the day. It was a welcoming and appreciation ceremony for a Korean captain of a fishing boat for rescuing 96 refugees during the final days of Republic of Vietnam. The hero and guest of honor was Captain Jinsung Chung. From the magnitude and tone of welcoming ceremony, there was no doubt that what he did was very significant and deserved such level of reception. Dr. Kang informed of this ceremony when he returned from trip to Vietnam and Korea when local newspaper had headline article about this heroic deed. The article was about two residents of City of Westminster, James Nguyen, a 33 year old lawyer and his uncle Qui Le, a 43 year old blind pastor. They searched for a longtime to find Captain Chung Jin Sung who rescued refugees from a drifting escape boat at a blink of starvation and drowning. The article further described the welcoming ceremony to express their appreciation for saving their lives. Furthermore, the welcoming was an event widely publicized and participated by practically every resident of Vietnamese in town. There was a large scale coverage by and main stream TV stations and press in Southern California. The celebration further spread to nearby Korean community in Garden Grove. This humane deed was repeatedly covered by Vietnam presses almost daily with a tone of gratitude towards not just to Captain Chung but to whole Korean people. Such coverage made Koreans very proud of themselves and further made them to feel intimacy towards Vietnam community. The Captain in press photo had a look of ordinary modest and good-natured country farmer. His heroic act could be summarized as follows; On June 15th of 1975, a tuna boat named Tongyoung-ho, belonging to Namyang Fishery Inc. was sailing to Samoa Island for deep-sea fishing. The captain of this boat was a veryyoung and ambitious man named Jin Sung Chung. Actually, he became the captain by luck because the skipper of that boat could not sail due to a suddendeath of his mother. This 2,500 ton boat had 22 member crew including captain and navigator. The boat was well equippedwith a large capacity refrigerator to store catch, in addition to the usual facilities like control cabin, machine room, crew lounge,dining room and storage room. The crews were well armed with revolvers and rifles to deal with an emergency. This boat was the best among the fishing boat fleet belonging to the company and each trip to deep sea fishing invariably yielded huge profit. Onthe morning of disembarkation, even the president of the company was out to encouragecrews for the best catch. With that full expectation for successful fishing trip, the boat sailed through southern part of Geomoon Island and passed strait of Okinawa then sailed off to South China Sea then reached shore of Indochina peninsula. Only a month and half ago, war in Vietnam ended by the crumbling of Republic of Vietnam by North Vietnam and Viet Cong troops. Since the end of war, the South China Sea had been an ocean of anguish and terror. New Vietnam government kicked out many Vietnamese either becausethey were pro-South Vietnam or they were of Chinese origin. Those exiled people usually took escape route through Southern China Sea aboard refugee boats. These people were known as "Boat People". Those prosperous citizens of high society or successful enterprise were stripped of their wealth and pushed out to sea on shoddy vessels. If they were lucky, US navy ship would find the boat and rescued the refugees tomove them to their settlement facility in US. If not found on time, they died of drowning or starvation. To make things worse, there were numerous Thai pirate boats roaming around and victimize boat people. If caught, the refugees would further robbed of their possessions and kidnapped to be sold as slave. Worst fate was waiting for young women who would be gang-raped and be stabbed to death. It was June 17th of 1975 when one of those refugee boats was drifting on a wide open sea. Looked like the motor was not functioning and there was no sign of crew members. Obviously, the refugees in the boat were fully exhausted after many days of drifting and fighting powerful waves. Majority of the refugees gave up hopes to survive but still a handful of young men were struggling to bucket out leaking water. Some elderly passengers were on the top deck to wave white shirts in a faint hope of signaling passerby boats. The boat was slowly listing on one side due to leaky water at the bottom. Though there were occasional fishing boats of Japanese or Chinese registry but they ignored the plea to rescue passengers of refugee boat. Due to complex international rules, an act of rescuing refugee boat would backfire and they had specific directives not to meddle with refugee issues. Drifting boats could