Remembering Dutch Veterans that Served in the Korean War

The Joong Ang Ilbo has an interesting article highlighting the contributions of Dutch soldiers and sailors during the Korean War:

“Battles were fierce, but sometimes we had relatively cordial contacts with our enemies,” wrote Kelders to the Korea JoongAng Daily on Dec. 3. “We used to wave at them and, unarmed and wearing armbands, could recover our wounded.”  
   
Kelders was a Browning automatic rifleman with the Netherlands’ Van Heutsz Regiment. On Jan. 8, 1952, he arrived in Korea at the age of 23.  
   
Like the 4,747 other Dutch soldiers who came to the aid of South Korea during the war, Kelders volunteered to fight for South Korea.  
   
“Because North Korea received help from China and was supported by Russia in the background, I wanted to help South Korea win this war and stop communism,” he said. 

Although the Netherlands were just emerging from the Second World War and Indonesia’s battle for independence from the Dutch Empire, thousands of Dutch soldiers volunteered to join the front lines.

“It was not an easy decision when the United Nations called for [assistance in Korea],” said Joanne Doornewaard, ambassador of the Netherlands to Korea, in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Dec. 3. “But we decided to contribute to the defense of South Korea and made a call for volunteers. There were more volunteers than were expected, so many soldiers registered.”  

The first batch of Dutch ground forces left for Korea on Oct. 27, 1950, and landed in Busan on Nov. 23, 1950.  (………………….)

Throughout the war, a total of 122 Dutch soldiers were killed in action. Three had gone missing, 463 were wounded and 20 members of the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army attached to the Dutch battalion were killed in action, according to the Dutch Embassy in Korea. The remains of five Dutch soldiers have yet to be recovered. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read the rest at the link.