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US Commanders Hail Late General as War Hero

Sungwon Baik

   WASHINGTON - Former commanders of the U.S. forces in Korea mourned a
   legendary Korean War hero, General Paik Sun-yup, who died last Friday
   at 99. They hailed South Korea's first four-star general as a hero and
   mentor.

   "He was a hero, diplomat, patriot, and friend. He was a mentor to me
   when I served as the Commander in Chief of the Combined Forces Command
   and remained a friend and leader thereafter," General (Ret.) John
   Tilelli told VOA Korean service on Friday. Tilelli, who commanded the
   U.S. Forces in Korea from 1996 to 1999, remembered Paik as a leader who
   "loved his soldiers," who remembered their names and battle positions
   decades after the war.

   The Commander of USFK also serves as the Commander in Chief of the
   United Nations Command and the U.S.-Republic of Korea Combined Forces
   Command. Paik was always invited as an honored guest at the
   inauguration ceremonies of top U.S. military commanders.

   General (Ret.) Burwell Bell, shared his memory of Paik with VOA
   Saturday. "When I served as the Combined Forces Commander between 2006
   and 2008, General Paik met with me frequently to pass on lessons of the
   Korean War and twice took me on battlefield staff rides to teach and
   mentor me. He was brilliant," said Bell.

   Bell hailed Paik as one of the world's great military leaders compared
   to George Washington.

   "General Paik Sun-yup was, in my view, the military father of his
   present-day country, the Republic of Korea. Not unlike America's George
   Washington who led our Revolutionary War forces to battlefield victory
   and was the military father of the United States, General Paik led
   South Korean forces to many battlefield victories during often chaotic
   and extremely uncertain combat operations against the North Korean
   invaders and their Chinese partners," Bell said.

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