The contribution, to be found in the leaflet on 3 Para, is the touching story of WO Rik Wouters, a Korea-volunteer who left for Korea with the first reinforcement detachment, together with his two friends, right after their promotion to non-commissioned officer in the Regular Army ( Rik Thijs (left photo) died after a long lasting disease, and Chretion Schouterden was killed in action)
Rik Wouters tells of his experiences in Korea during the war in the Corps journal named "The quiet Morning". This is the story that begins with his recruiting, his training and the voyage from Rotterdam to Korea with the American troopship "LANGFITT ". The Belgians were on board with Dutch, Greek, Turkish and Thai troops. Needless to say that this stay brought on quite a strain but also a lot of anecdotes.
The preparation for war in CHANGO'RI includes amongst others the touching story of the ten-year old Korean boy, Kimiko, which the NCO of C Coy took care of. The boy called Rik and his friends " You number one ", which truly expressed the feeling this orphan had.

Later on the fighting near HAKTANG-NI in the Chorwon valley on Hill 391, only 1 km long in the shape of a broken arrow ( as the Americans called it ).

He tells how he went to help a seriously wounded korean bearer, how he saw 2nd Lt Van Den Driessche get killed in action on his second day in the frontline, and how he found his friend Schouterden, who died during his heli-evacuation.

The bloody fighting during the chinees attacks, the combat shock suffered by a volunteer, his meeting with WO II Engelen, all this is told in a very humane and real manner.
This contribution reflects the way in which this very courageous and conscientious non-com lived his war. It is for me impossible to relate the whole story in one page, and I therefore advise everyone who has the opportunity to get hold of the complete story and read it. I want to reproduce his conclusions literally, for they are true, just and they summarize for the major part the mentality of the true volunteer for Korea :

* I most certainly am not in a position to draw fundamental conclusions from the Korean War. It was for the first time that the United Nations called a halt to the aggressive communism in full cold war. The fact that Korea is still divided after 50 years.

* Why did more than 3500 Belgians go to Korea? It certainly was not out of idealism. The great majority, myself included, went just for adventure's sake. Some may have had other motives like family problems, financial or amorous ones, or wanting to make the Army their career.

* Stars and bars sometimes force someone to act more bravely than the common man. This is what he expects from his superiors too. Fear, lack of motivation during combat in a foreign country are compensated by comradeship and the cohesion in the group. Circumstances may force one to be courageous, or else one may not survive.

* One has to be young and unattached to wage war. Being afraid more than often, the numerous bodily discomforts like nocturnal activities, sweaty, thirsty with an empty canteen, beset by mosquitoes soaking wet in the mud of a foxhole during the monsoon, or shivering from cold in an outpost during the icy winter, are circumstances that can only be supported by a young and strong body.
Family worries, like having wife and children, are a hindrance to good functioning while in danger, and the frequently irritate the others. I have found this out myself. A few years later came Africa and by that time I was married and had children