Tributes Made After Death of Ethiopian Korean War Veteran
Korea has always been really good at remembering veterans from the Korean War:
![Melese Tessema holds a letter of thanks he wrote in Korean for face masks donated by Chilgok county to Ethiopian Korean War veterans last year. [MELESE TESSEMA]](https://i0.wp.com/koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2021/04/12/3f66d9f8-3124-4761-8191-5154011b45ef.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
The death of a 91-year-old Ethiopian Korean War veteran has set off a wave of remembrance in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang, home to some of the fiercest fighting during the war.
Joong Ang Ilbo
According to the Chilgok county government on Monday, local residents have set up banners commemorating the service of Melese Tessema, who passed away earlier this month due to complications of Covid-19.
“We pray for the repose of the Ethiopian Korean War Veterans’ Association’s late president, Melese Tessema,” read one banner in the county. (……)
Last year, the county government organized a 6037 Campaign –– named for the 6,037 soldiers in the Kagnew Battalions dispatched by Emperor Haile Selassie to fight in Korea –– to deliver 100,000 face masks to surviving Ethiopian Korean War veterans and their families.
The Chilgok county chief sent a message of condolence to Melese’s funeral, which was read in Amharic by a local resident who had studied in Korea.
Messages of condolence were also posted by Korean celebrities. (…..)
Ethiopia is the only African country that dispatched ground troops to fight as part of the United Nations Command during the Korean War. Out of its 6,037 soldiers, 122 were killed and another 536 wounded. Some 130 Ethiopian veterans of the war are still alive today.
You can read more at the link.
