Han,+SoojeongKWP

Korean War Oral History:

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**Analysis**

//Analyze the historical significance of your interview and how you think it will help us better understand the Korean War (this must be at least 250 words).//

I think this interview has fully reached its potential, because I’ve gained more insight on what it must’ve been like to live during the Korean War. My dad and I discussed my grandfather’s experiences during the Korean War, and it helped me understand the events in the Korean War, how people were affected, and how they reacted.

The point of this oral history interview was to involve history which we've learned in school into personal experiences from relatives. And that is exactly what happened in this interview with my dad. Even though my interviewee is a secondary source, he knows about the experiences that his father encountered, and he, himself, was affected by the choices made by his father during the Korean War; such as the fact that he grew up with a full family, and how his father's love for flying affected his career as a business man (who travels around the world frequently). Furthermore, from this interview, I’ve learned about my grandfather and his family. Sadly I’ve never heard about his side of the family until this interview. So the interview did not only give me an in-depth story of how people lived during the war, but also got me to learn more about my grandfather.

What I think was especially interesting was the story about my great-grandmother. As my dad said, she was taken by a communist soldier. She was very very close to her death, but using her wit, she escaped. She knew that the soldiers would follow her footsteps in the snow if she ran away, so what she did was she asked to go to the bathroom and wore her slippers backwards so it looked like she was walking toward the soldiers. From this story, I not only began to admire my great-grandmother for her cunning actions and creativity that saved her life, but also I realized that this oral history project had another purpose, other than to just help us learn more about the Korean War. Its other purpose is make us know more about our grandparents, and conserve their stories. And from what I learned in this interview, I genuinely appreciate this project, because it told me stories that I never knew of about my own grandparents. From this interview, I bonded with my dad and my grandfather.

I found it surprising how my grandfather, who was around my age during the war, was able to take care of his family, yet managed to keep up with his education throughout the whole occurrence. I certainly cannot relate to this, and I think it would be the same for most kids in this generation. My grandfather had a huge responsibility, and I developed even more respect toward him now that I know his story. This interview helped me understand my grandfather’s personality as well; he was always very proud to talk about his role as a pilot, and now after this interview, I can see why he is always very proud of his past experiences. From what my father said in the interview, my grandfather, even at the age of just 16, wanted to help his country. And through his role as a pilot, that is exactly what he did, and it helped him fulfill what he truly believed was his duty.

This interview helped me understand the Korean War better, because it involved personal issues of my grandfather. During the interview, my dad would sketch out pictures and diagrams that would connect what happened in the Korean War and how my grandfather reacted to it. This not only reviewed what I learned in class, but it also added to my knowledge because it showed me how people were affected and how they replied to the events during the war.