U.S. Army veterans Edward Daily, Snuffy Gray, and Don Downs listen to the testimony of survivors.

November 11, 1999

CLEVELAND—Sixty-one-year-old Hae Sook Yang has a constant reminder of the massacre at No Gun Ri, the hamlet where hundreds of refugees fleeing the Korean War were killed in July, 1950.

She took that reminder—an artificial glass eye—and held it for a moment while telling her story during a Wednesday (Nov. 10) afternoon press conference arranged by the National Council of Churches in Christ (NCC). Ms. Yang was part of a group of four massacre survivors, the son of a survivor and three U.S. veterans brought together for a "first encounter" since the tragic event nearly 50 years ago.

While survivors have long claimed that U.S. soldiers, on foot and in the air, were the ones who gunned down the helpless refugees, both the U.S. military and South Korean government had denied their accounts. However, in the wake of a Sept. 29 Associated Press story in which a dozen U.S. veterans confirmed the incident, a new investigation was launched.

Although she was only 13 at the time, Ms. Yang remains quite clear on what happened. She and her family had headed south, as directed by the American soldiers. They were on a railroad track when the bombs began dropping. "I saw a blast in front of me," she recounted through a translator. "Then my eyeball came out from my eye."

She eventually found shelter from the bombing with many other refugees in a tunnel. Then, inexplicably, U.S. soldiers opened fire at both ends of the tunnel. To survive, Ms. Yang said she hid under the bodies of the dead for six days and nights.

Korean survivors and eyewitnesses believe that 400 civilians died at No Gun Ri. The U.S. veterans, according to the AP, spoke of 100 to 200 or just "hundreds" dead. Once-classified documents found by AP in U.S. military archives indicate that U.S. commanders ordered their troops to shoot the civilians as a defense against disguised enemy soldiers.

Cho Ja Keum, then 12, watched in terror as the bombs began dropping on refugees, saw the American soldiers open fire on them as they huddled for protection in the tunnel, and later lay helpless in a field with a stomach wound. An American medic eventually took her to a hospital.

Ms. Yang said she is eager for both the South Korean and U.S. governments to conduct a proper investigation of the incident that has made her life a tragedy.

Major Robert "Snuffy" Gray, retired, also wants a "total, complete, impartial, honest investigation." Major Gray, who was master sergeant in the reconnaissance platoon at the time of the massacre, said he came to Cleveland to get an understanding of what happened at No Gun Ri.

The encounter in Cleveland, held in the context of the NCC’s 50th anniversary General Assembly, was initiated by the NCC at the request of Edward Daily, a U.S. veteran involved in the massacre. In cooperation with the National Council of Churches in Korea, the U.S. ecumenical agency asked the Pentagon last December to respond to detailed testimony from Korean survivors and eyewitnesses of the massacre.

One of the survivors present, Chung Eun Yong, 77, is chairman of the Committee for Unveiling Truth about the No Gun Ri Massacre. Mr. Chung, a Christian, lost two young children there; his wife, Park Sun-Yung was seriously injured. He first submitted a request for compensation to the American Embassy in Korea in 1960. More recently, he has been assisted in his quest by his son, Koo Do Chung, who accompanied the group.

The process of healing and reconciliation began with a noon service of recognition and remembrance at Old Stone Presbyterian Church in Cleveland.

Major Gray and Mr. Daily, who was a corporal in H Company, Second Battalion of the Seventh U.S. Calvary, were joined by a third veteran, Donald Down. At the time of the massacre, Mr. Down was a sergeant in the F Company of that battalion.

Mr. Chung, Ms. Yang, and Ms. Keum were joined by Ku Hak Chung, 57, whose nose was disfigured by bullets as he hid in the tunnels. The Rev. Dong Wan Kim, general secretary of the NCCK, accompanied the group.

In a statement on behalf of the survivors, Eun Yong Chung said they believe God will forgive the U.S. government and veterans involved in the massacre when they repent, take responsibility for their actions and officially apologize for the wrongdoings.

"Koreans say that 'after the rain, the soil becomes solid,'" Mr. Chung added. "We wish the friendship between Korea and the U.S. to be more solid when genuine reconciliation is made possible between the victims and the veterans through the proper and satisfactory investigations…"

In his response to the three veterans during the service, Major Gray noted the need for an understanding of the events that occurred at No Gun Ri. "We need a joining of ways, to see if we can put things behind us and live as human being should live, side by side," he said.

Standing with Major Gray, the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, NCC general secretary, lit a candle to symbolically illuminate "the deepest corners of our hurt and our fear and our guilt." The Rev. Syngman Rhee -- a past president of the NCC who also was a refugee at the time of the Korean War – lit a candle "in pursuit of human hope" and as a symbol against the darkness of fear and hate.

The Rev. Gary Kornell, pastor at Old Stone Church, lit a candle for the congregation at the service, symbolizing the renewal of life and experience of hope. Dr. Campbell and Pastor Kim concluded the service by recognizing a common history and faith and the fact "that there is still much unresolved anger, anguish and pain among our people" and made a joint commitment of the two councils of churches to continue to advocate for a "just resolution" of No Gun Ri.

No Gun Ri survivors, vets to meet Nov. 10