Of general sheridan, steps in and literally saves the National Parks until another organization can be created. For better or for worse, the army did more than fight indians. The American People have historically had an antipathy of the regular army from our english and revolutionary war traditions. We fear a Standing Army as antithetical to liberty. It is hard for modern observers to realize. Now, the military is one of the most trusted institutions in the United States but that was not the case in the 19th century. Watch our events from Corpus Christi today at 2 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv on cspan3. The korean war veterans digital memorial is an online archive of the soldiers who thought what is sometimes called the forgotten war. The archive includes a collection of oral history interviews that provide eyewitness accounts of the korean war. This month on sundays at 10 00 a. M. American history tv will air a selection of these interviews. We will hear from charles ross, who served as an Army Sergeant and was captured by the chinese. First, a brief conversation from 2013 about the korean war veterans digital memorial with its president jongwoo han. These programs run one hour and 45 minutes. Bill joining us on American History tv is jongwoo han, who is the founder and president of the korean war veterans digital memorial. Thank you for being here. Mr. Han thank you for inviting me. This is a great opportunity. Thank you. Bill what is the war veterans digital memorial . Mr. Han it is a combination database that is composed of interviews and historical artifacts from the korean war veterans who fought from 1950 to 1953 in the korean war. So i do an interview of the korean war veterans about their memories and their sacrifices and also i collect artifacts like photographs they actually took during the war and the letters they wrote to their families and other artifacts like promotion posters, maps and private and public documents that related to their service. Its a database of interviews and historical artifacts. Bill take us back to the beginning. What inspired you and how do you make the initial moves, what did you do first . Mr. Han i do actually teach about the impact of Technology Like the internet or online social media on elections, politics, and democracy, and syracuse university, where i teach, you know, we had very historical project working with one north korean project supported by the american and korean governments and we actually were able to help them establish the Digital Library for the first time in north korean history. And when i ran the lecture series named after the Korean Ambassador who founded the Korean Embassy in 1948, i invited korean war veterans in syracuse and they brought their own pictures that they took. I was thinking how we can preserve this memory forever you know, there is a shortage of the spaces in the physical museum, but if we put it in the cyberspace, theres no limitations whatsoever for temporal and spatial limitations, no. I began to propose, then, why dont we build this cyber shrines of the korean war veteran veterans, which will permanently be there and can be accessible anywhere, any time without much cost. Bill this database, this website, has an incredible amount of oral histories, too. What led you to begin starting to tape the histories of korean war veterans . Professor han because their memories have not been really respected and its not been well preserved. So as a person and a scholar who knows about this strengths of the information technology, i wanted to preserve their memories forever, because even though the korean war was very important because it was the signaling of the cold war that actually shaped the every aspect of our lives, you know, that cold war divided whole world into communism and free democracy and capitalism. And that the korean war was the beginning of it. But not many people Pay Attention to it. And people said its a forgotten war. And the korean war veterans, when they returned from the korean war, theyve been asked, where have you been . Bill whats the average age of a korean war veteran . Professor han 83, so its time to act and collect these interviews and artifacts otherwise we will lose everything. Bill when you started this process, you ask a veteran, can i tell your story, will you tell your story, what was the typical reaction . Professor han i began to work with the syracuse Korean War Veterans Association, they unanimously support my decision and idea to preserve this memory in the cyberspace. Im getting tremendous support from the korean war veterans and Korean War Veterans Association and i dont have any problem to arrange the interview. Im sure of the people who can do the interview. They really want to tell about what they did for the country. Bill how long do these interviews last and where are you now, how many have you done so far . Professor han it all depends on the korean war veterans, but the average length is 30 to one hour sometimes. And i have about 180 interviews, and i have more than 6,000 artifacts stored in my database. Bill and looking at the website the other day myself, its not just the korean war veterans but its also some of the Service Members who served there in different decades, including one in the 1970s and one in the 1980s. Why are you interested in hearing from those folks, as well . Professor han thats a very good question. First of all, the korean war started june 25 of 1950, but the u. S. Government extended up to january 31st of 1955, even though the war ended in july 27th of 1953, so thats the korean war veterans era, but since then, the u. S. Forces has committed until now there are more than 2 million u. S. Forces that actually has served in korean and retired. So i want to include them as a successor of the korean war veteran veterans. And its a u. S. Commitment. And its the extension of the korean war. Bill so youre still continuing doing the interviews. Professor han yes. Bill if folks watching this on American History want to reach out, veterans and others, how do they reach you . Professor han just check the website, my foundations website, www. Kwvdm, david and mary,. Org. Youll see lots of interviews so its their own eyes. And thats where my emphasis goes. Bill that leads me to my next question. How do you think these interviews youve done have led us to a better understanding of i am working with veterans in addition to those in the u. S. They might work with me to collect more interviews. Bill what other countries have significant amounts of korean war veterans . Professor han england is the secondbiggest. Also turkey, thailand, greece, columbia. These are the countries that sent and fought fiercely to defend freedom. There are many countries. Canada, new zealand, australia. These are the countries that sent a lot of soldiers. Bill who is the audience and how do you hope they will best be used . Professor han lets multiply 10 to the korean war veteran family and friends, ok. I told you there are 2 million people. So Big Community. A and also there are many many korean americans here and also americans who are aware of the importance of the korean war. So these, i think, this is a Big Community that Korean People can have in the United States and they are very, very supportive and proud of what korea has produced. So this is a Big Community. Bill we have a couple of minutes left. Lets go back to the photographs on the website, part of the database, and what you said is the start of the whole idea of seeing the photographs of veterans. How do you judge what to put on the website . You said you dont want the dramatic theme ones, the military actions, but the everyday shots