School’s Legacy Endures on Two Continents

It was July 13, 1952, and the California National Guard’s 40th Infantry Division was pulled off the front in Korea to regroup in Kapyong, a city in ruins from battles between United Nations forces and communist armies.

With the front lines finally established a safe distance from the city, the seesaw battles early in the war had given way to a desperate hope for normalcy among the city’s residents. As the Americans set up a bivouac area, they were struck by the devastation. No building in the city was intact.

More disturbing to the soldiers, however, was the sight of raggedy children attending school in tents, using crates for desks. In 1952 South Korea, attending school in tents and writing on boxes passed for normal.

Hoping to lift morale and instill a sense of purpose in the battle-weary soldiers, the division’s chaplains “passed the helmet” to collect funds to build a school. It was finished in October 1952 and named the Kenneth Kaiser Middle School in honor of a 19-year-old Los Angeles sergeant who was the division’s first soldier killed in combat in the Korean War.

The 40th Division’s soldiers contributed almost $31,000 in two months for construction of a 10-room middle school, built by the Manhattan Beach-based 578th Combat Engineers Battalion with the help of South Korean labor. At the time, the school was the only modern building in the ravaged city.

Fifty years later, the 40th Division and its soldiers maintain close ties to the school, a reminder of its role in what has been called America’s Forgotten War. Today, the 40th Division will remember not only its dead from Korea and both world wars, but also the school half a world away built for “the future leaders of the Republic of Korea.”

Jung Bun Jo has taught English at the school for eight years.

“Our school is here because of the American soldiers who helped the people of Kapyong,” Jo said in a telephone interview. She praised Maj. Gen. Joseph P. Cleland, the wartime division commander who encouraged the chaplains and soldiers to build the school.

“Gen. Cleland rendered distinguished service to our country and established Kapyong school for cultivating men of ability in Korea. We thank all of the 40th Division,” she said.

A “Tower of Hope” memorial to Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Kaiser Jr., member of B Company 1st Battalion 160th Infantry Regiment, and Cleland stands outside. The U.S. flag still flies over the school alongside the South Korean colors. Members of the division return to Kapyong every year or so, and each time they are greeted as liberators.

Today, the U.S. military will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Korean War, and the 40th Division will remember its victories at the Punchbowl and Heartbreak Ridge.

But its legacy continues at the Kapyong school.

“The school sends a message about the American citizen-soldier, who, after he destroys the enemy helps rebuild the country,” said Brigadier Gen. John Gong, a deputy commander of the division. “We try to show by example that a democratic nation is the best pick of all options.”

It is noteworthy that the school and division have maintained ties for half a century, given that the division left Kapyong two days before the school was dedicated, never to return as a unit. The division had previously served in Korea from September 1945 to March 1946 as an occupation force after World War II.

Retired Maj. Gen. James Delk, former commander of the 40th Division and author of its history, said Southern Californians rallied around the division and school in the 1950s, when South Koreans rebuilt their country after the 1953 armistice.

“A lot of Hollywood celebrities got behind the effort. In April 1954, we collected over 200 tons of clothing, school materials and athletic gear donated by citizens at 43 armories in Southern California,” Delk said.

“As [South] Korea’s economy got stronger, the need for financial assistance lessened.”

Still, when soldiers from the division are sent to South Korea for duty, many make a point of visiting the school, where the 40th Division’s sunburst patch is instantly recognized. On some visits, soldiers also take a financial contribution of about $1,000 and books about the United States for the school library.

When Gong and about 20 former soldiers visited last year, they were greeted by the campus’ 600 students, who lined up and cheered the Americans while a band played.

“It was quite emotional, especially when you see the plaques of Gen. Cleland and Sgt. Kaiser. Then you see Sgt. Kaiser’s photograph inside the school, and you realize that you’re standing in the division’s boot prints, part of its combat legacy.”

Command Sgt. Maj. Stuart Fuller, who was among the soldiers who traveled with Gong, said the students were ecstatic over books he brought with him about the pop vocal groups Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync.

“My visit there was the highlight of my career. It was truly gratifying to see how much these kids appreciate the American soldier,” said Fuller, a Vietnam War veteran.

Although the school has been remodeled and expanded over the decades, the original building constructed by the 578th Engineers, still headquartered at the Manhattan Beach armory, continues to be used. South Korean officials renamed the school the Kapyong Middle School in 1984; it was later renamed again to the Kapyong Comprehensive High School.

The first name change took place over the objections of then-Principal Sheon-ho Kim. In a letter to the division’s then-commander, Maj. Gen. William J. Jefferds, Kim said, “I think it wrong that the name of [the] school, Kaiser, was changed.... I hope the blessing of God would be with Sgt. Kenneth Kaiser forever.

“We Kapyong residents and students never forget the kindness and help of the 40th Infantry Division.”

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The 40th Division’s history and ties to the Kapyong School are on display at its museum at Camp Roberts in Paso Robles. The unit’s Korean War dead will be honored today at the Korean War Memorial at Vandenberg Air Force Base, formerly Camp Cooke, which is where the division trained before it shipped out to the battlefields in Korea.