Names may fade but they won't be forgotten
175-page book is pictorial history of experiences of Canadians who fought in little known war

By - Erin Rankin, Ancaster News (Nov 25, 2005)

Hoojung Jones and Korean War veteran Tom Somers achieved a personal milestone with their book.


Hoojung Jones' hands softly caress the glossy pages of a book she has laid open before her."This is the most important part," she says, tenderly running her fingertips across rows of names like William John Akinam and James Raymond Zantolas. These are the names, 516 of them to be exact, of the service men who died in Canada's forgotten war. Because of the efforts of Ms. Jones and Korean War veteran Tom Somers, these names may fade but they won't be forgotten.After three years of work, Ms. Jones and Mr. Somers have brought a dream long held to fruition.

The first edition of Canadians Our Heroes: 1950-1953 Korean War has become a reality."This is three years of my life," said Ms. Jones from her Kitty Murray Lane home. Self-published by Ms. Jones and Mr. Sommers who are members of the Hamilton Korea Veterans Association, the 175-page book is a pictorial history of the experiences of Canadians who fought in this little known war."I wanted this to be something people would pick up, like old photos you found at your grandmother's and ask questions," said Ms. Jones. With this end in mind, Ms. Jones said she and Mr. Somers made the largest section of the book photos taken by servicemen during the war.

There are also commemorative letters from Canadian and Korean officials, a synopsis of Korean history and chronology of the war including the Canadians' stand at Kapyong. "This battle is one of the most significant in Canadian military history," said Ms. Jones. The battle at Kapyong started April 22, 1951. After fierce fighting broke out, the United States, the British and the Australian forces retreated. The Canadians did not. Vastly outnumbered and surrounded, the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry held Hill 677, fighting for four days and four nights without stop. Ammunition and supplies were airlifted.

For their bravery at Kapyoung, the PPCLI received the United States Presidential Unit Citation, the first Canada Unit to be honoured.
It's stories like these Ms. Jones wants all Canadians to know about. She also wants them to know about the cost.
During the Kapyong stand, 10 Canadians were killed. For their sacrifice, their families received little recognition and no pensions.
Never coming home "Imagine being married with a child to one of these men and being told he's never coming home and then being given no support by the government," said Ms. Jones.

Ms. Jones said it was this tragedy that made her commit to completing the book."I wanted this book to be closure for the families. They did not have this," she said. A task that wasn't easy, not only did Ms. Jones and Mr. Somers have to find close to $40,000 for 1,000 copies that will be distributed to Grade 10 classrooms throughout the city but there was myriad of technical challenges facing them. Born in South Korea, Ms. Jones said it was important to her that not only Canadians but Koreans remember the war and Canada's contribution.For this reason, the text is both English and Korean. Ms. Jones translated it all. But with the book being printed in Canada, Canadian printers did not have Korean typeface.

This meant Ms. Jones had to lay in every single Korean character herself from a digital photo and bleed the background around each character - a process which took literally hundreds of hours.Attention to detail can be found throughout the book from old photos which Ms. Jones made sure retained their imperfections despite modern computer technology to a letter on page 44 written by Douglas MacArthur to Miss Adelaide Lewis comforting her over the loss of her son Hamiltonian Arlen Lewis.

Ms. Jones also wanted each page to have a weathered look. There are also blood stains to remind the reader of the sacrifice.Even the front cover was a painstaking process. Working with graphic designer Anthony Cacciacarro, Ms. Jones hand etched thousands of tiny scratch marks into the Canadian flag.Despite the long hours, Ms. Jones said the book was a labour of love.

"This book was written by blood, sweat and tears, and I like to think inside, living, is the souls of each of solidier."