Suffer & Survive
A tribute to my father and family.
As a tribute to my father, Herman van der Leelie, and my family, I decided to write down my father's life story in a book.
Besides various adventures, my father's life also had many turbulent events, in which he managed to escape death several times. Now at the age of 88, he talks openly about his past and also recalls traumatic memories.
How did he, together with his brother, sisters and stepmother, survive the Japanese camp Muntilan as well as the Bersiap period? And what was it like to sail from Batavia on the hospital ship Ophir as a 15-year-old boy and to sail from Amsterdam at the VNS (Vereenigde Nederlandsche Scheepvaartmaatschappij) and the KNSM (Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij)?
In the year 1952, at the age of 21, he went to fight for the freedom of South Korea and joined the 38th Regiment of the 2nd Indianhead Infantry Division. He talks openly about the harsh conditions, how he was injured and what it was like to return to South Korea after 65 years.
He also tells about his experiences as a professional soldier and about his assignment to New Guinea in 1961. He shares the lessons and adventures of his life and how he has dealt with the consequences of various shocking events.
As a war victim, veteran and platoon commander of the Association of Korean War Veterans, he still participates every year in various official ceremonies and commemorations to commemorate and continue to honor the victims and his missing comrades.
