Stars
and Stripes, July 30, 1952
I WON'T RUN AWAY-Kim Hai Yong, 10 year old Korean
orphan, returns to a Seoul orphanage accompanied by Chaplain (Capt.)
Harold J. Hoffman, Levittown, N.Y. (left) and Cpl. Floyd Prinsen, Wykoff,
Minn., both from I Corps' 51st Signal Battalion. (U.S. Army Photo)
Frightened Korean Boy Flees
Orphanage, Returns To Chaplain Who Helped Him
WITH I CORPS-"I had a fight
with another boy at the orphanage. I was afraid they would punish me.
I was lonely and scared, so I came back to you. You are my friends."
Ten year old Kim Hai Yong wasn't lonely or scared
any more. He was back with Chaplain (Capt.) Harold J. Hoffman of the
51st Signal Battalion, who had befriended him more than a
year before and placed him in a Methodist home in Seoul. Now Kim is
back in the orphanage once more, all troubles smoothed over.
KIM'S STORY started early in the spring of 1951 when
he wandered bare footed into the signal battalion area. The kitchen
force fed him and found him shoes and clothing. To Chaplain Hoffman,
he told this story of wartime tragedy. Kim, born in Seoul where his
uncle, Kim Sung Bong, was a public official, saw the Communists shoot
his uncle and throw the body into the Han river. Kim's mother was killed
when Communists planes bombed and strafed Seoul. His father, a Korean
Service Corpsman, was killed near the front.
Separated from friends during evacuation at the start
of the 1951 spring offensive, he wandered one day into the area of Company
A of the signal battalion.
CHAPLAIN HOFFMAN placed the youngster in the orphanage
where he seemed happy. A year later came the fight with another orphan.
Kim fled from the orphanage and headed for his American friends. He
slept in a Buddhist temple that night and returned to the signal battalion
the next morning.
After a hearty meal and bath, Chaplain Hoffman listened
to his story. The next day, equipped with new shoes and clothing, Kim
and the chaplain returned to the orphanage. A bargain had been made.
There won't be any punishment for the fight. Kim promises he will not
run away again.
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