Busan, South Korea, January 1959: A new artificial leg is fitted to a disabled veteran of the Korean War by Dr. Chung Hie Oh at the National Rehabilitation Center in Pusan [Busan]. After the veteran had become accustomed to wearing, and walking with, the new leg, he would be enrolled in a trade school.

With July celebrating both Disability Pride Month, as well as the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armestice Agreement July 27, 1953, Stars and Stripes’ archive staff thought it a good opportunity to highlight some of the paper’s historic coverage of the aftermath of that war, which meant traumatic and debilitating injuries for many on both sides.

Read the original article on Pusan’s National Rehabilitation Center here. The center was the first such institution in South Korea dedicated to the assistance of those missing limbs, be it due to the Korean War or polio, fitting them with artificial limbs, providing physical therapy, and job training.

Looking for Stars and Stripes’ coverage of the Korean War? Subscribe to Stars and Stripes’ historic newspaper archive! We have digitized our 1948-1999 European and Pacific editions, as well as several of our WWII editions and made them available online through https://starsandstripes.newspaperarchive.com/

related stories

• From the archives, 1959: Pusan center helps disabled to walk again