Ralph De Coste

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The following is from Intergenerational Integrities 2021 Anthology. Intergenerational Integrities involves 18 like-minded, passionate secondary students of British Columbia and Alberta who share a common love for writing, history and learning. Their purpose is to connect youth and seniors, especially during the Covid-19 global pandemic, where many have been physically and socially isolated. For this initiative, each student has been paired with a veteran of the Korean War.

Ralph was born in 1930 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, (PEI) during the early days of the depression. He served in the Korean War and spent 35 years in the Canadian armed forces serving his country. Ralph has been a member of the Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE) and the Retired Sappers Reunion for many years. He joined the Korean War Veterans Association of Canada in 1983. After retirement from the military, Ralph moved back to British Columbia. A few years later he became a Coroner and worked at this job for over 7 years before he fully retired.

Ruiyi is a grade 12 student in Coquitlam, BC. She enjoys exploring new possibilities in the domains of literature, social sciences, and sciences. She spends her free time playing piano, writing stories and poems, and reading novels. She is passionate about history and how certain events affect our world today. She is honoured to be a part of the Intergenerational Integrities project and to learn more about the legacy of the Korean War.

Kimchi

By Ruiyi Jia

Young as I was, I enlisted in the army

for serving my country is an honor

In several small marine vessels,

I was sent to a nation,

whose whereabouts I’ve yet to discover

East of Panmunjom, was where we stayed,

after travelling through many places,

We learned, we trained,

we honed our survival skills

enough to endure

the unending warfare

All was fine until one day,

the rain came rushing down

Pitter, patter, the sky cried

as horror took place

My cousin’s company was overrun,

by troops of enemy soldiers,

North Korean and Chinese alike

Seven captured,

twenty-seven wounded,

twenty-five killed

All our beloved comrades.

Though the result was known,

reality is hard to accept,

when those who are close, slip away forever

Deeply scarred, both body and soul

my cousin, a changed man

From that moment on, I realized

despite diminishing conflicts

danger still lies ahead

War really is a life-changing experience

Head straight, chin up, I kept pushing

Forward, despite setbacks

I found some comfort

In small farming communities south of a river

To ease the pain experienced from earlier on

I befriended Korean villagers,

Young and old, male and female.

The ladies of the village

near the barbed wire fence

assisted us with chores

In exchange for food and money

We sang and sang hymns with the ladies

in both Korean and English

I tried Korean food made by the young’uns

Taste, beyond my imaginations

Different but delicious

The kimchi was rich in flavour,

the meat, mouth-watering.

All extremely spicy, but pleasurable

It seems that, in the end

Although times were hard,

Situations were dire

and everyone suffered

There was a silver lining,

One that through shared experiences

Hope, friendship, and unbroken bonds,

We’ve come to understand one another.

Perhaps, at the end of the day,

Though many were lost,

Kimchi was the hero,

that brings people together