Photo Caption: Orphaned Korean children receive clothes and toys from an American serviceman that were donated by American relief organizations.

During the Korean War, emergency assistance provided relief to Korean War orphans, refugees, widowed, injured and jobless persons. In addition to monetary contributions, assistance came in the form of food, clothing, shelter and medicine.

The Military Lends a Hand

The United States military had a highly-visible presence in humanitarian endeavors. The armed forces delivered vast amounts of food and clothing to people in need and routinely helped to rebuild orphanages and schools. Troops donated money for supplies and equipment, and American soldiers and Korean civilians worked alongside one another in reconstruction tasks. Chaplains also regularly visited orphanages.

Many orphanages were established quite casually beginning with the furnishing of a tent and followed by soldiers gathering food and clothing for children. Next, soldiers wrote their parents and home churches for support t money, clothing and other supplies and so the effort grew. Later, as time passed, patronage of orphanages passed from unit to unit and chaplain to chaplain.

A number of other military units supported relief efforts. Several examples include the following.

• In December 1950, the United States Air Force Combat Cargo Command diverted 15 cargo planes to ferry approximately 1,000 war orphans from Inchon to Cheju-do. "Operation Little Orphan Annie" transported the orphans when the expected South Korean Navy vessel did not arrive to transport them. The following Christmas (1951), airmen returned to Cheju-do with items such as lollipops, Christmas trees, rice bowls, notebooks and toothbrushes for the children. Officers and men of the Fifth Air Force also donated money to repair and modernize an orphanage.  

• The U.S. Army Fifth Regimental Combat Team sponsored a Boys Town in Ranje-do, to which the U.N. Korean Reconstruction Agency (UNKRA) and Third Army Headquarters at Fort McPherson, Ga., also contributed. They raised money to construct housing and schools for 900 boys.  

• The U.S. Army 45th Division contributed $300,000 to charitable organizations in Korea. After returning to the United States, the members of the division continued to support Korean charities sending a check for $41,000 to a trust fund for the maintenance of the Orphans' Home of Korea on Cheju-do.

• The Seventh Infantry Division donated $36,734 to various Korean charities that were used to reconstruct a school,aid an orphanage, support Boys Town on Koje-do and conduct "Operation Santa Claus."

• The U.S. Air Force Eighteenth Fighter-Bomber Wing contributed to the purchase of land for a home for the elderly in Masan. The wing also donated clothing to the home, cooperated with the United Nations in financing construction of a facility to house 92 elderly people in Wonju, and supported about six orphanages with monthly contributions.

• The U.S. Army First Corps donated $385,000 to Korean charities during 1953.

• The U.S. Marine Corps 1st Marine Aircraft Wing supported an orphanage at Pyongtaek.

• The 2,600 "uncles" of the U.S. Navy's USS Missouri "adopted" a Korean child.

"People-to-People" Programs

Once the onslaught of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula began, "people-to-people" organizations responded overwhelmingly to the humanitarian needs of the Korean people. A wide variety of charitable organizations, religious groups and professional associations supported relief efforts. Clothing drives for all ages called "Clothes for Korea Week" were mounted across the United States. After the war ended, these "people-to-people" programs continued to offer humanitarian assistance to South Koreans by donating items such as food, medicine, toys, games, tents, vitamins, soap and construction materials.

"People-to-people" programs provided a variety of assistance including:

• The Save the Children Federation shipped used clothing, blankets, school rehabilitation materials and Army tents to serve as classrooms.

• Church World Service sponsored various programs to aid Korean families. One program provided garments knitted by American women as well as yarn and needles to the women of Korea. Another program helped to build a vocational training center for amputees in Taejon.

• American Relief for Korea, established in the spring of 1951 by member agencies of the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Service, sponsored a "Knit for Korea" campaign as well as a clothing drive.

• The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, U.S.A., initiated the Korean Amputee Rehabilitation Project on a cooperative basis under the administration of Church World Service. This program established special orthopedic wards and a facility to construct braces and artificial.

• World Vision, in cooperation with U.S. and Korean armed forces, established the Paik Sun Orphanage which cared for 200 children.

• The Foster Parents' Plan for War Children operated several programs. One program distributed shoes to needy Korean children, another provided food and school supplies to "adopted" children for a monthly fee of $15.00.

Photo Caption: Mamie Eisenhower, wife of President Dwight Eisenhower, examines boxes of clothing collected at the White House for shipment to Korea.

• The Mennonite Church established the Mennonite Vocational School near Taegu in 1953. The school offered vocational training and academic schooling to approximately 150 junior and high school level orphaned boys.

• The Methodist Committee for Overseas Relief established the Methodist Loan Fund for Korean Laymen. The fund loaned money to help farmers and businessmen purchase pigs, sewing machines and tools, restock bombed stores and reactivate spinning mills.

• Various charitable organizations supported the Heavenly Light Village in Taejon, a program that took care of 31 families with one or both blind parents. The American Foundation for Overseas Blind donated money for shop buildings and equipment for a training program. The American Korean Foundation built a community bath house. Money from the "Virginia Milk Kitchen" supplied 150 cups of hot food daily.

• The American-Korean Foundation supported a variety of projectstincluding orphanages, job training for widows, tuberculosis control and building schools; the foundation also donated tractors, locomotives and tenders. Additionally, the foundation sponsored Koreans for advanced and specialized study in the United States to assist in rehabilitation and rebuilding efforts.

• The Christian Children's Fund sponsored an "adoption plan" for Americans wanting to assist Korean War orphans for $10 per month. The fund also sponsored the Nam Buk Home, the Kwang Ju Choon Hyun Babies' Home and many other such projects. Children in orphanages operated or assisted by the fund received schooling, religious instruction and the basic necessities.

• Women's clubs and schools in the United States sponsored special drives to provide CARE packages. Beginning in October 1952, Post Exchanges in Pusan, Seoul and Taegu also sold CARE packages. CARE and the National Education Association helped finance the American Korean School Assistance, a program that provided Korean primary and secondary school teachers with suitable winter clothing and periodic gifts of food, textiles and school supplies.

• The Heifers for Relief program supplied bee hives, rabbits and goats to South Korea.

Photo Caption: This Korean orphan was found by a Marine Corps sentry and outfitted with clothing furnished by American donations through the First Marine Aircraft Wing Orphanage.

Sources

Ernstmeyer, M.S. They Shall Not March Alone: Glimpses into the Life and History of the Chaplaincy of the Lutheran (1990).

Jorgensen, Daniel B. Air Force Chaplains 1947-1960 (1961).

Korean Survey. September 1952-December 1957.

Mosier, Robert H., and Gerald Kornblau. "The GI and the Kids of Korea," National Geographic Magazine, 103, No. 5, May 1953, 635-78.

Riley, Nelson J. "Red Cross Clubmobiles Roll in Korea," Army Information Digest, 9, No. 2, February 1954, 10-17.

Smith, John Chabot. "The Red Cross in the Field," Army Information Digest, 8, No. 2, February 1953, 35-41.

http://www.redcross.org/hec/1950-1959