Pacific Stars and Stripes,
Aug. 17, 1953
Boys Town, NB, Aug 17 (AP)- Remember Son Yong Cho,
the orphaned, footless shoeshine boy taken from the streets of Pusan
and sent to Father Flanagan’s Boys Town by American soldiers?
Today, like thousands of kids all over America,
12-year old Cho is swimming, playing ball, and having the time of
his life at summer camp.
CHO WAS A bashful little guy in a cowboy suit the
night of May 25 when he arrived at Boys Town. American servicemen
in Korea had made the arrangements and financed the trip.
He’s not quite so small now. He has a reputation
for his appetite and he’s filling out so much he’s had to have a new
pair of artificial feet.
The young Korean still doesn’t have much to say
to adults, but his shyness is gone when he’s with the other boys.
He still loves cowboy shirts and you don’t often see him around the
green lawns of Boys Town without a pair of toy guns strapped to his
waist.
CHO HAS BECOME quite a baseball player and he runs
right along with the rest of the kids. He’s learned to swim too.
This summer, John Pak, a young Korean studying
for the Catholic priesthood, has been tutoring Cho. In the fall,
Cho will attend a special class at Boys Town school.
But within a year, Boys Town officials think Cho
will be ready for classes right along with others of his age.
THAT WILL BE quite an accomplishment for a youngster
who never has had any previous formal schooling.
Right now, Cho is at Lake Okoboji in northern Iowa.
Groups from Boys Town have been going there this summer for week-long
outings. It’s a long way from the cold, dirty streets of Pusan.
PSS-113
