THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SERVICE

The Significance of Service BY T . J . KIM ‘22

The beauty in a portrait is in simplicity . Two materials, brushes and paint, display the story of a person’s life . One simple pose represents the entirety of accomplishments that someone achieved . The portrait of U .S . Marine 1st Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez hangs in my father’s office and, Lt . Lopez not being a widely known figure, I was intrigued to learn who he was .

Baldomero Lopez lead his platoon during the amphibious assault at the Incheon Landing during the Korean War . His platoon boat hit the seawall at Incheon, and he began to climb, using a ladder . As he got to the top, enemy fire sprayed everywhere . He then pulled the pin of a grenade and prepared to throw it, but he was shot in that arm, causing him to drop the grenade into the boat where his platoon waited . Lopez, being too severely injured to pick up the grenade to throw it, chose to sacrifice his own life to protect his Marines . He crawled towards the grenade, swept it under his body, and absorbed the full impact of the explosion . Little did I know at the time that that story would shape not only my view on leadership but also my own personal views on the world . The power of service to others goes far beyond the action being done . Service affects generations of people . Service inspires . Service brings humans together . Service creates opportunities for others, such as mine . Through continuing to hear stories of the Korean War and my history, I learned that I was never supposed to be here . On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea and started the Korean War . In two months, the North Koreans marched all the way through South Korea leaving the city of Pusan . There, United Nations and South Korean forces formed a 140-mile line around Pusan, creating the Pusan Perimeter . Together, they fought a month-long battle before pushing the North Koreans out . Over 4,500 Americans died in the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter, and 12,000 were wounded . That battle is personally significant to me because my grandfather was born two months after that very battle in that very city . If those 4,500 American soldiers had not protected Pusan with their lives, then North Korea would have controlled the whole of the Korean Peninsula . If that were the case, my grandfather would have grown up in Communist North Korea . My whole family would have too, including me . Instead of attending a prestigious school with a world of possibilities in front of me, I would have been a brainwashed, malnourished teenager in a home without water or electricity and living in constant fear of being sent to an imprisonment camp . No freedom is free . Those soldiers impacted not only my family but also the country of Korea as a whole . Their service gave an innumerable number of opportunities to an uncountable number of people . Humans have the incredible power to change and influence the lives of others . Everyone is in the position they are in, in part because of help from others . We all get to have our experiences because of those people, and we can all pay it forward by changing the lives of those around us . Humans were made for connection, and that is why I believe that the meaning of life is to serve . Leaders bring people together to foster that service-oriented connection while belonging to that community as well and acting in the same manner . People may not remember what you accomplished, but they will always remember how you made them feel .