 Welcome to Voice of the Veteran on Think Tech Live Streaming Network series, broadcasting from our downtown studio at Pioneer Plaza at the core of downtown Honolulu. I'm your host, Helen Dora Hayden, Veteran Advocate. Today's show is near and dear to my heart because I get to personally thank one of my heroes from the Korean War Veterans Association that made such a tremendous impact on my entire family. The men who bravely fought to liberate my mother's country will never be forgotten. For all that you have done, thank you will never be enough. Remember that our talk shows are streamed live on the internet from 12 noon to 5pm every weekday and earlier shows are streamed all night long. All our shows are streamed on livestream.com. If you want the links to our live streams or previous broadcasts which are available on youtube.com or if you want to subscribe to our programs or get on our mailing list and get our program advisories, go to thinktecawaii.com. If you want to pose a question or a comment during one of our shows, please tweet us at thinktechhi. We'll try to get to some questions by the end of this show. Herb Schreiner may never know that the impact has changed my family forever and it is generational. My mother was an orphan at the White Lily Orphanage in Daegu Korea during the Korean War. She often shared stories with me about the big American GIs that would come with fresh fruit and chocolate bars for all the kids. You truly gave her hope and love in a very dark period of her life and she thought of all of you very often and fondly. She eventually married my father who was serving in the U.S. Army station at Camp Casey and once I graduated high school I too joined the U.S. Army and served. My intention was to go to Korea and find my lost relative but as fate would have it I ended up in Fairbanks, Alaska at Fort Wainwright. Your legacy was with me as I served and I knew Sunday I would be able to thank you for the opportunities that you provided me. My son who is an active duty Air Force station here on Island also knows of your actions and the impact that you've had on our family. He is appreciative of the legacy that you have left him and is honored to be able to carry forth this family story. Many people say and feel that the Korean War is a forgotten war but not for me and mine. You will never be forgotten. I promise. It is with great honor that I introduce my guest we have with us today from the Korean War Veterans Association, Chapter 1 President Herb Schreiner. Herb, thank you so much for agreeing to appear on Voice of the Veteran today. How does it feel to be thanked by a child of a Korean that you liberated her country? I think it's an honor. It really is. It makes me feel that what I did when I went to Korea was the right thing to do. I lost my brother, he was 17 years old, he came back in a bag. We couldn't bury him and see him when we put him but he's up at Punch Bowl and I feel that the Korean people have never forgotten us. Absolutely. And it makes me feel good because when I went to Korea we had these little kids that put their hands together and say thank you for saving my country. You know when they said that it erased all the hurts and stuff that I went through. I volunteer right now. I'm up at the, I'm up at Tripler, the VA center at the front desk and I help those who need help. That's why I first met you. I remember meeting you out there and telling you my story about my mother and thanking you there. Yes. Because you always wear your Korean Veteran hat. Yes. That's why I know who you are. Because I'm proud, I'm proud of what I did. And my job right now is to keep the Korean War Veterans out in the open, not forgot them like they have. Because when I came back I was at Tripler at the old, what they used to call the crazy house. There's that little pink building on the side. I spent three months there and when I got out of the hospital I retired and left the service. But you know, I started my career being raised in Kalihi. I started my career at Schofield Barracks basic training. A recruiter came over in the middle of our training and asked if I would like to be in the Air Force, transfer in the Air Force, but at the time Army Air Force, it was an Army Air Force. And now they separated, so they asked because my test scores were high if I would go. And naturally I did. I was transferred after basic to Wheeler Field, which is right across. I trained as an A&E mechanic and worked on the jugs. We closed Wheeler Field and then from there we went to Albuquerque, New Mexico at Clovis Air Force Base. From there we spent six months learning how maintenance on the F-86 is the Sabre, the Sabre jets. So from there we went to Clovis and Clovis is where the pilots and we trained to prepare ourselves for the trip to Korea. I have, I was the oldest of four boys. There's only myself and my youngest brother. One passed away last year. But my younger brother, Alan, was the one that was killed in Korea. But he wanted to go. You know, my mom told him, why don't you get into the Air Force like your brother? And he said, no, I want to go and I want to fight. That's the kind of boy he was. He was really, really into helping out. So my tour was from latter part of 52-53. When I came