Mystery of Kim Huchun’s whereabouts now solved

Kim Huchun, who spent six years in Minneota before graduating from Minneota High School in 1959, enlisted in the U.S. Army and his whereabouts after that have remained somewhat of a mystery until a recent discovery.
Kim’s daughter, Ava Huchun of New Jersey, was researching her family online and came across a story the Mascot published in September of 2021 with the help of Royal and Charlie Hettling, who operate the Vietnam Memorial History Museum in Minneota.
Huchun’s granddaughter, Tess, then sent an email to Royal and also to this reporter wondering if the search was still on for her grandfather.
Huchun came to Minneota in 1953 to live with the Charles Dirckx family when he was 13 years old. Dirckx had met Huchun in Korea when he was stationed there during the war.
“My father used to be an errand boy for some of the U.S. camps,” explained Ava Huchun. “Charles always appreciated how hard he worked and knew that his parents were deceased. Charles needed help on the farm, so he brought my father to the United States to live with his family and go to school.”
Although the Minneota yearbook lists Huchun as an AFS student, Ava said that is not correct.
“He was not an AFS student and he didn’t like being called a foster child,” she said. “My father said Charles Dircks was his sponsor.”
Huchun’s parents both passed away a few years apart at young ages from illnesses. That was why Dirckx, who passed away in 2014, decided to bring Huchun back to the U.S.
The Hettling’s museum has a rifle on display that Huchun was assigned to him during the Vietnam War. Huchun gave the rifle to Dr. William Merritt, a longtime Minneota veterinarian, as a gift when he returned from the war. Huchun had joined Merritt’s boxing club and also did work on his farm. Dr. Merritt’s son, Rick, eventually donated the rifle to the museumAfter Kim graduated from Minneota, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and then entered Officer Candidate School (OCS) in 1966. He then enlisted in the Vietnam War in 1969 as a captain and was eventually an Armor Officer that headed tank units. He remained in the military until he retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1983.
After obtaining his Masters degree in History at Parks College, MO, Huchun moved back to Seoul, South Korea in 1977 with his wife, Wonja. He formed his own company with his son called Weibel, a Dutch National Defense Equipment Company. Now 81 years old and having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease 15 years ago, Kim currently works for Texas Instruments in Korea.
“The disease affected his body, but his brain is as sharp as a tack,” Ava said. “He didn’t want to use a walker, but we insisted. He walks laps around the house with it now. He also has a stationary bike in his living room. He’s that determined to keep going.”
Doctors attributed his Parkinson’s to Agent Orange exposure from his time in Vietnam, Ava said.
“He is the strongest, hardest working man I’ve ever known. But he broke when Tess (Ava’s daughter) was accepted into West Point. It’s one of the only times I’ve ever seen him cry,” she added.
“My father said the reason he enlisted in the Army was to gain access to become a United States citizen,” said Ava, who also served in the U.S. Army and retired as a colonel. “Our whole family is involved in the military.”
Ava’s husband, James, spent 23 years as a military policeman and is currently an Associate Professor of Economics at West Point where Tess is now in her second year.
Kim and his wife, Wonja, had three children. Ava and her twin sister, Teresa, both became doctors. Ava was an ophthalmologist and Teresa a radiologist. Their older brother, Joseph, is a businessman.
Out of respect for Kim Huchun, Ava kept her maiden name when she married James Walker, and Tess hyphenated her last name to Huchun-Walker.
“My father taught us the value of hard work and how education is important,” Ava said. “He is extremely intelligent, very ethical, has unbelievable morality and strength, and never complains.”
Ava said the family is planning to return to Minneota with her father some day so they can see where he lived and graduated from.
“I think that would mean a lot to him,” she said.