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It was an uncommon opportunity for me to watch in person a U.S. Eighth Army Change of Command Ceremony, in 2024, in which Lt. Gen. (LTG) Willard M. Burleson, III, the longest-Korea-assigned (three-and-a-half years) outgoing 35th Commanding General relinquished command to Lt. Gen. Christopher C. LaNeve, incoming 36th Commander on Arbor Day, April 5 in the morning at Barker Field, USAG Humphreys in Pyeongtaek. I was honored to watch the parade there per proxy of the Korea-America Association (KAA), cordially invited by Gen. Paul J. LaCamera, multinational Commander of U.S. Forces Korea, Combined Forces Command and U.N. Command.
It has been about a century and a half since the Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation was signed between the Joseon Kingdom of Korea and the United States on May 22, 1882. Accordingly, Korea dispatched its first ambassador, Park Jeong-yang, to the United States as part of the Korean Legation in Washington in 1887.
The 21st Korea-America Friendship Night ceremony was convened on Dec. 5 at Walker Hall in Grand Walkerhill Seoul, and was sponsored by the Korea-America Association (KAA), chaired by Dr. Choi Joong-kyung. The highlight of the annual dinner event was the 21st Korea-America Friendship Awards. The awardees were chosen as the late Major General (MG) Joseph Pringle Cleland of the U.S. Army and his wife, Florence Emily Cadotte Cleland.
The 60th anniversary represents quite a remarkable span of time and is called a diamond jubilee. Before life expectancy spanned into the so-called contemporary “100-year-old life” era, the time span of 60 years used to be a wonderful celebration event to mark the amazing grace of the longevity of life, as far as my memory goes. Diamond jubilees are to some extent still feted in families, and surely not limited to South Korea.