Korean immigrants raise money to honor veterans who fought for them

Each year, a small army of elderly Koreans knocks on the doors of Silicon Valley noodle houses, doctors’ offices and Asian markets looking to drum up some cash.

But the $25,000-or-so they’re seeking is not for themselves, not even for their community. They raise the money to host an annual luncheon to thank American veterans who saved their country from communists 60 years ago. And each year, it gets tougher to find open wallets.

Younger Korean-Americans didn’t live through the Korean War. The number of people who did are dwindling. Add to that the current national economic woes.

This year, members of the Korean American Senior Citizens League of Santa Clara County say it’s been the hardest ever to raise money for the annual Appreciation Commemoration, now in its 23rd year. Less than a month before the June 25 luncheon at the Sunnyvale Community Center, the group has raised $9,700, less than half of what they need.

For the Koreans struggling to collect the money, it is kind of their own Memorial Day observance.

“I’m not going to give up,” Anpyung Sung, the president of the seniors group said in Korean through a translator. “This is the most important issue in our history.”

Sung was just a young boy during the war. But the 69-year-old Milpitas grandfather attributes his early career as a Korean military policeman, his journey to the United States in 1987, his venture with his brother running a welding business and the successful career paths of his three now-grown children to the American participation in the Korean War.

“I never met an American soldier” during the war, Sung said. “But I have fellowship with them.”

To date, 1,742 members of the military who fought in the Korean War, between June 25, 1950, and July 27, 1953, have been honored at this South Bay luncheon, mirroring similar events in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Organizers say the ceremony usually draws about 300 guests; about half are Korean War veterans who walk home with a full belly and a $100 plaque.

“They’re great,” said Adolph Stankiewocz, 81, of Sunnyvale, who served in the Army during the Korean War as a draftsman for the 7th Infantry Division and plans to attend the June luncheon. “They do everything they can to track us down.”

Korea was divided roughly in half after World War II. In 1950, North Korea invaded the south, driving the South Korean forces and an American contingent to the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. United Nations forces pushed the North Koreans all the way up the peninsula until the Chinese entered the war, eventually ending in a stalemate and a divided country that remains to this day.

More than 5.7 million Americans served during the war, with 54,000 killed. There are more than 3 million Korean War veterans still alive. These Silicon Valley Koreans are still seeking to honor those veterans.

“My parents were always talking about the ‘Good Americans,’ ” said Solomon Park, 64, the general secretary of the seniors group. “I remember running outside in my village to wave to the Americans in the countryside.”

There are Korean-born professionals who also still see this mission as the right thing to do. In the past week, the seniors group collected donations from several community members, including John and Sunny Seo, owners of El Camino Mongolian BBQ in Santa Clara, who slipped Sung and his entourage a white envelope full of money.

Another donor, Dr. Ki Suk Cho, 49, has been giving to the cause for 16 years.

“Those soldiers devoted their lives,” the internist said. “They deserve our appreciation.”Cho said he used to give about $500, but he noticed that others weren’t readily giving. He upped his donation to $1,000 this year and last.

Noticing his father’s group needed a boost this year, Rick Sung pitched in. He networked with BAE Systems, a Santa Clara defense company that had recently refurbished an armored vehicle for the sheriff’s department, where he is a sergeant.

BAE executives donated $5,000 to the Korean organization and are lending an M113 tank used during the Korean War and a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, or MRAP, now being used in Iraq and Afghanistan, to display in the parking lot during the luncheon.

No matter how difficult the challenges, the elder Sung and his small group of peers say they will continue their annual thank-you to the veterans.

“I am always thinking about the Americans,” Sung said through a translator. “I think so much about how they protected us against communism. It’s the only reason Korea is still a nation, because the Americans gave us our freedom.”