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Is Merrill Newman a hero all over again?
Merrill Newman is a Korean War veteran awarded the Silver Star as an infantry officer who led a raid against the Chinese.
Now he has returned to North Korea as a Christian missionary who hoped to meet with North Korean veterans and pray for the souls of those who died in the war. I'm an atheist who thinks missionaries who go into unwelcome areas are kinda misguided for doing so, but in his case I can see him doing it out of a sense of tremendous emotional baggage the war left him with. He had to have known he was taking a risk going back to a country that is still technically at war with NATO. I'm not sure if that makes him a hero, but at least its admirable. I hope he makes it home for Christmas.