Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

[Marine Corps] Never forget the supreme sacrifice of two warriors

A memorial ceremony for staff sergeant, Seo Jung-woo, and late Private First Class, Moon Gwang-wook, who died from enemy shelling during the 6·25 Korean War six years ago was held at Daejeon National Cemetery on November 23. Headquarters Marine Corps held the sixth memorial ceremony commemorating the bombardment of Yeonpyeong. The ceremony was attended by about 200 people, including the family of the deceased, the reserve war wounded, veterans and the commander of the Marine Corps, Lee Sang-hun, under the theme of 'Live forever as our home country's guardian spirit'.

Starting with the Pledge of Allegiance, the ceremony consisted of a video show, a floral tribute with the burning of incense, a commemorating speech, a commemorating performance, etc. For the commemorating performance, a student from Munseong Middle School, staff sergeant Seo's alma mater, recited a commemorating poem that caught everyone's attention. Then, there were choral performances by a marine band and the Far East Broadcasting Children's Choir.

The Marine Corps designated November, the 'Month of Victory for Marine', to remind people of the victory of the shelling of Yeonpyeong, and to honor the fallen soldiers' noble sacrifice and devotion. During this period, each unit conducts special moral education for commanders and combined training supervised by the Northwest Islands Defense Command (NIDC). The units in the northwest islands such as the NIDC, the 6th Marine Brigade and Yeonpyeong unit participated in the combined training for real-time situational reactions against various provocations, such as firing provocations, amphibious raids, drone provocations, etc.

Especially, on November 23, provocations simulating the exact situation of the very day of the bombardment of Yeonpyeong 6 years ago at 2:34 p.m., together with practical training was conducted. The training included a K9 self-propelled gun and spike missile non-firing procedure training, occupation of position for guaranteed survivability, notice of resident evacuation, patient evacuation, etc.

By Su-Yeol, Maeng < guns13@dema.mil.kr >
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