reach coasts of Indonesia or Malaysia and they could survive but the coasts were too far off. So, majority of boat people perished on open sea by drowning, starvation, dehydration or exhaustion. Same was true with Tongyoungbefore disembarking the harbor, the captain and crew had very clear and strong instruction from the president of company. He said; "When you find any Vietnamese vessel, don't ever approach them. But if you have to go nearby, you can give out some food but never rescue them on board. If you do, our company will be in big trouble. They can find US navy fleet and let them do it but rescuing them is none of our business. If you happened to violate this rule, you should expect immediate termination from company job. Don't expect any pension or severance pay. Don't put your self into trouble by bleeding heart or cheap humanitarianism. By rescuing them, the governments of Vietnam and China will black list our company from further business deal and we all are in a big mess. Did you get it?" It was not just verbal warning they got. Each crew was mandated to sign a document that they would not violate this company rule. So the crew members of Tongyoungho vessel pledged to follow the company mandates. In addition to company warning about offending two governments, they also feared the notorious pirates from of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. But things did not work out as planned. While they were passing South China Sea, they found a sinking fishing boat from a far. It seemed that someone was waving white flag on top deck. When inspected carefully with binoculars, they counted six old men on deck. As the boat was listing heavily on one side, there seemed be not much time left for the boat before it sank down to bottom of sea. Captain Chung gave some thought and told to crew members. "Obviously, there are only six elderly people. How about we save them?" But crews stonewalled him. "What are you talking about? Did you remember what our president said and the document we signed? Also, this sea is too dangerous. If we rescue them, we all will be fired. We don't want to risk our lives and jobs!" They were correctsuch rescue action would risk both their safety as well as their job. As Captain Chung could not insist any further, he gave up on the idea of rescue and they turned boat Southward away from them. The sinking boat was getting smaller and finally was out of sight. Crews were pleased. "Captainyou did right thing. We don't want any trouble. Our humane act would not be rewarded rather we would be penalized by touching them. What can we say? Their mother country vanished and they became international orphans. Their presence is nothing but a nuisance anywhere and so let them die! That is their problem." One of the experienced crew was preaching this young captain. Captain got upset. "Did you say let them die? Didn't they suffer enough by losing their own motherland?""Well, I just mean--- losers are weepers!" "Do you think so?" The captain was gazing over the horizon in a deep thought. Then in his imaginary vision, he saw someone. He even heard some voice. Unknown to himself, he shouted. "Ah, ah this is Lieutenant Han! At Pleiku ... at Pleiku…" "Captain! What is a matter? Any problem?" "Look you folksturn back our boat to Northward. We should rescue them. Those six elderly men deserve to be saved. We can not ignore them!" "What? Rescue Vietnamese refugee? That is out of Question. We have not even started catching fish so let's hurry to our destination!" "No way. I will be fully responsible for any further trouble. That small boat will sink shortly we can take those six persons on board and find a ship from 7th US fleet on our way to Samoa. Then we will have them transferred to US navy ship." "Oh no way! You are the captain but we will obey what our president of company said!" They were adamant about their opposition. Captain told them "Look herethose Vietnamese are our brothers. We Koreans fought and sacrificed our lives to keep their freedom. But we gave up our effort in the middle and they lost war and their country. So partially, we are responsible for their misery. Let's turn back and save their live!" As the captain insisted so strongly, the crew had no choice but turning back and found the boat again. They approached that sinking boat and finally made bridge between two boats using a long plank. They started transfer the old men on top deck but to the surprise of Tongyoung crew, these six old men were not all. Once the rescue action was started, there was endless line of refugees who were hiding lower deck. The crews were grunting in disgust. "What? Do we save that many refugees at the bottom of boat? There are too many! Our fishing boat has no room to keep