Thanks to an American Soldier
Doug Cutter (Boston, MA)

Seoul Korea 1999:
I came to Seoul during the Asian Economic Crisis and was given travel advisories for my safety. There were daily protests against
layoffs, the International Monetary Fund assistance, the financial restructuring of its banking system, foreign investment and the American military presence, to name a few. The country its politicians, citizens and business persons are a fiercely independent and proud people. We were asked to be aware of this in our negotiations with them. This aspect of their nationalism in life, politics and business stemmed from 50 years of freedom; their freedom, following a thousand years of occupation by foreign armies.

My experiences in Seoul were many but my thoughts are still focused on one encounter a meeting with one man outside of the Olympic Stadium in Seoul. We were alone in an expansive parking lot after a busload of tourists left the scene and I was selecting my purchases. The man starred at me and after a short period of silence he asked me if I was American and I said yes. He mustered up his english and made a firm response replying that "I can not accept this money, what you have is free, no...it is a gift" he then took my purchase and presented it to me as if in ceremony. He continued to address my bewilderment saying "When I was a boy I knew an American ...... an American Soldier, I give this to you as a gift as you are an American and you are my friend." This experience has stayed with me for quite some time and my thoughts are with that solider, that American Soldier who fought for their freedom in a forgotten war. This soldier helped remove this country from a thousand years of oppression and occupation by foreign lands. To
this day American soldiers stand on the Demilitarized Zone and help the Korean Army defend their freedom.

Ironically too I am an American Soldier and was asked to perform a six month peacekeeping tour in Bosnia Herzegovina. My thoughts are mixed on this duty but like that soldier who came before me I will perform it. I will perform this duty like that solider never knowing if one day fifty years from now someone outside of the Olympic Stadium in Sarajevo will ask a Tourist "Are you an American.......".