War veteran celebrates 55th anniversary of Korean War Armistice

The Korean War has been referred to as the forgotten or unknown war by some, but for veteran Michael Czuboka neither term could be further from the truth.

Czuboka, an Osborne Village resident, remembers vividly the time he spent in Korea fighting with the Canadian Forces more than five decades ago. Death and destruction surrounded him at the time.

Many of those memories will come flooding back to Czuboka later this month. The veteran is returning to Korea July 7-16 to celebrate the signing of the Korean War Armistice, which was ratified July 24, 1953.

“At the time I was there, South Korea was totally destroyed, but now it is a modern country, just as progressive as Canada, if not more so. It will be quite amazing to go back and see it,” Czuboka said.

Czuboka, along with 35 other Korean War veterans will take part in the trip organized through Veteran Affairs Canada and the South Korean government.

The trip will include a Korean Ceremony of Remembrance on July 11 and the Ceremony of Remembrance at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery on July 14.

“I expect it to be a very emotional visit for the veterans, quite obviously,” said Heather MacDonald, media relations officer with Veteran Affairs Canada.

“It is the sort of trip we try to organize every five years because we believe it is very important to honour and remember the sacrifices made by all the Canadians who served in times and war and peace.”

Many of the locations are familiar to Czuboka from the time he spent there as an 81mm mortarman for the Canadian Army Special Forces in the months from December 1950 to November 1951.

It was a year in which the Korean War had reached its deadliest heights and at the age of 19, Czuboka found himself right in the middle of it, defending himself and the South Koreans in the Battle of Kapyong.

“We were surrounded by the Chinese army and as everyone else was retreating we stayed and saved Seoul from being overrun. It was one of the most important battles of the Korean War,” said Czuboka, a member of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

Czuboka, along with his entire battalion were awarded a United States Presidential Citation for their extraordinary heroism.

It is a battle Czuboka says is sometimes overlooked, along with the Korean War in general, because it took place only five years after the Second World War.

“At the time people were sick of war, so when the Korean War came along they didn’t want to even hear about it,” Czuboka said.

“There was one story that ran in a Canadian newspaper three days in a row and nobody complained. It just goes to show people weren’t interested or couldn’t care less.

“What people don’t understand is if Korea had been overrun by the communists it would be a total disaster like it is in the north today.”