them. More importantly, we have little reserve of food and water. No way we can handle this. Our deep sea fishing assignment will fail!""Oh no! What should we do?"The captain agonized. He simply thought they had to rescue only six elderly men. That small number of additional person on board wouldn't affect their fishing assignment. Just give them a free ride until they encounter US fleet. But there were as many as 96 persons in all. "Captain! What are we going to do with those 96 new mouths to feed? We have barely enough food for our crew. We will run out of everything in no time!" But captain Chung could not abandon them. So he and crew provided food and sleeping quarters and five days later, finally they met a ship from US fleet and all the refugees were transferred over to that ship. By then, Tongyoung had very little food left and water reserve was dangerously low. The crew members were extremely tired from handling such large number of people. But those 96 refugees were very relieved by the prospect of going to US after being transferredover US ship. They left the boat without expressing gratitude toward crew members. This even angered crew members and their anger was directed to captain. "See captain? They are thankless. What is the worth of our good deed? Don't you see the mess you created?" "Listen everyone! I will take a full responsibility for this situation. You are blameless." Because of this incident, Tongyoung vessel could no longer proceed to Samoan fishing trip and turned back without a single catch. Very naturally, the captain was fired immediately after the boat returned to Pusan harbor. He left his job with neither a severance pay nor any pension. Jobless and dishonored, captain returned back to his home town, Masan and nobody knew what happen to him afterwards. Time passed and year 2002 arrived. Though the crew members of Tongyoung vessel were very angry for the thankless refugees, not all of them forgot about his life-saving deed. Actually, there were quite a few who remembered whom they owe their lives. Were they not rescued by Tongyoung boat, they would not have chances to achieve American dream. "We should not forget the kind act of Koreans who saved us from certain death. We should find the man whom we owe our lives captain Chung … Chung Jin Sung was the name." Mr. Tran who turned 62 years old was very vocal about it. Then he started contacting those ex-boat people who were scattered all around Westminster, Sacramento and Texas. He wrote letters and made numerous phone calls and to his delight, every one reactedpositively agreeing with Mr. Tran. They told him that they still vividly remember that hard day they were rescued and clearly remembered the name of captain Chung who was instrumental to the rescue action. Thus, three members from the boat, Mr. Tran, QuiLe, a 42 year old pastor and James Tran, a young 33 year old lawyer initiated the search for Captain Chung. They visited Pusan and tried to trace for him but the Nam Yang Fishery Company was all but vanished and no one even have heard about the name Jin Sung Chung who was fired from that company. They guessed he may live in an isolated place like remote island but still no trace of him was found. Upon returning back to US, Mr. Tran appealed to Korean community in Garden Grove area to help them to find Captain Chung. Moved by the sincerity of his appeal, Korean friends of Mr. Tran actively searched and asked around through various route. Finally they find out that Captain Chung had lead a secluded life in a small island named Geomoon Island. They even found out he lived near the Geomoon harbor, the major sea port of High Isle. This island was composed of 3 small but beautiful islands known as East Isle, West Isle and High Isle. He was living in High Isle where Camellia flowers bloom and flock of sea gulls were flying. Historically, during 19thcentury, British troops were stationed in this island for 2 years to counter balance the invasion of Russian troops. Captain Chung lived in this peaceful island with his wife and two daughters. He later told to the visitors that he frequently was thinking about Vietnamese brothers and sisters whom he rescued at South China Sea. The Vietnam community got very excited to hear about this story. They unanimously praised the Korean captain who saved 96 precious lives despite his personal sacrifice of career and financial loss. The community joined in an effort to raise fund to buy airline tickets for him and his family. They also arranged good room and board. In addition, they planned a large scale welcoming ceremony and bought a tour package. More significantly, they called TV stations and newspaper publisher to make this heart-warming event be known to everyone. Local news