An official website of the United States government         Here's how you know         
**Official websites use .mil**
A **.mil** website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
**Secure .mil websites use HTTPS**
 A **lock (lock )** or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to main content (Press Enter).

National GuardAlways Ready Always There

National Guard

                - 

Search

Search
Search

-  Home		 
-  News    -  Guard News         
  -  Overseas Operations         
  -  State Partnership Program         
  -  News Features         
  -  RSS Feeds         
  -  Press Releases         
  -  Transcripts 
-  Features    -  Features by Year         
  -  Posture Statement         
  -  State Partnership Program         
  -  Special Features 
-  About the Guard    -  How We Began         
  -  Air National Guard         
  -  Army National Guard      -  DEERS Soldier Journey         
    -  Leader Development Program 
  -  History and Heritage         
  -  I am the Guard         
  -  NGB Official March 
-  Leadership    -  CNGB         
  -  VCNGB         
  -  SEA         
  -  DANG         
  -  DARNG         
  -  Joint Staff      -  J-1         
    -  J-2         
    -  J-3         
    -  J-4         
    -  J-5         
    -  J-6         
    -  J-7         
    -  J-8         
    -  Personal Staff        -  Inspector General         
      -  General Counsel         
      -  Public Affairs         
      -  Executive Support Services         
      -  Legislative Liaison 
    -  Special Staff        -  National Guard Office of Special Victims' Counsel         
      -  Office of the Provost Marshal         
      -  Office of the Joint Surgeon         
      -  Director of Acquisitions         
      -  Small Business Programs         
      -  Chaplain         
      -  Senior Leader Management Office         
      -  Diversity Equity Inclusion 
    -  Comptroller 
-  Resources    -  National Defense Strategy Implementation Guidance         
  -  Community Engagement         
  -  FOIA         
  -  Fact Sheets         
  -  Helpful Links         
  -  Image Gallery      -  News Images         
    -  Graphics         
    -  Historical Paintings 
  -  Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion         
  -  Legislative Liaison         
  -  Small Business Programs         
  -  Social Media         
  -  State Websites         
  -  Videos      -  Featured Videos         
    -  On Every Front         
    -  2019 Videos         
    -  2020 Videos         
    -  2021 Videos 
  -  Suicide Prevention         
  -  Family Programs         
  -  Environmental         
  -  Trial Defense Service         
  -  Holistic Wellness Challenge 
-  Contact Us		 

Home : News : Overseas Operations

PHOTO INFORMATION

** Download

** Details

** Share

# California National Guard veterans visit Korean school they helped build in 1952

By Walter T. Ham IVEighth Army Public Affairs

GAPYEONG, South Korea - Veterans from the California National Guard's 40th Infantry Division returned to the school they helped to build here for the opening of a museum that chronicles the 62-year relationship between the school and the division.

Accompanied by 40th Infantry Division Deputy Commanding General for Maneuver Maj. Gen. Mark G. Malanka, the veterans received a hero's welcome at the opening of the Kaiser Hall Museum and at the school's graduation ceremony today.

Gapyeong High School Principal Han Byung-heon thanked the veterans and said that the students voted to the name the museum after Los Angeles-native Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Kaiser, the first 40th Infantry Division Soldier to die during the Korean War.

"The U.S. came to our country and shared our suffering during the Korean War," said Han. "They are the only people and country that gave us the chance to have such a great school."

American Soldiers from the 40th Infantry Division took part in some of the fiercest fighting of the Korean War, including the Battles of Sandbag Castle and Heartbreak Ridge. In 1952, the division defended Gapyeong, a strategic town located along the mountainous eastern flank of the South Korean capital city of Seoul. 

Then division commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Cleland, saw more than 150 South Korean students studying in a tent near artillery fire. The general decided that the students needed a real school. His Soldiers donated $2 each to the school and the division helped with its construction.

South Korean school officials originally wanted to call it the Cleland School but the general insisted that they name the school after Kaiser.

The division's relationship with the school continued after the Korean War. After Cleland retired from the Army, he also donated part of his pension to the Kaiser School. 

Today, the 40th Infantry Division maintains its 62-year relationship by returning to the school each year and donating scholarships to its students.

Much like the rest of South Korea in the six decades since the brutal war, Gapyeong High School has flourished and excelled. The school that started in a tent now graduates 900 students a year and is one of the top five high schools in South Korea.

Korean War veteran Dave Pressey presented a plaque to Principal Han on behalf of the 40th Infantry Division Veterans Association.

A former infantry Soldier from Ojai, Calif., Pressey came ashore at Incheon and fought in the Taebaek Mountains during the Korean War. 

"The Korean people have risen from the ashes," said Pressey outside the new museum that honors his division's six-decade relationship with the school. "They're fantastic."

**                    SHARE                

**                    PRINT