[Pann] Army comes together for a fellow soldier in need

Pann: Soldier spends his first break off working at a construction site

Having enlisted while leaving his sick grandmother behind, soldier Lee Jun Ho was granted a special leave by his unit to look after her.

The soldier worked at a construction site to quickly make $150 so that he could afford to take her to the hospital for treatment. The doctor diagnosed her with malnutrition and a fever, saying, "How did you let her get to this point?" On the last day of his leave, he paid off their late gas bills and left his remaining bills in her hands.

Since high school, Jun Ho was the family's sole breadwinner. His parents got divorced when he was nine, and he lost contact with his mother while his father ran away from home after a failed business venture. After school, he worked as a janitor at a fast food restaurant until midnight before getting up at four the next morning to deliver newspapers. After he graduated high school, he worked as a waiter at a Japanese restaurant for 12 hours a day. Two years ago, his grandfather passed away, and it was through the help of 119 that he was able to hold his funeral alone. "I cried a lot then because I was upset that I couldn't even treat my grandfather out to dinner before he passed."

Soon after, he had to enlist in the army. Jun Ho had managed to save $3,000 for his grandmother to use while he was in service and gave it to her before he left. Unfortunately, his father had come by while he was gone and had taken all of the money, leaving the grandmother with no money to pay her gas bills, which eventually led to her catching a fever.

While in service, Jun Ho would often choke back tears because of how worried he was about his grandmother, and his fellow soldiers would catch him and tease him about it. After his first leave, Jun Ho's worries worsened and his fear of her passing away made him desperate to look for a solution. He approached his squad commander and told him about his situation. "Jun Ho was always kind and would take on any work that needed to be done so I was surprised to hear that he had so many hardships."

After hearing about his situation, his entire unit set out to help him. The unit would send out designated seniors to check on his grandmother's home and they helped him get his father's name off of their family papers so that she could receive $150 from the government in welfare. The unit even granted him a special leave to spend a few days with her.

The 350 soldiers in the unit took cuts out of their own pay to save up $1,500 to donate to Jun Ho, but it unfortunately still wasn't enough for the grandmother to live on until Jun Ho's discharge. They then reached out for help from other charity organizations to ensure that the grandmother would be able to pay her bills for the 20 months her grandson would be away, which totaled to $8,400.

Jun Ho had claimed that he didn't like receiving help from others in the past, even refusing allowance money from his high school homeroom teacher, but all that's changed now. "I've realized that the help I receive from people now can be returned to those in need when I'm able to later." His unit is currently working to file Jun Ho for an early discharge due to family issues but Jun Ho said he will be finishing the full extent of his service. "Military service is something any Korean man needs to fulfill. Whenever I end up discharging, I'm going to work a hundred times harder than anyone else until then." As for his future? "I dream of learning Japanese culinary and becoming a chef."

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1. [+126, -0] It's men like him who need military exemption, but that fuc*ing MC Mong bastard

2. [+95, -0] The government only assisted $150 a month wow ㅠㅠ and how is that even a father... He saved up all that money to give to his grandmother before he enlisted and the father had the nerve to take it all? Disgusting

3. [+76, -2] I'm sure he could've asked for an exemption with a situation like that but he's serving active duty ㅋㅋㅋ

4. [+25, -0] His father's worth less than an insect

5. [+17, -0] Because of bastards like MC Mong, people who shouldn't have to serve end up having to serve

6. [+16, -0] People like him should be given exemptions... there's something clearly wrong with our country when people like him don't get the help they need.

7. [+12, -0] I hope that bastard MC Mong is reading this

8. [+8, -0] His father's trash ㅡㅡ

9. [+6, -0] I hope a famous Japanese restaurant owner reads this article and hires him ㅠㅠ I'm sure he'd be a hard worker judging by how he's taken care of his grandmother up till now ㅠㅠ

10. [+5, -0] Sad reality is that no matter how hard his situation is, if he served public service or got exempted, it'd be even harder for him to find a job because most companies prefer someone with active duty experience. That's why there are so many people who serve in active duty who shouldn't have to.. even people with health issues like problems with their arms, legs, or back. I even remember someone who was mildly retarded insisting on active duty all because it's easier to find a job afterwards...

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