KIJIN CHO-HAN | 1928-2010: 'Always wanted to say thank you to America for helping during the war'

Kijin Cho-Han survived an ordeal that could have killed an athlete, walking for six weeks through the mountains of Korea to flee war -- in winter, while seven months pregnant and carrying two daughters, then just 2 and 5 years old.

On the road, she gave birth to a third daughter, wrapped her in rags to keep her warm -- and kept walking.

Kijin Cho-Han walked for six weeks through the mountains of Korea to flee war in wintertime, while seven months pregnant and carrying two daughters, 2 and 5.

She credited her survival to God and kind American troops. It wasn't unusual for her daily prayers to last two hours, as she asked God to bless her family and Korea -- and to protect American soldiers everywhere.

Mrs. Han, 82, died of a stroke last week at Central DuPage Hospital.

After the Korean War began in 1950, Mrs. Han, her husband, Tae Young Han, and their family fled south, said her daughter Hannah Mitter.

Hannah was born near the demilitarized zone. Then, the Hans walked south again.

"She just wrapped me in the clothes people threw in the street," her daughter said. "I became blue because it was so cold. There was not much food. My mom said I was all bone. Once, they were so hungry they went out and found horse food -- grain -- and they made a soup."

America's 25th Division arrived near Seoul, so Mrs. Han stationed herself near their base. When a Korean kitchen worker emerged, she showed him her skeletal baby.

"He ran into the kitchen and gave her powdered milk and sugar, and she fed me that."

Mrs. Han ate the Americans' leftovers to regain her strength. She earned money by washing uniforms for U.S. troops and selling them clothes she sewed. "American soldiers would give her blue jeans, chocolate candy," her daughter said.

Mr. Han landed a job driving South Korean forces. To ferry his family to a safe spot in Seoul, "My mother wore a man's uniform and wrapped me in a blanket and put me under her legs, and my two sisters were in the trunk."

After arriving in the United States in 1981, the Hans found jobs at Wheaton College. He was a janitor; she staffed the cafeteria.

"She really enjoyed working there because she went to some of the Billy Graham crusades," said her granddaughter Sarah Mitter.

Mrs. Han was pure love to her grandchildren, Sarah Mitter said.

"When I left the house, she would bless me by saying in Korean, 'Go well, and come back well,' " she said. "Every time I would come home, she would literally cheer, and she would clap and have such a big smile on her face and say, 'Sarah's here -- I'm so happy.'"

Mrs. Han had practical lessons to teach her descendants. Sarah Mitter spent thousands on skin care, only to find her complexion looked better with her grandmother's Korean facial massage and ginseng soap. "She was 82 years old, and her skin looked like a 30-year-old."

Mrs. Han is also survived by her daughters Grace Botello, Hae Sook Han, Jenny Sennis and Kil Yang Chae; sons Kyung Nam Han and Kyung Chual Han; 11 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Services have been held.

"My mother always wanted to say thank you to America for helping during the war," Hannah Mitter said, "and for giving her a good life and old age and for giving a comfortable life to her children."

Hannah Mitter has worked with others to raise money for Korean War veterans. "My life is not just for me," she said. "My life was changed by those soldiers."

As Mrs. Han lay near death, her family blessed her. "I said, 'Thank you so much. You taught me so much,' " Sarah Mitter said. "I said 'You did a good job.'

"She wasn't able to respond. When I looked at her face, I saw a tear in the corner of her eye."

"I took her tear, and I put it on my face."