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Clack, clack, clack
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Taryn Ditter’s footsteps echo against the stone surface of the floor as she makes her way down the covered outdoor passageway.
Clack, clack, clack
Towering metal signs, each nearly eight feet tall and three feet wide, line the walkway in pairs. On the left, the signs stand against a solid wall. On the right, they stand in front of columns open to the yard outside allowing the steady hum of traffic and sounds of the city to seep into the reverent space. Each sign looks nearly identical, the only difference is what is inscribed on the surface. She reads the titles as she passes by: Maine. The next: Maryland. Below the titles, engraved in the metal are lists of names, too many to count.
Clack, clack, clack
Her footsteps continue, a somber rhythm against the weight of remembrance.
No state is exempt. Some have multiple walls dedicated to them, thousands of names scattered across the plaques. Others have only a quarter sheet, no more than twenty names beneath a state's title. But everyone is listed.
Everyone has someone to honor here, to connect to. Separated by time, but connected through the woven thread that brought both that drew both the living and the remembered to a city so far from home.
36,634 names. 36,634 U.S. Service Members who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Korean War. Their names stretched down the hallway, eventually giving way to those from other U.N. countries who fought and died alongside them from 1950 to 1953:
• United Kingdom
• Australia
• Canada
• New Zealand
• France
• Netherlands
• Belgium
• Turkey
• Thailand
• South Africa
• Greece
• Philippines
• Colombia
• Ethiopia
• Luxembourg.
Each name representing a belief in a better world, for a free world. Each of them died to protect the same ground she now walks on, forging the unshakeable bond between the United States and the Republic of Korea that brought her to a port just outside the city of Seoul. There, moored alongside a pier in Pyeongtaek, floats the ship she was assigned to, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), who conducted a port visit to Pyeongtaek, Republic of Korea (ROK), March 5-7.
Later, after the visit concluded, Ditter sat with her shipmates, recounting her experience at the The War Memorial of Korea. "It was somber," she admitted, "but I'm grateful I had the opportunity to go. It's a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made to protect freedom.”
As the Ralph Johnson leaves Pyeongtaek, the Sailors, like Ditter, who walked the halls of the memorial remember how their footsteps echoed amongst the silent names. They reflect on the stories behind each inscription, stories of courage, duty, and the enduring power of alliances forged in the fires of conflict. The visit to the War Memorial wasn't just another port call activity; it was a solemn reminder of why they serve, of a story that extends far beyond just one ship and one port visit. It is the story of a bond that is engraved by the lives of those we lost on the peninsula.
"You read the stories, you hear about the history," Ditter shared, "but being there, surrounded by the names of those who gave everything... it hits you differently. It motivates me to keep going, to protect those around us and value the freedom we have.”
On board the Ralph Johnson, the ship hums with quiet purpose, the echo of the memorial still fresh in the minds of those who visited. As they depart, heading back to patrol, they carry with them the weight of those names as a reminder of the enduring legacy of sacrifice and the importance of their mission in the Indo-Pacific.
| Date Taken: | 03.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.19.2025 06:53 |
| Story ID: | 493187 |
| Location: | PYEONGTAEK, KR |
| Hometown: | TROY, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 19 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, The Bonds Engraved Upon Us, by PO1 Hannah Fry, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
