NOTED KOREAN-AMERICAN HUMANITARIAN DIES.
I received word early this morning of the death of Dr. Bong Hak Hyun LR05987, a National member at-large. Most of our members who belong to the USMC know of Dr. Hyun, as do all of our members who attended a special Return Visit in 2006 to the Pusan area. That area is where most of the North Koreans who escaped Hamhung, December 1950, through the intervention of Dr. Hyun, Colonel Edward Forney, and LTG Edward M Almond settled.
Dr. Thomas G Fergusson (Colonel, USA Ret), a grandson of General Almond, is speaking at the memorial service and will represent the KWVA.
President and Chairman, KWVA/USA
(Posted 11/27/07)
In Memoriam... Dr. Bong Hak Hyun, LR05987... November 25, 2007Dr. Bong Hak Hyun, MD, D.Sc., accomplished physician EDISON -- Dr. Bong Hak Hyun, 85, died Sunday (Nov. 25 2007) at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield. Born on June 23, 1922 in Seongjin, Hamkyeong namdo, North Korea, Dr. Hyun graduated from Yonsei University Medical School and received his D.Sc. from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Medicine. He had practiced and taught medicine at Rutger's University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Thomas Jefferson Medical School and Ajou University in ROK. During the Korean War, Dr. Hyun served as civil affairs advisor to Gen. Edward M. Almond, commanding general of the X Corps, U.S. Army. He conceived of the civilian evacuation in Hamhung, North Korea. Together with Col. Edward Forney and Gen. Ned Almond, they planned a rescue mission, which ultimately saved the lives of 100,000 refugees. In 1999, the Korean Broadcasting Service produced a documentary entitled "Korean Shindler, Dr. Hyun and the Hungnam Evacuation." He is also featured in the Military Channel's program "Going Back, Korea," as well as "Arirang, Part II, The Korean American Dream," by Tom Coffman for PBS. Dr. Hyun was an active participant with the Korean American Medical Association; American Society of Clinical Pathologists; New Jersey Society of Pathologists; International Society of Hematology; American College of International Physicians; American Board of Pathology; College of American Pathologists; American Journal of Clinical Pathologists; American Medical Association, Yonsei Medical Journal, Korean-American Pathologists Association, First International Congress of Korean Physicians in Yanji, China; First Conference of the Asian Bone Marrow Study Group in Fukuoka, Japan; Korean Society of Clinical Pathology; United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia; Philip Jaisohn Memorial Foundation and Medical Center; Harvard-Yenching Institute; KASCON; Committee for Korean SAT II; Korean Sharing Movement and International Conference on Medical and Public Health Assistance Programs for North Korea. He has published dozens of articles in Korean language newspapers and journals; six books, 106 articles and more than 60 abstracts and editorials in the field of hematology/hematopathology. Dr. Hyun established the Dong-Ho (Prof. Yun, Il-Sun) Memorial Pathology Award at Yonsei University Medical School, and has received numerous awards and citations from organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Pathologists; Yonsei University Medical School; Korean Medical Association; Seoul Metropolitan Government; Hungnam Women's Association; Michigan-Korean American Community Services; and others. In 1988, Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center, an affiliate of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical Laboratories, named its Pathology Department the Dr. Bong Hak Hyun Clinical Laboratories. Dr. Hyun is survived by his wife, Sun Sook, and his four children, Marian, Esther, Helen and Philip; along with five grandchildren, Josh, Ali, Kyle, Tyler and Sun-hwa. Viewings will be held from noon to 2 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today, followed by a 10 a.m. service Wednesday at the South Plainfield James W. Conroy Funeral Home, 2456 Plainfield Ave., South Plainfield, (908) 756-2800. Memorial services in Philadelphia and New York City may be scheduled at a later date. For more information, contact Esther Hyun at ehyun@mindspring.com re: Dr. Bong Hak Hyun. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Dr. Hyun's memory to the Muhlenberg Foundation, Park Avenue and Randolph Road, Plainfield, NJ 07061, (908) 668-2025. (Posted 11/27/07) |