channel broadcasted this story repeatedly and soon, Captain Chung became the Good Samaritan of international scale. Dr. Kang got the news of Captain's arrival and subsequent welcoming ceremony on that morning through press coverage. As he was eager to attend this ceremony, he closed the clinic and drove to Westminster city known as Little Saigon. Whenhe arrived at the city, whole town was in the mood of big celebration. He could find many women in Korean and Vietnamese costume. When he got closer and talk to some of them, he found that some Vietnam women wore Korean traditional costume known as Hanbok. At the same time, there were many Korean women who wore Vietnamese costume, known as Ao Dai. They told him that women of two countries exchanged their costumes in a symbolic gesture of friendship between two countries. Attractive young women wearing roses were pinning roses to guests. To each Korean guest, they were saying "We, Vietnamese owe so much to Koreans. So we want to return that favor. We love Koreans." This was a big event. The detail about Captain Chung who saved so many lives was slowly revealed. Mr. Chung lost his job as an employee of Namyang Fishery Company and later was divorced from his wife. He moved into a small island named Geomoon Island and lived a secluded life as a fisherman. Later he remarried and had two daughters. Everyone including Dr. Kang felt sympathy for him who lost so much to save lives of strangers. His sacrifice impressed people. During the ceremony, numerous press and TV stations were covering the event. Not only the Vietnamese and Korean presses, but major TV networks including CBS, NBC and ABC broadcast team and facilities were present. Such wide coverage made Koreans at the site feel very proud of themselves. Finally the ceremony started and Captain Chung who was already familiar to the attendees due to thorough press coverage appeared on the podium with his wife and two daughters. Though he was getting a hero's welcome, his appearance was that of an ordinary old fisherman long retired to a small village spending his time in fishing, farming and lighthouse keeping. His hair turned gray and his face showed the tough years he had gone through. He was forcing his smile and when he opened his mouth, his uneven teeth were showing. Dr. Kang was sitting very close to the podium and could see his face clearly. That captain was older than Dr. Kang by 3 years but he looked much older than his actual age. While scrutinizing his face, his old memory came alive. His memory traced back to 35 years prior. Just after graduating from medical school, Dr. Kang was drafted as an army medic then a year later, he volunteered a Vietnam duty and went through war period for a year and 2 months. So he had experienced life and death situations and he himself was at a risk of losing his life. His memory recalled the cruel reality of human drama where a soldier should kill other human being to survive. This event was heralded as the biggest celebration since the Vietnam town had been in existent. Congratulatory speeches were delivered by a number of dignitaries including mayors of Westminster and Garden Grove, US congressmen for that district and police chief. Respective heads of Vietnamese and Korean communities also delivered keynote messages and they mutually encouraged the other community. Every speech praised the humane and kind deed of Captain Chung despite of his personal sacrifice. Several speakers even promised to recommend Captain Chung for the UN Refugee Rescue Award. All these speeches were very moving but truly touching was the emotional testimonies by the refugees rescued by Captain Chung. They were tearfully thanking captain. Those testimonies touched the hearts of everyone attending the ceremony. But most moving was that of 63 year old Mr. Tran. He said "It was on June 13th of 1975. The boat loaded with refugees was sinking and we passengers were very close to death at South China Sea. That time, I was 34 years old and was kicked out of the country after the Republic of Vietnam collapsed. We were riding a very old fishing boat which was pushed to open sea and aimlessly drifting as it lost power. Unless we had a luck of being rescued by US navy ships, we were facing fates of either drowning to death or being attacked by pirates and kidnapped or be killed by them. The boat was leaking and young men were desperately bucketing out water from leaky bottom and old men were on top deck waving their shirts to be spotted by passerby ships. But the boat was listing one side and we were very close to sinking. Though several fishing boats passed by, they ignored us. On fourth day of drifting, a fishing boat approached us and rescued us. We were several hours away from sinking if they