People were in a rather bad state

Heroes Remember

People were in a rather bad state

Transcript

See we went by train actually, from Toronto to Vancouver and then boarded planes there, DC3's in those days, great old work horse, and we flew to Tokyo by way of the Aleutians. And then from Tokyo by train down to Couray which was a staging point and there was also a military hospital, air base hospital. And then we flew from Tachikawa Air base in, near Couray with the Australian Air Force to the base in Seoul or the airport in Seoul. Where we came into the airport in Seoul was a Kimpo airfield there. And Kimpo was on the suburbs of, of Seoul but we very quickly got into the city. The city had been taken twice and it had been extensively bombed and it was quite a decrepit looking city, you know. Although, it had been once a beautiful city. They still had some of the temples surviving, but a lot of things had been bombed to pieces, you know. Buildings were deserted and just torn by bombing. The countryside itself was rather primitive, according to our farming methods. Farmers, anyone who was still operating, were using water buffalo to plow with. It was hand plowing, you know. And then all the rest of it was hand operated too. They, they sowed their rice by hand. They gathered it with sickles by hand. They flailed it to win over the grain. So everything was hand operated, very primitive, you know. People were in a rather bad state because food had been scarce. There were children starving and yeah, things were in pretty bad shape. The roads were like our worst gravel roads in Canada now. And there was, there were little or no paved roads, except some that ran still in Seoul but generally speaking, there were gravel roads. Climate is much like Canada actually, you know. It's, it gets almost as cold in the winter I think, but a lot less snow usually. But then in the summer of course, it's quite warm and there's a actually a season almost like a monsoon season where the rains are heavy. And we lived there in tents year round. So, you had to accustom yourself to using sleeping bags and making do.

Description

Dr. Vanner describes his arrival in Korea, and his general impressions of the country.

Dr. George Vanner

Dr. Vanner was born in Toronto, June 14, 1927. After completing his public schooling in Belleville and Trenton, he entered the University of Ottawa Medical school. He had been a member of his local militia, and when war broke out in Korea, he joined the regular force as an army Lieutenant. Upon graduation in the summer of 1942, Dr. Vanner was sent to South Korea. He was a field surgeon until a truce was declared. After that, Dr. Vanner spent some time in the hospitals around Hiroshima. Once in Canada, Dr. Vanner established a solo medical practice which allowed him to utilise the diverse skills he had acquired in Korea. He is now retired and has recently joined the Korean Veterans Association.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:48
Person Interviewed:: Dr. George Vanner
War, Conflict or Mission:: Korean War
Location/Theatre:: Asia
Battle/Campaign:: Korea
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: British Commonwealth Division
Rank:: Captain
Occupation:: Surgeon

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People were in a rather bad state

Heroes Remember