November 23, 1953
By Kenneth Anderson
OMAHA, Neb., Nov. 23 (INS)-An
overjoyed 5 year old Korean boy, nicknamed Jimmy, was reunited today
with his wartime buddy, an ex-soldier from Huron, S.D. who has adopted
him in an unprecedented legal action.
Paul Raynor, a former Army sergeant,
sprinted the full length of a train in Omaha's Union Station to swing
the child into his arms. Jimmy had arrived from Oakland, Cal. on a
trip which began in Seoul-where, as Choi Kyung Hyun, he never knew a
home.
The 24 year old
Raynor, who is giving Jimmy a home, exclaimed: "Boy, he sure looks good."
Army Sgt. Werner Krenzer, returning
to his home in Rego Park, N.Y. on rotation, has cared for Jimmy on the
train trip. He said the Korean was intrigued by coin-operated vending
machines. The New Yorker, whom Jimmy called "Smiley," added the boy
was an avid reader and swapper of comic books.
Chasing Bus
Jimmy was one of untold bands of Korean children-refugees at an age
when they should be in kindergarten-when Sgt. Raynor spied him chasing
after a troop bus. Raynor located the waif's mother through the Korean
Salvation Army. Jimmy, he learned, was born of a tragic romance between
the mother and a soldier who later departed. The mother, after a 25
minute conversation, agreed to surrender her rights to the child.
When Raynor-a bachelor-was discharged, he secured papers
for the unique adoption. South Dakota Atty. Gen. Ralph A. Dunham said
he "took the position that no state law prohibits the adoption" and
if Korean law was satisfied, so was he.
Raynor plans to enter South Dakota
State College at Brookings, S.D. while his mother at Huron cares for
Jimmy. Raynor said: "I have no immediate plans for marriage."
SSA-775