did not come to save us, we would not be here. They were angels the Korean crew of boat and especially the captain, Jin Sung Chung. There were so many of us on that fishing boat but the captain and crews cared for us very kindly. We started with 120 passengers but a day before captain Chung's boat rescued us, we were attacked by Thai pirate boat and 24 of us lost their lives. If the help came just one day earlier, they would be with us now. But we are forever thankful for the rescue. After 5 days of sailing, we met a ship of US 7th fleet and after being transferredto that ship, we moved to Guam and finally settled in California. We owe everything to Captain Chung and his crew. We did not forget their helping hands but as we did not have any information about him except his name, all we could do was just keeping our heart of appreciation toward him. Then we thought we can not just sit and do nothing about this. So we started put our effort in locating him. I made trip to Korea to find him but with no avail. Then I discussed this matter with Reverend Le and his nephew, James Nguyen. They were in full agreement that we should have located him long timeago and we started work harder to find captain. We contacted Korean leaders of community and they were equally enthusiastic. With the help from Korean community, we finally located Captain Chung. To our surprise, we found out that because he decided to rescue us against his company policy, he was fired from his job and lost almost everything including his wife and income. He had to retreat to an isolated island named Geomoon Island and live a simple life of a farmer, fisherman and light house keeper. His consolation had been enjoying beautiful camellia flowers so abundant in that island. He also wanted help sailors by lighting the ocean with as lighthouse keeper. He lost his ambition and comfort of abundant life because of us. He stretched his helping hand to us but it was so costly for him. Dear Captainforgive us. We do not know how to compensate your lost years and dream. At least we should have searched for you much earlier but we didn't do anything to find you and thank you until now. Please forgive us …" Mr. Tran approached the captain, embraced him tightly and cried hard, keep saying 'thank you, thank you'. There was a loud applause from the audience watching this heart-warming scene. Many of them also were crying. "This is unexpectedVietnamese people are expressing their gratitude with tears!" Dr. Kang was equally moved by the scene with his eyes shut and mind racing. When he regained his posture, another speaker was on podium. Surprisingly it was a blind man. They introduced him a pastor named Qui Le. As he was sightless, he stumbled on podium stairs and had to step forward very slowly. But he managed to find Captain Chung and held his hands firmly. He made a short speech while holding captain's hand. "Dear captainon that fateful day, I was a 15 year old boy. I was on board that refugee boat with my sister and her son. I almost gave up everything but you rescued us for new life. Thanks to you, I could get good education and eventually was studying at UCLA. But I got a cancer on my brainmore specifically, a cancer in pituitary glen. With complex surgery, I could live but unfortunately, I lost my sight. I again lost all the hopes and ran away from home and led a tough life. I was prepared to commit suicide but before killing myself, I wanted tofind meaning to my life and to all the hardship I had been undergoing. This time, Jesus saved me and as a born-again Christian, I am living a new life as a pastor and lending helping hands to fellow Vietnamese. Never had I forgotten you because you made this new life possible. I wanted to thanks you from the depth of my heart. Because you saved us, my nephew is now a competent lawyer serving this community. Thanks you so much, Captain Chung! Thanks you!" The blind pastor was holding captains hand showing his deep gratitude. Then another young man appeared. He introduced himself as a lawyer named James Nguyen. He too held Captain Chung's hand and made a short speech. "CaptainI was only 5 years old at that time. So I can not remember very much but my uncle told me all the detail and I have been ever grateful for your deed. I finished law school and now I am helping not only Vietnamese but all other ethnic groups. I owe everything to youif you did not rescue us, I would not have today. Thanks you so much captain. Thank you!" While this speech was in progress, Dr. Kang had a flash back of the day when he was in Vietnam. It was 1969 when Lieutenant Kang was stationed in Vietnam and James Nguyen's speech reminded him of the city named Da Lat and the beautiful family he met in that city. It was Duong Le's