2023-11-12 00:40:00
It is the first time in seventy years, since the July 1953 armistice between North and South Korea, that deceased Colombian war veterans return to Asia to be buried in that cemetery, where bodies of British soldiers lie. , Turkey, Netherlands, France, United States and several other nations.
Sergeant Major José Sergio Romero, First Sergeant José Gustavo Pascagaza León and soldiers Luis Carlos García Arcila and Jorge Sánchez Tapia had expressed in life their desire to be buried on Korean soil, where they fought alongside more than 5,000 men who made up the Battalion. Colombia.
Now, the veterans, who were part of the United Nations Command, rest in peace in Busan, where they were commemorated with a posthumous tribute in which their families participated. Along with their bodies came the remains of British veterans Bryan James Laurenson and Brian Wood.
“The Government and people of Korea will forever evoke, and from the bottom of their hearts, the love of humanity and the solemn sacrifice of each Colombian veteran,” said the Minister of Patriotic and Veterans Affairs, Park Min-shik, in his speech during the event.
Likewise, the Colombian ambassador to Korea, Alejandro Peláez Rodríguez, highlighted the gallantry of the former Colombian combatants. “We hope that they can rest in peace with their fellow soldiers in this beautiful land where they fought seven decades ago,” he stressed.
Among the relatives of the deceased was Mónica Pascazaga, granddaughter of the veteran José Gustavo Pascazaga. “We, as Colombians, have experienced the horrors of war and conflict, and we understand the value of freedom and peace,” he said, adding that Korea’s praise of Colombians “makes us feel proud.”
“This lets us know that an indelible mark has been left on the battlefield and, above all, in the hearts of our Korean brothers,” Mónica concluded in the city where the Colombia Battalion landed in 1950.
While Ambassador Peláez at the ceremony stated that the Colombian Government will continue to “defend and strengthen the relations of friendship and brotherhood that were forged between Korea and Colombia.”
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