home, there was nobody. You know, I mean, my mom, my brothers, nobody came to see me coming in. I just went there and then went to Schofield. No, I'm sorry, Wheeler Field and stayed for about a week or so. And then I went to Schofield. Schofield, I went back to my homing colleague. My homing colleague. I, you know, I keep saying, I, that's not right, but I can't help it. You know? No, but you did. Because I like I myself. No. So tell me, tell everybody, no one ever guesses you're right age. You have to share that with us. I was born in October, 1929. I'm 88 years old. I take care of myself. I help the veterans that go up there to the Veterans Center at Tripler and help the blind, the people with no legs, all these, the ailments. And I feel that's the right thing for me to do because I feel that I'm here on earth right now for a purpose. And the purpose is to spread my feelings because I grew up in Kalihi as a poor boy, the four of us. We never had a baseball, a bat. We never had none of that. I had to go to fern school to play football or basketball. That's how I, that's why today I feel that my parents brought us up saying, help people because you're blessed with your, with your health and your family, although we're not rich, but we still have our love for each other. Then that's how I feel right now. Okay. I'm fortunate. Okay. I got a home. I got a family. I got all these things that, you know, a lot of people wish they had. Okay. So I want to thank all of the people and you for remembering us. I met your mom and I know what your mom is. And by the way, I forgot to tell you, I'm going to go check my photos. I have a picture of a little girl that I took to a orphanage and it could be your mother. It could very well be. It could very well be. Yeah. You know, Herb, I have to tell you a story. I went to the national convention in DC and met a bunch of Korean War veterans and told my story about my mother and gentlemen have always said, I was at that orphanage. I have pictures. Oh, yeah. You could have met my mother as a child. She was there when she was seven to nine and, you know, excuse me, from nine to 14. And I said, that's amazing. And now full circle to be able to meet you, you know, that she talked about all the time. Because it would be about your mom's age. Yeah. I'll I'll get it. Thank you. I'll bring it. Tell me a little bit about your involvement as president of the local chapter as a president of the local chapter of the Korean War veterans chapter one. We get together every day. I mean, every Tuesday in the morning and we have breakfast and we share our problems and it's like rejuvenating ourselves. So we look at each other and help each other out. My purpose right now is to help and let people know Korea is a beautiful country. They took the freedom that we gave them. And the many people that died and people that are coming here disabled. It was done because that was the right thing to do. I'm telling you right now, I don't feel bad going back going back on a revisit to Korea. They do that every five years. I don't hear the other people doing it and they take us and they treat us like the president of the United States. And they're very humble and they take care of us while we're there. And you know, the part that is really make you feel bad is I mean, good is that when you get there and you see the hotels, the apartments, you see all these things. And when I was there was just nothing but mounds, nothing but mounds. And people washing clothes in the Han River. That's it. So I am proud to be a Korean War veteran. I'm proud to be the president of the Korean War veterans chapter one. And I plan on working with this young lady here to get more exposure. Because we'd like to have a lot of them come here and join us. Because you see, if you go to Tripler at the VA center, I'm there Monday, Wednesday, Friday. And I'm there from seven to 11, 30, 12 o'clock. And I'm there to help. If you have 10% disabilities, I'll help you. I'll take you down to E-Wing and I'll find out if we can give you more benefits that you deserve. Remember, you deserve what you sacrifice for, okay? Thank you for all that you do, Herb. You are so appreciated at that VA. You are a constant source of just entertainment and information. And we're always very happy to see you behind that front desk. We always know we can go to you. You know, 10 years ago, when I first started, I was working with some people there. And I got upset because when the veteran comes to the front of the Congress, you don't sit there and say, oh, yeah, you go to module four. Oh, yeah, you go here. No, show respect, get up, stand up, eye to eye, and help them out. They may feel better. I got them smiling. They bring me candy. You wouldn't believe it. They bring me candies and they buy me hot dogs and to show their appreciation. Absolutely. Now, I got to explain this last year. There was a gentleman that came up to the front desk and said, I want to see my doctor. I asked him. What's your doctor's name? He was so upset. He wanted to jump over and lick me. I mean, he was furious. And my boss was sitting there. And my boss was saying, you know, which was pointing to the security. And I said, no, no, no, let me, I let him vent. Then I looked