Arrival and Smell

Transcript

Anchor: When war breaks out in Korea, the mood of the Cold War is such that many western nations fear this is the prelude to a world wide communist offensive.

China has recently become communist and the Soviet Union has ensured a strong communist party is in place before pulling out of North Korea.

The United Nation's decision to intervene in Korea was a response to an act of aggression.

The first Canadians on the scene, the ships HMCS Cayuga, Athabaskan and Sioux, arrive in August 1950. They have already taken part in a number of coastal water patrols and shore cannonades by the time the bulk of our ground forces start landing in Busan throughout 1951.

Arthur St-Pierre: Korea was a country that we didn't even know existed.
(Soldiers on lookout)

Leslie Pike: They didn't really tell us anything about Korea itself, but, it began to get exciting.
(Soldiers marching)

Ralph Pfeifer: We did 23 days on there. We ended up in Yokohama, Japan, that's where we, that's where we got off there and from there then we went to Busan.
(Ships at sea)

Jim McKinney: I think my first reaction, first sense was the smell, the smell was terrible.
(Busan Harbor)

Raymond Tremblay: You could smell shit from about 15 miles off shore.

Kenneth Garbutt: The harbor at Busan was not the most delightful place to... to land that's for sure.
(Busan Harbor)

Jean-Paul Savary: Two million people, no water, no toilets. That doesn't smell very good.
(People on the street in Busan)

George W. Elliott: Well, them days Korea was filthy. The rice paddies had human waste in it.
(Koreans walking through muddy water)

Paul-Émile Pomerleau: They collected human waste to fertilize the soil.

Joseph Gautreau: We weren't allowed to eat anything grown over there.