By Tammy Cournoyer
Stars and Stripes
Standing atop a well-tended knoll just outside of Munsan is a monument dedicated to war correspondents who died during the Korean War.
Army Cpl. Ernie Peeler is among the 18 names carved on the monument.
Peeler, 38, was a military journalist covering the war for Pacific Stars and Stripes when he was killed July 10, 1950. It is believed that Peeler died along with another newsman, Ray Richards of the International News Service, when the jeep they were riding in was fired upon by a North Korean tank.
Jim Lea, now Stripes’ Osan bureau chief, was at the monument’s dedication ceremony 23 years ago. He wrote about seeing "Pacific Stars & Stripes" next to Peeler’s name.
"And I’m proud of that," wrote Lea, "not that he died, but that he died where Stripes reporters should always be, with the men they write about."
The monument was erected on Betty Hill, a historic newsgathering site.
Erected by the Korea Journalists Association on April 27, 1977, the monument is nearly 33 feet tall. Its granite base is shaped like a typewriter, while the major part depicts Teletype paper shaped in a symbolic "J" for journalism.
An inscription states, "Their pens now run dry but their righteous spirit will live forever. And their glorious sacrifices will always shine for the cause of justice."