Aug 19, 2008
It wasn¡¯t until recently, however, that he happened upon a treasure trove of more tangible memories stashed in a Japanese tea chest in his home on the Maine coast. There he found the original negatives of hundreds of photos he took while in Korea more than 55 years ago. When he had them developed, the resulting images were still crystal clear, and in brilliant color.
¡°They tell the whole story, from beginning to end,¡± says Rich, now age 91, who reported on the war longer than any other American correspondent. A WWII combat veteran turned reporter, Rich caught a ride out of occupied Japan on a U.S. ship carrying the first American armor bound for Korea in June, 1950—days after the invasion of South Korea by communist forces—and remained long enough to watch the signing of the Armistice Agreement in 1953. Just before leaving Japan, he received a complimentary state of the art color camera from an upstart Japanese company called Nikkon, hoping to make a name for itself.
A gallery of 40 of Rich¡¯s photographs is now on display at the Korean Embassy¡¯s KORUS House in Washington D.C. through August 12. Speaking at the opening reception on July 24, Rich recounted many of the stories behind the vivid images of Koreans and Americans, of combat and countryside.
¡°Things were falling apart pretty fast in Asia,¡± said Rich, recalling the communist takeover of China, and his escape from Shanghai in 1949. "It was a great shock to us when [the Korean War] started, but not completely so because things were getting very tense in Asia.¡±
When it did start, Rich witnessed a relatively small, mostly rural country beset by the massive armies of the world¡¯s major powers. His photos of everyday life in Seoul, for example, depict the extremes of everyday life at that time: wandering children, the frostbitten homeless, artillery pieces in temples and city streets, families still washing clothing by the river, and distraught women escorting their soldiers to the city limits as they march off to combat.
¡°After Seoul had been recaptured, it was just destroyed,¡± Rich recalls. ¡°We were firing on it, the other side was firing on it, they wrecked what they could before they left...so that [first] winter was brutal.¡±
Other photos in Rich¡¯s collection are less tragic. In one, American Marines spend some downtime getting to know South Korean civilians in a rural village. In another, a smiling American soldier proudly holds up a North Korean flag after UN forces had overrun Pyongyang. Others depict the pristine, unpolluted landscape unfamilar to many modern Koreans.
¡°I just think Korea is a gorgeous, beautiful country,¡± said Rich, in front of an image of a Korean sculpture with a deep blue sky and soft white clouds in the background. Days with such pollution-free air are rare is Korea today. ¡°Some of my most precious moments in Korea were driving back behind the front and seeing that beautiful Korean countryside.¡± He adds, ¡°of course, most of the GIs (general infantry) didn¡¯t think it was beautiful—they were sleeping in the dirt.¡±
In one of his most unique photos taken outside Pyongyang, Rich points out the modest, camouflaged two-story house of then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung. Inside, to his amazement, he found an elevator—which he did not trust enough to use—and a fully equipped barber chair in the basement.
Building the ROK Military from the Ground Up
Standing before an image of nervous young South Korean recruits at a firing range, Rich explained their bare minimal training early on in the war: they received an American M1 rifle, basic instruction in how to use it, fired nine shots in target practice, and were then sent into combat.
¡°Korea really didn¡¯t have an army at that time,¡± Rich said. ¡°They were untrained. The nearest thing to a tank I saw in those early days of the war was a little truck with a machine gun on the back of it.¡±
Rich recalled how communist Chinese and North Korean forces would target South Korean troops along the frontline, where they knew they could more easily break through and force UN forces to fall back and regroup.
¡°But then, the Korean Army got better and better. And I covered the Vietnam War after Korea, and they were splendid in Vietnam,¡± Rich said. ¡°They were great troops.¡±
Not the Forgotten War
Rich hopes to publish a book of his photos, and is currently searching for a publisher as he works on recording the stories behind them. He also recently shared his personal story in a segment on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, which aired on July 25 and is now available on the NBC Nightly News website.
¡°It¡¯s not the Forgotten War as far as I¡¯m concerned,¡± he said. Many of the guests at the opening reception, Korean War veterans included, agreed.
¡°If I had to do it all over again, I would,¡± said Rich, speaking with a young journalism student the day after his presentation. ¡°It was a great experience.¡±
By Adam Wojciechowicz