at him and said, hey, brah, well, you know, come with me. Where are we going? Oh, come, come. I took him upstairs to registration. Find out what his doctor name was and where he had to go. Took him there. Today, we are the best friends. He came back down and he has PTSD and he was upset because I didn't know what doctor he had. So I am happy what I'm doing. And I want to spread this to all you veterans, Korean veterans, all of you, please come and see us. Let's get together. Let's be as one. OK? I'm not the only one. All right? I'm here to help. You're going to have, you know, we're all old fogies, right? And we're all going to have people to say, oh, you know, where are these guys, where are these guys? Hey, these guys are Portuguese. He got a hard head. OK? So come join us. OK? And if you can, come to a tripler at the Veteran Center. And I'll be very happy to help you to get what you deserve. Thank you, Herb. You're welcome. We're going to, OK, we're going to take a short break right now. I'm Helen Dora Haydn, veteran advocate. This is Voice of the Veteran on ThinkTech Livestreaming Network series. We'll be right back in a minute. So stay tuned for more of the story. I'm Ethan Allen, host of Likeable Science on ThinkTech Hawaii. Every Friday afternoon at 2 PM, I hope you'll join me for Likeable Science. We'll dig into science, dig into the meat of science, dig into the joy and delight of science. We'll discover why science is indeed fun, why science is interesting, why people should care about science, and care about the research that's being done out there. It's all great. It's all entertaining. It's all educational. So I hope you'll join me for Likeable Science. Back. We're live. I'm Helen Dora Haydn, veteran advocate. And this is Voice of the Veteran on ThinkTech Livestreaming Network series. We're talking with the president of the Korean War Veterans Association. And we are very excited to have you. I had the pleasure of attending the Korean War Veterans National Convention in Washington DC a few years ago, Herb, and learned so much about the membership changes and other programs. In order for everyone to learn more, please have them check out the website for Korean War Veterans Association Inc, kwva.us, or email Herb Schreiner at korea1929 at gmail.com. If you'd like more information, there are three chapters in the state of Hawaii. Please feel free to contact Herb at 808-384-7018. I'd like to talk to you a little bit about some of the programs that they have. I did some research about them a little bit last night before the show and learned that they're doing a new digital documentary, like a historical documentary. It's the first ever. And they're capturing unedited stories and archival things that veterans want to give. So on the national website, you can definitely look that up. They have that program. You spoke a little bit about the revisit program to Korea. Like for you to touch on that a little bit. And then I want to touch a little bit about membership before we wrap it up. So if you can tell us about your revisit program. Well, you know, South Korea has never forgotten us. Never. They're so grateful for what we've done. But you know, they have honored us veterans by taking the freedom that we gave them and built a beautiful country. And they're so appreciative. So on the revisit, we leave here, we go to Seoul. They greet us at the airport. And there's like three or four buses. In each bus, there's a nurse. And behind them is an ambulance with an ER doctor and nurses to make sure that if something happens to us, they're there. They don't have to wait for the ambulance to come. It's right there. They take us, give us some big banquet, honor us with medals. And so when I went the last time, I switched things. I told them, I want to thank you, your government, your people, for not forgetting us. You gave us hope that you bring us here and show, thank you, veterans. Look what you have given us. And they have done it. And the consulate generals that I hear are very cooperative. They're here to take you to dinner. They do all these things. They're very interested in what our organization does. They have the REMPAC, a Korean ship. They invite us on the ship. They look at, they give us just about everything, a beautiful show, dinner. Hey, who else does that? Who else does that? And that's sad. It's sad to see these people come in with agent orange, no legs, blind, crazy with PTSD. Why? They did that because that's the right thing for us veterans to do, to keep the other countries safe. I know a lot of people say, oh, well, you guys only talk. You talk, you talk. Yeah, we talk. But we talk about the people of South Korea that love us because we, as teenagers, 18, 19 years old, going to a country that we never heard of, and look at people dying, I was in the Air Force. I was very fortunate. I wasn't actually in the combat. But you know what? I seen them come back on the airplane, going to Japan to the hospital, crying, mom, where are you, mom, dad, help me, dad. I heard that, and that hurts. That hurts because here's a young boy, 18, 19 years old, 20, that's going back home with wounds. And who cares, forgotten war? No, South Korea never forgot it. Well, there's a lot of us here that