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| Mike Muller, left, a retired lieutenant-general who participated in the 1950-53 Korean War as a pilot with No. 2 Squadron of the South African Air Force, receives face masks sent by the Korean government to protect foreign veterans from COVID-19, at his home in Pretoria, South Africa, June 8. Defense attache to the Korean Embassy in South Africa Col. Lee Byung-chul delivered masks to South African veterans including Muller. Courtesy of Korean Embassy in South Africa |
By Jung Da-min
Mike Muller, 89, is a retired lieutenant general and South African war veteran who participated in the 1950-53 Korean War as a pilot with 2 Squadron of the South African Air Force (SAAF) nicknamed the Flying Cheetahs. At the time, Muller was a 21-year-old second lieutenant of the South African military.
Like many of his fellow servicemen, he had never heard of Korea before the war broke out, but seven decades on, Muller says he still vividly remembers his time in Korea during the war. In 1951, he was flying a P-51 Mustang, on missions disrupting the supply routes of the North's Korean People's Army (KPA), after joining the U.S. Air Force's 18th Fighter Bomber Wing.
"I arrived in Korea on May 19, 1951, and left after I had to abandon my aircraft ... My last mission was on Oct. 3 that year," Muller told The Korea Times in a recent video interview. He said he had three missions left when he reported back to the commanding post but could not complete them after being shot down.
That was during his 72nd mission on the peninsula and his F-51 Mustang crashed in a region north of Pyongyang, occupied by communist forces. He had to jump from the cockpit of his fighter and parachute into in enemy territory.
Fortunately, after about four hours, he was rescued by an S-51 Sikorsky helicopter dispatched from the U.S. Navy's dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall.
Muller said the SAAF pilots were experienced and quickly adapted to the situation on the Korean Peninsula, as a leading air force of World War II, but they still suffered heavy losses in Korea, with 23 pilots killed in action.
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| Mike Muller, a retired lieutenant-general who participated in the 1950-53 Korean War as a pilot with No. 2 Squadron of the South African Air Force, talks during a recent video interview with The Korea Times. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-min |
After returning to South Africa and serving in various posts in the SAAF, he became the chief of the Air Force in 1979. He reached the rank of lieutenant general when he retired in 1984, and later served as an ambassador to Chile.
His leadership as a second lieutenant leading a fighter formation of the SAAF during the 72 air attack missions was recognized by the governments of South Korea and the U.S. as well as South Africa, for which he has been awarded medals.
Muller said the South Korean government has treated him very well and he traveled to South Korea three times at its invitation. His latest visit was in 2016.
"Each time I return to Korea to see the immense development that has happened in between each time, I was absolutely amazed by the speed of the development and was pleasantly surprised," Muller said.
He also thanked the South Korean government for sending him face masks for protection from COVID-19 this year and said, "I wish you would fully recover from the encounter with this dreadful disease now."
Since May, the South Korean government has been providing face masks to Korean War veterans in 22 countries as an act of gratitude for their sacrifices for and contributions to the nation, as it marks the 70th year since the war broke out. In the three-year Korean War, more than 1.9 million service members from 22 U.N. member states took part and 37,902 of them died.
Australian veteran Norman Lee, 90, a retired commodore of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), also received face masks from the South Korean government. Having visited South Korea two times after the Korean War, in 2002 and in 2013, he said he thinks the country has done remarkably well to recover.
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| Norman Lee, left, a retired commodore of the Royal Australian Navy who participated in the 1950-53 Korean War, talks with Col. Kwon Tae-sub, defense attache with the Korean Embassy in Australia, at his residence in Kandra, May 27, after Kwon delivered face masks sent by the Korean government to help protect foreign veterans from the COVID-19 pandemic. Courtesy of Korean Embassy in Australia |
During a recent phone interview with The Korea Times, Lee looked back on the very first time he saw the South Korean capital, Seoul. In October 1951, Lee arrived in Korea aboard Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney, as a 21-year-old sub lieutenant with the RAN. He then flew to Gimpo, southwest of Seoul, aboard a two-seat carrier-borne fighter Fairey Firefly on a mission to deliver mail ashore.
"When I saw Seoul for the first time, every building had a hole in it, no building was more than two stories high and the one bridge across the Han River was broken in the river," Lee said. "And when I went back again ― I've been back to South Korea twice since the war, with the department of veterans' affairs ― I encountered 19 bridges across the Han River, all high-rise buildings, all the traffic jams and Seoul is a very, very busy city."
Lee said he was especially impressed when taking a high-speed train to Busan during one of his visits to South Korea.
In fact, back in 1951 when he was told to join the patrol missions on the west and south coasts of the peninsula after joining the Australian naval air squadron, he had little knowledge about the nation as he had not heard of it before.
"We were based alternately in Kure and Sasebo, Japan. And we did seven patrols on the coasts of the Korean Peninsula, each patrol lasted 10 days. Then we spent seven days in Japan. And we operated mainly in the west coast of Korea and we went around once to the east coast, to the North Korean city Hungnam," Lee said.
"I can remember distinctively, returning back to a ship, thinking to myself, what am I doing, 10,000 miles away from home … in Korea."
But participating in the Korean War had a great impact in his life later, Lee said, and he enjoyed visiting South Korea again and meeting South Koreans who deeply appreciated his commitment and sacrifice during the war.
"During the time of war, I only had very brief contact with Koreans. When I went to Gimpo, I had to stay overnight, and some Korean girls brought a bottle of water for me to wash. That was the only contact I had with Koreans during the war," Lee said. "When I visited South Korea again… I had a lot of contact with Koreans and I find Korean people very friendly and also they really appreciated our efforts in the country."
