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| Bill Visits 'Truce Village' In Panmunjom |
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| Bill Visits Korean Dignitaries In Seoul |
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Picking up his first copy of "THE FORGOTTEN" while enroute, Author, Bill Cummins, hurriedly left the USA on June 21, 2009 for Seoul, Korea. Four days later, on the 59th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, he personally gifted it to Myung-bak Lee, the President of the Republic of Korea.
Three of Bill's brothers had served in that war while Bill stood by with a hand injury from a farm accident as a 9-year old. During the Korean Veteran's 59th Commemoration Ceremony on the 25th of June, he accepted a 'Veteran's Medallion' and 'Certificate Of Ambassador for Peace' to honor his late brother, Sgt. Jackson F. Cummins, a 20 year career veteran.
The next day he visited the DMZ which is the most heavily fortified border in the world. He stepped across the 38th Parallel into North Korea amidst the glares of Communist soldiers while visiting the "truce village" of Panmunjom. The Capital City of Seoul lies only 35 miles south of this demilitarized zone that separates freedom and Communism. More than 36,000 Americans died during the Korean War and over three million people perished during that horrific three year war.
While in Korea, media interviews about the book made Bill feel a bit like a celebrity, but the most emotional moment for him came after visiting the Korean War Memorial. There he witnessed the placing of wreaths at the tombs of the fallen Americans and saw dozens of Allied and American war veterans being thanked by Korean dignitaries for their participation in the protection of their homeland from the North Korean Communist invasion.
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