have never forgotten, and we'll definitely make sure. I just wanted to touch briefly before we wrap things up about the membership changes, the exciting time for the Korean War Veterans Association, because now they've extended the membership, as you well know, to include any veteran that has served in Korea present-day activity. So that's very exciting. My father did three tours in Korea, Camp Kasein, Camp Pongkasein, Camp House, and so it's very exciting that he can join if he were alive, but I can join also as an associate member. I found out the other day that my son, because his grandfather was a Korean War vet, can join as a member. So it's very exciting. See, generational, what can I say, right? And we're very excited, but I want to let you know, I'll be coming to your breakfast and to your next general meeting, which is on the 20th. 20th at Tripler. At Tripler, yep, and we meet for lunch at 11 o'clock. Is that correct? At the cafeteria. Please come meet us at the cafeteria at 11 o'clock on the 20th to meet the KWVA representatives. And you are always also representatives at the Veterans Council that meets also at the Wahoo Veterans Center. We have two members that go there to the OVC and come in and give us a report. Absolutely, so everybody's in the know of what's going on on the island because there's a lot of activity going on for veterans. Why such a very veteran-friendly state? So we're very happy to have you on this show. My pleasure. Is there anything that you'd like to add before we wrap things up? Oh yeah, I'm hungry. I got you. He is such a killer. I absolutely have enjoyed and I want to thank you again from the bottom of my heart, from me and my family to you. Kamsahamnida aji shi. Kamsahamnida. For everything that you have done. Kani asio. Chamaneo. For our family and for our future because without what you've done, we wouldn't be who we are today. But you know, it was the right thing to do to go to a country we never heard of to help people that was devastated. So today they come and they honor us. Sure. They honor us, they don't forget. And look at what's happening with North Korea now. I think what the president did was the right thing to do to show force, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Army, ready. You send that thing over and we're gonna, you know, and- We'll take care of it. Right, and that was the right thing to do to let him know that, hey, you're not gonna push us anymore. And in fact, I was watching a documentary, yes, last night that the reason why he wants to talk, he wants to talk and have a dialogue with them. And that is because he's not ready to shoot that. He doesn't have the atomic bomb, but he tried to scare us, you know? But I know one thing. I'm blessed to be here to help you veterans that need help. I'm there. Come to the hospital and I will help you with your benefits or even your ailments. What's wrong with you? Because, you know, a lot of them, when they go there, they say, well, we're working on it. Yeah, they're working on it. But I don't know, what are you doing for me? Working on it doesn't mean nothing. Go there and say, hey, I have all my records in, what are you gonna do for me? And let them know that. Don't tell me they're working. To me, it's my personal feelings. That's a compound because it took me five years to get mine. And the only reason why, well, I'll tell you what, the first time I put my paperwork in, I worked on jets and missiles and my hearing was bad. You know what they did? They sent me a letter saying denied. It could have caused the problem. Isn't that something? We are very lucky to have you. Oh, it's my pleasure. And to represent the Korean War Veterans Association as the current president, you do two-year term. Is that correct? Two-year, yeah. Perfect. So everybody, please join the organization. Let's keep the memory alive and let's help these gentlemen that sacrifice so much for us. Okay, we're out of time and we'll have to wrap it up. I'm Helen Dora Haydn, veteran advocate, voice of the veteran on ThinkTech Livestreaming Network series. I would like to once again thank, from the bottom of my heart, my hero, Herb Schreiner, and all the Korean War veterans for their sacrifice. I will mention it on Tuesday when we have our breakfast at Leakey Leakey that we had the opportunity to come here and speak to the public again. Thanks to you all of you for being here. Thanks to our broadcast engineer Ray, our floor manager Cindy, and to Jay Fidel, our executive producer who puts it all together. And thanks to you, our listeners. For listening, if you want to get our email or social media program advisors, click the link on thinktechhawaii.com. If you'd like to be a guest, underwriter, or volunteer, or if you wanna join us in our downtown studio in Pioneer Plaza, contact Jay at thinktechhawaii.com. If you want the links to our live streams or our previous broadcasts on ustream.tv or youtube.com, just go to thinktechhawaii.com. Go there and to our Facebook page and tell them you like us. We'd love for you to like us. And of course, I'll see you in two weeks for more Voice of the Veteran on Think Tech. Tune in and tell your friends to tune in as well. I'm Helen Dora Haydn, veteran advocate. Aloha everyone.