Chang W. Pak

Mrs. Chang Pak was born April 3, 1935 in Hwa Sun Goon, South Korea during the brutal occupation of her country by Imperial Japan. Having lost both her parents at an early age, she was raised by her maternal grandfather. When she was fifteen, the Korean War began, and her village was occupied by the North Korean Army. All the young men were taken and forced to fight for the North. She and dozens of other teenage girls from her village had their hands tied and were marched north- to an uncertain fate. Several days into the forced march, she seized her chance to escape. Dodging bullets, she ran into the hills, closely pursued by the enemy soldiers. She escaped. She never saw her friends again.

For days, she hid in the hills during daylight and travelled south at night. Chang finally snuck through the front line between the North Korean Army and the American / South Korean Armies and into the Busan Perimeter. She was discovered starving, exhausted and terrified by a patrol of American soldiers from the 24th Infantry Division. Evacuated from the front line, she was cared for by U.S. medics and nursed back to health.

She immediately joined the all-volunteer “Korean Augmentation to the United States Army” (KATUSA) group. The KATUSA’s carried food, water and ammunition up the mountains to the American and Colombian soldiers on the front lines. On the return journey, they moved wounded soldiers back to the aid stations. During these trips, the KATUSA’s were often under enemy fire. They suffered tremendous casualties within their own ranks. After the Allies managed to break out of Busan, she remained with the KATUSA’s. Her KATUSA’s group supported a battalion of soldiers from Colombia. During the war, she gained a fluency in Spanish that she maintained for the rest of her life. On very rare occasions, she would mention how sad she remained for all the soldiers and her friends that were either wounded or killed.

Changs’ experience as a teenager helping Americans defend her country against aggression engrained in her an enduring love for the United States. After the war, she was happily reunited with her grandfather. Later. she married, raised three children and started several businesses. Immigrating to the U.S. in 1981, she worked as a cook and a tailor. An extremely devoted grandmother, she invested a significant portion of her later years being a part of their everyday life and upbringing. She was a fan of all sports, but football was her passion. A dedicated student of the game, its players, and the strengths and weaknesses of the various teams, she could predict the outcome of games with incredible accuracy. About five years before the Brady era began in New England, she began telling anyone who would listen that “The Patriots are getting better and better, every year!”

Her courage, strength of character, willpower and sense of humor will forever be cherished by all who knew her. Despite the heartbreak and difficulties, she faced in her lifetime, she didn’t have a vindictive bone in her body. She rarely looked back. She was driven by optimism. Chang fully enjoyed the moment she was in. Any adversity she faced was inevitably met with a brief silence, and then a giggle. After that, she would immediately embark, without a word of complaint, but with every bit of her trademark determination to meet the challenge. Her children always figured that she thought up her plans while giggling. Her quiet strength and happy spirit inspired all who knew her. She passed peacefully in her home, surrounded by her children, on July 23, 2018.

The courageous, loving way she faced life will forever be cherished in the lives of her children, Miok Toro & son- in- law Andres Toro of Woodbridge, Virginia, Dong Su Kim & daughter-in-law Un Suk Kim of New London, Connecticut, and Hyon Connelly & son- in- law Peter Connelly of Lorton Virginia and her seven grandchildren (by age): Olivia Toro, Annie Toro, David Kim, Vickie Toro, Jack Connelly, Sarah Connelly and Rebecca Kim.