Photo By Sgt. Gun Woo Song | Soldiers from 210th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, take a group photo...... read more read more
DONGDUCHEON, South Korea — Soldiers of the 210th Field Artillery Brigade opened their hearts to their host city of Dongducheon last week during two charity events aimed at helping impoverished citizens.
The first event was the Gyeonggi Province Charcoal Distribution, during which, Thunder Brigade Soldiers helped to deliver 5,000 blocks of charcoal or “yeontan” to under privileged families in the city. Yeontan is a traditional fuel source, but is still used in some homes in Korea as the main source of fuel for cooking and heating.
The Thunder Brigade Soldiers loaded the cylinder-shaped charcoal onto handcarts and delivered it to 25 families in need. The event was sponsored by the Gyeonggi province.
The commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, Maj. Gen. Thomas Vandal, Lt. Col. Timothy Labahn, the deputy commander of the 210th Field Artillery Brigade, Col. Matthew Eichburg, the commander of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, and Mayor Oh Se-chang, the mayor of Dongducheon, came out to show their support for this worthy charity.
Mayor Oh spoke about the relationship between the 2nd Inf. Div. and the city of Dongducheon. “I believe that Dongducheon is where we have the best ROK-US alliance and I hope that this continues” said Oh. “I would like to thank Maj. Gen. Vandal and all the 2nd Infantry Division Soldiers that came out in the cold and our relationship between Dongducheon and 2ID will stay firm”
The second, but no less significant, event was the Dongducheon Volunteer Center Annual Kimchi making charity. Kimchi is a nutritious staple of the Korean diet that is served at nearly every meal.
The Thunder Brigade Soldiers received firsthand experience in making the pungent, yet delicious side dish.The Soldiers chopped, blended, mixed, carried, and bagged 2000 kilograms of Kimchi that will be distributed to about 200 needy families. The Soldiers worked alongside volunteers from the local community.
The director of the Dongducheon Volunteer Center, Mrs. Yi Pok-hui, supervised the operation. She stated that the volunteers from Dongducheon were glad that the Soldiers were there to help. The volunteers donate their time every year to help with the Kimchi event. While many of the Soldiers had tried Kimchi before, the experience of making and trying it fresh was truly unique.
Col. Michael J. Lawson, the commander of the 210th FA Bde., lent his support to the event.
“This is just one of the volunteer programs that we do every year with our Korean friends” said Lawson. He went on to discuss the benefits of volunteer work in the Dongducheon community. “It gives our Soldiers to interact with Koreans in a community setting and lets them see the wonderful interaction that we have”.
The Thunder Brigade conducts volunteer work in Dongducheon and the Gyeonggi province on a consistent basis maintaining a positive relationship with the people of Korea.
Throughout the year, the Soldiers regularly donate their time teaching English to Korean citizens, volunteering at orphanages, and participating in local events and festivals. The positive efforts made by the brigade help to strengthen the ties with the community and to continue to build upon the more than 60 year alliance between the U.S. and the people of South Korea.
| Date Taken: | 11.26.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.26.2014 03:34 |
| Story ID: | 148872 |
| Location: | DONGDUCHEON, 41, KR |
| Web Views: | 108 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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