familythe General Le, his daughter Ninh and his son Qui Le. Can the blind pastor on the podium be General Le's son? He was a very young boy when Dr. Kang met him. Would he be the same person? Maybe or may notbe. If true, then that young attorney would be Ninh's son? He focused on James Nguyen's handsome face for a long time then he was convinced that he was Ninh's son. He could trace Ninh's pretty face from James. Ah- NinhNinh! He was picturing that beautiful city, Da Lat and the picturesque lake in the middle of that city. He could even recall those leisure boats on the surface of lake. In his dreamy vision, he could see the magnificent waterfall originating from this lake. Then a soft voice was telling "Lieutenant if you lose this hand, we shall be separated forever. We can never meet again. So don't let go of my hand! Did you get it, Lieutenant?" This beautiful maiden of Da Lat was whispering to Dr. Kang, rather Lieutenant Kang. "Ah NinhNinh…" He was moaning in agony. The welcoming ceremony was still continuing and it was Captain Chung's turn to speak. Dr. Kang was extremely impressed by his speech. Captain Chung, a 63 year old common fisherman, showed a weathered look of aging over hard days. He politely saluted to the audience and wiping tears from his face. His speech was very short and simple. "Dear everyone! What I did was a very natural behavior as a person who was witnessing misery of fellow human beings. If you were at that situation, you would have reacted the same way. I did what I should do but I am receiving this hero's welcome. I feel humble before you. I thank you so much for remembering me and inviting here. Because of your kindness, I am having an experience of my life time. I have toured around this beautiful country and visited that famous Disneyland. You also gave me a large sum of money but I have no use of money. I want to return it back to Vietnamese community so that it can be used for helping refugees. Dear everyoneI am returning back to Korea soon. I just want to request you to be as friendly to Korean people as your own brothers and sisters. Be kind to each other. I love you all!" The hall was thundering with laud applause and many audiences were showing tears. 'If you were at that situation, you would have reacted same. I did what I should do. ..' These humble words of Captain speech echoed to Dr. Kang ear and he was thinking. "But why did he turn back? I understand that though he initially wanted to save them, his crew members were against the rescue action and the boat moved away Southward from the refugee boat. But he turned back and rescued them. Why? What made to change his mind and rescue them despite he know it was against company rule? According to common sense, people would avoid a good deed when an excuse existed. He had one and he gave in crews'opposition. What made him to reverse? Supposedly, it was not an easy decision and it would have taken a lot of courage. That was why he felt respect toward the Captain. He would meet Captain privately after the ceremony and ask he why he turned back to rescue boat people. What motivated such unordinary action? He also wanted to meet that blind pastor and his nephew, James Nguyen. Those names, Qui Le and Nguyen,made his heart pound. Undoubtedly, they had close connection with the family members he met in the city of Da Lat, Vietnam -- General Le, his wife, his daughter Ninh and son Qui. The ceremony ended way after 1 PM. Dr. Kang was approaching Captain Chung to introduce himself and chat with him but at that moment, his pager started beeping. This meant there was an emergency case he should attend immediately. "Oh what timingI really wanted talk to Captain and Qui Le …" He had no choice but to hurry back for that emergency patient. But on his way to his clinic, his heart was filled with joy and satisfaction. "Vietnamese peoplethey are great people! Not only they did not forget their beneficiary but also they are extending their hands for closer friendship with Koreans! Koreans didn't initiate such friendly gesture. They are ahead of us!" That was a day of great experience filled with emotion and rediscovery of beautiful side of humane being. All they long, Dr. Kang's head was filled with the images of people he met on that day including Captain, Mr. Tran, James and Qui Le. Also the beautiful face of Ninh Le, the girl he loved, kept on popping up. Third story: Second of two incidents In that afternoon, Dr. Kang returned to his clinic and after taking care of emergency cases he started seeing patients with pre-appointment but he could not concentrate to his work as his mind raced back to the Captain Chung and the blind pastor. He felt so sorry to the two that he almost forgot about the young attorney named Nguyen.