IN 1950 WHEN COMMUNIST CHINA AND NORTH KOREA PUSHED BACK THE UN FORCES IN DECEMBER 1950–THE PLIGHT OF NORTH KOREAN CHRISTIAN REFUGEES WAS IN PERIL ALONG WITH US FORCES–UNTIL ANOTHER CHRISTMAS MIRACLE SAVES THEM THROUGH THE NOW KOREAN WAR HERO HYUN BONG HAK IN DECEMBER 19-24–AS A KOREAN MOVIE ODE TO MY FATHER MAKES THE TRIBUTE TO THE SACRIFICE OF THOSE FOR THE MANY IN DANGER

United Nations forces fighting North Korea and China had their backs to the icy waters of the East Sea in Heungnam, a town in North Korea’s South Hamgyeong Province. It was mid-December 1950, at the height of the Korean War.
Thousands of beleaguered U.S. Army soldiers, marines, their South Korean counterparts and thousands more refugees fleeing the onrush of communist troops gathered at the port, to be evacuated by sea to Busan. Top Allied commanders feared disaster.
But Hyun Bong-hak was determined to save the troops and the refugees. The 28-year-old medical doctor was the Civil Affairs deputy and a translator for Maj. Gen. Edward Almond, commanding officer of most of the encircled troops there.
Hyun’s efforts, combined with those of sympathetic U.S. officers and the U.S. Navy, resulted in the Heungnam evacuation.
From Dec. 19-24, 1950, approximately 105,000 troops and 98,000 civilians were rescued in what is remembered by some survivors as a “Christmas miracle.” The last ship to leave port, the Meredith Victory, took 14,000 refugees to safety. 

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When we were little, Christmas meant decorating the tree, making holiday cookies, singing Christmas carols while our older sister played the piano, and most of all, receiving presents from Santa Claus.
By the time we were adolescents, Christmas became more like Thanksgiving ― a time for reflection and gratefulness. Our father, the late Dr. Hyun Bong-hak, always brought home foreign students who didn’t have a place to go for the holidays.
Our father didn’t talk about growing up in Korea ― other than telling us he was poor and had to walk miles to school in cold weather. It wasn’t until years later that we discovered that he conceived of the Heungnam Evacuation, which saved the lives of 100,000 civilians.
During the Korean War, our father served as a civil affairs Adviser to Maj. Gen. Edward M. Almond to help rebuild Hamheung, North Korea. Christianity had a strong foothold in Hamheung, so when the Americans liberated Hamheung from the communists, they were embraced by the locals.
Shortly thereafter, the U.N. forces began to retreat. This was disastrous for the Christians, local government leaders and anyone working for the U.N. Forces, as all would be tortured and massacred by the communists. Our father advocated for a civilian evacuation, stating, “It didn’t seem fair to me that those who had risked communist retaliation by cooperating with the Americans should be abandoned so readily.”

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150105001037