6,000 soldiers participate in blood donation drive

Private First Class Jang Ho-joon of the 19th Regiment, 6th Division, 5th Corps rolled up his sleeves on Tuesday to donate blood.

He was the 6,000th and last participant to donate to the corps’ blood drive, which lasted about three months,

“I am doubly happy because I did not just join the meaningful event but also marked the completion of the blood donation event,” he said.

He was awarded a souvenir from the corps commander and a leave of absence.

The Fifth Corps said Sunday that it carried out a blood donation “relay” of 6,000 soldiers as an event to commemorate the 60th anniversary of its establishment. The campaign began on July 1 and took 89 days to achieve its goal.

“We held the event in a bid to build up our image as a unit trusted by our neighboring community on the occasion of the corps’ foundation day on Oct. 1,” an officer of the Fifth Corps said.

The unit is scheduled to give the blood donation certificates to related social service organizations including the Korean Red Cross Blood Services, the Korea Childhood Leukemia Foundation, and a group of leukemia patients, their families and supporters.

The Fifth Corps is the only unit of the army to have been stationed in the same central frontline areas in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, and Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, ever since its establishment on Oct. 1, 1953.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)