KATUSA celebrates 66th anniversary, as further augmented roles expected

UIJEONGBU, South Korea, Aug. 15 (Yonhap) — The Korean Augmentation Troops to the U.S. Army, or KATUSA, celebrated the 66th anniversary of its foundation Monday, according to the KATUSA Veterans Association.

Some 400 U.S. military officials, KATUSA war veterans, KATUSA reservists and active-duty KATUSA soldiers participated in the event at Camp Jackson, a U.S. military base, in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul.

KATUSA Veterans Association Chairman Kim Jong-wook and 2nd Infantry Division Commander Theodore D. Martin were among the participants. Chairman Kim delivered a welcoming speech following a silent tribute to patriotic martyrs and then Commander Martin as guest speaker gave a keynote speech on the meaning of the 66th anniversary for the two allies.

Commander Martin said KATUSA has operated like a set of well-running wheels for the U.S. and South Korean armies for the past 66 years. He asked KATUSA soldiers to continue their bridging role in strengthening the bilateral alliance.

“The alliance between the two countries has gotten stronger over the past decades due to KATUSA soldiers who were downed during the (1950-53) Korean War and active-duty KATUSA soldiers have helped harden the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance,” Kim said.

After the speeches, three generations of a family – a grandfather, a father and a son — won commendation for their services at KATUSA.

Cpl. Choi Ho-eun, currently serving in the 2nd Infantry Division, was the latest generation of the family. His father Choi Yoon-seong served in the field army’s artillery regiment in the same 2nd Infantry Division in the late 1980s and his late grandfather Choi Sang-ho fought in the Korean War as a KATUSA soldier.

A cake-cutting ceremony was held to commemorate the 66th year of the augmentation troops’ foundation on Aug. 15, 1950, nearly two months after the Korean War broke out on June 25.

In this photo taken on June 6, 2016, KATUSA soldiers and U.S. soldiers pay tribute to KATUSA soldiers downed during the Korean War in a memorial service held at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea, located in Busan, 453 km south of Seoul.

Back then, Gen. Douglas MacArthur of the U.S. Army, who led the United Nations Command during the early part of the inter-Korean civil war, asked for a dispatch of Korean soldiers to the U.S. Army due to a lack of soldiers. South Korea’s inaugural President Rhee Syng-man accepted the request.

KATUSA soldiers initially assisted U.S. soldiers with their knowledge of local terrain while helping to avoid miscommunication between the two armies. But they now serve as an integral part of the U.S. Army in Korea.

Each year, about 2,000 are recruited as KATUSA soldiers. So far, about 300,000 KATUSA soldiers have contributed to beefing up the joint defensive capabilities between the U.S. and Korean military forces.