POHANG, South Korea –
Marines and Sailors assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the 31st MEU, and Marine Corps Installation Camp Mujuk spent a day volunteering with local children at the Pohang Sunrin Aeyukwon Children’s Home in Pohang, South Korea, Aug. 19.
The Sunrin Aeyukwon staff paired 20 school-age children in their foster care program with the 20 Marine and Sailor volunteers for a day to bond, have fun, and learn from one another.
Jung Min Park, current chief of Pohang Sunrin Aeyukwon, welcomed the service members as they arrived and expressed his heartfelt gratitude for their visit.
Park, 63, was a resident during his childhood at Sunrin Aeyukwon, known then as the Marine Memorial Orphanage. During his welcome, he emotionally recounted his fond memories as a child in the 1960s spending time with U.S. Marine volunteers and the lasting impact it had on him. Park explained to the Marines and Sailors that the day they invest would remain significant to the children for many years to come.
“Whenever Marines return to the facility to spend time with children, it feels like our brothers and sisters are here,” Park said.
The Marines and Sailors then toured Pohang Sunrin Aeyukwon and learned from Park about its deep relationship with the U.S. Marine Corps since its founding in 1952 as the Marine Memorial Orphanage. Marines of the 1st Marine Air Wing raised money to buy the land and build the orphanage, as well as collect donation items for children affected by the Korean War. In 1954, U.S. Navy Seabees began construction on an improved two-story wooden structure.
Park said although the modern Sunrin Aeyukwon facility was constructed in 1988, he wishes the original Marine Memorial Orphanage structure could have been relocated to preserve it. He showed the Marines and Sailors where stone markers placed by 1st MAW Marines and the Seabees who built the orphanage still stand at the original site to honor the organization’s beginnings.
Now, more than 70 years later, Marines and Sailors assigned to Camp Mujuk and units who visit for training still carry on the legacy of commitment to the community by volunteering to spend time with children at Sunrin Aeyukwon or care for the facility and grounds.
“It’s important to keep that connection going and have Koreans know that we're still here for them,” said Lance Cpl. Amber Kirkby, a volunteer who serves as a supply administration specialist assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 15, 15th MEU. “As Marines, we're always trying to take care of people around us.”
After their tour of Sunrin Aeyukwon on Aug. 19, the children and volunteers spent the rest of the day together at a local park before visiting the Pohang Space Walk, an outdoor adventure area that features curving walkways along a steel track elevated high over the ground.
The afternoon concluded with the volunteers and children returning to Sunrin Aeyukwon to take photos with their Marine or Sailor before saying their farewells.
“I want to thank [the Marines and Sailors] a lot for coming out here, hanging out with the kids, and bonding with them,” said Yun Taekyung, an English teacher at Sunrin Aeyukwon.
Kirkby said she encourages more Marines and Sailors to participate in volunteer events in the local community whenever they can during the 15th MEU’s busy training schedule in South Korea.
“Spending time with the kids today was really a good time,” Kirkby said. “It’s more of a spiritual fitness thing and doing something that’s not for yourself, but for others.”
Elements of the 15th MEU are currently in South Korea conducting integrated training with the Republic of Korea Marine Corps to contribute toward combined capability in defense of the Korean Peninsula.