OTTAWA - Veterans of the Korean War are hoping the better part of history repeats itself for Canadian soldiers currently in Afghanistan.
As they mark the 55th anniversary of the end of what was once Canada's "forgotten war,'' many of the men who fought for freedom in South Korea are drawing parallels between the Afghanistan of today and the Korea of yesteryear.
"In 1950, Korea was totally destroyed,'' recalls Mike Czuboka of Winnipeg, who operated an 81mm mortar launcher during his time in the south Asian country.
"There was nothing there. It was just rubble.''
Today, Seoul and Pusan are thriving, modern cities, says Czuboka, who returned to South Korea this month as part of a commemorative visit arranged by Veterans Affairs Canada.
South Korea's vibrant economy stands in stark contrast to that of North Korea, where nearly two million people reportedly starved to death in the late 1990s due to severe food shortages.
International aid groups warn the present situation in the North may dwarf those numbers as 6.5 million people face food shortages and starvation.
"Had we not gone to Korea, the whole country would have been Communists, and presumably under the same economic circumstances,'' said Czuboka.
"The country has really pulled up its bootstraps,'' says retired Maj. Eric Devlin, 89, who revisited South Korea five years ago.
The men who served in Korea went for many of the same reasons that Canadian soldiers today volunteer for tours of duty in Afghanistan, say the veterans.
They wanted to help people, and hoped for a better, brighter future for the country's inhabitants.
Under the Taliban, and during the civil war and Soviet occupation that preceded their rule, Afghanistan's economy was devastated.
Millions of refugees fled to neighbouring Pakistan and elsewhere, but tens of thousands have since returned to raise families and restart businesses, particularly in the capital, Kabul, where the population now lives in relative security.
The hope is that Canadian and other NATO soldiers currently in Afghanistan can help that country rebuild just as South Korea has flourished since the end of the war, say the Korean veterans.
There are differences, however, and no way of drawing exact parallels between the two wars, says veteran Roy Jardine of Calgary.
Korea offered hilly terrain with much tree cover, recalled Jardine, known to his comrades as Buck.
Afghanistan, with its arid mountains and hot desert, provides soldiers with little cover and a much different landscape to traverse.
"You have these sneak attacks on people who are doing nothing more than just driving down the road,'' Jardine said of the roadside bomb tactics being deployed by insurgents in Afghanistan.
"We were just keeping (the North Koreans) from coming any further south in those days,'' Jardine recalled from his time in Korea.
Canadian troops stationed in Korea also seemed to have more, if not better equipment, said Jardine.
There are other significant historical differences between the countries as well.
The Korean War lasted about three years, following more than a decade of post-Second World War tensions and a political tug-of-war between China and Japan that began in the late 1800's.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, has endured centuries of clashes between its two main tribal clans, not to mention countless invasions from neighbouring countries hoping to control key trading routes.
A ceasefire was declared in the Korean War 55 years ago Sunday, although it wasn't officially recognized in Canada as anything more than a "conflict'' until the start of the new century.
From June 25, 1950, when South Korea faced the threat of a full-blown invasion by North Korea, until July 27, 1953, when the Korean War Armistice was signed, more than 26,000 Canadians were involved in the United Nations mission.
A further 7,000 Canadians served between the time of the ceasefire and the end of 1955, keeping peace between the two nations at the height of the Cold War.
In all, 516 Canadians died and more than 1,200 were seriously wounded.
Three Canadian destroyers were dispatched to Korean waters early in the conflict to serve under UN command, along with a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron.
However, it wasn't until December 1950 that troops from the 252nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry arrived at Pusan.
A number of remembrance ceremonies marking the Armistice are planned across Canada, including events in Halifax and Yarmouth, N.S., Brampton, Ont., Paradise, N.L., Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Lethbridge, Alta.
