Pacific Stars & Stripes, Feb. 9, 1953

Orders To Korea Halted As War Orphan Arrives

PASADENA, Cal., Feb. 9 (UP)-An army officer who asked to be shipped to Korea to see a war orphan he had adopted only to learn the child was coming to America, took the child into his home yesterday.

Capt. Sylvester Booker, a doctor, received orders cancelling his scheduled return to Korea Mar. 1 and now will have plenty of time in which to get acquainted with Rhee Song Booker, 9, who just arrived here by plane.

Booker adopted the boy after the child walked up to an aid station on the Inchon river front in 1950. He gained American citizenship and a visa for the youngster through a special bill introduced by Sen. William Knowland (R. Cal.).

Booker, his wife, Edna, and their son Paul, 8, have taken the Korean boy into their home "as one of their own."

PSS-678