01/18/2025
From the Archives is a letter written by Sgt. Warren Olson, son of Past National President Hedwig Olson, more than 70 years ago.
The letter begins, "I would like to ask a favor of you, Mom. The Department of the Army is sponsoring a Korean Relief Fund and it has asked us to send form letters to different organizations. Form letters don't show a Korean kid with no shirt or shoes, or 800 students going to school in seven squad tents with no books, paper or pencils, and only seven teachers." He goes on to describe a local orphanage existing in a bombed-out building in which 400 children were living with few blankets or clothing, and nothing else beyond the most basic of necessities.
"The favor is this, Mom," Olson wrote. "If word of (the Army's Korean Relief Fund) comes up with the VFW Auxiliary, please throw your weight behind it. We have built roads and bridges, but this is the first attempt to help the individual children of Korea."
It is estimated that more than 100,000 children were orphaned or permanently separated from their parents during the Korean War.
Olson, a National Line Officer at the time, was supportive of then-National President Agnes Holz's special focus, saving abandoned and orphaned babies and children tragically found wandering South Korea alone, and the letter prompted the Auxiliary to establish the Aid & Education For Korean Children National Program. President Holz even sent Auxiliary representatives to aid a South Korea rescue mission in 1954.
Pictured: National President Hedwig Olson with First Lady Mamie Eisenhower with a "Buddy"® Poppy Child, Korean War orphans in 1950, and Past National President Agnes Holz, each from Celebrate 75 Years: Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW.
