08/04/2026
Parishioner Sungyull Koo offers a spiritual reflection: "Seventy Thousand Miles of Grace"
What began as a simple act became a journey we never planned.
An unexpected prize from a golf tournament led to a thought—
give it away.
So my wife Changwha and I donated to a small elementary school in Readsboro, Vermont, in honor of a young soldier who had never returned from the Korean War.
We did not know then that this humble beginning would carry us across all fifty states.
Over the next four years, we drove more than seventy thousand miles.
Across mountains and deserts, through small towns and long empty roads,
in all kinds of weather and uncertainty—and yet, not once did we have an accident.
Not once were we harmed.
When I look back now, I cannot explain it as chance alone.
How could we drive seventy thousand miles without a single incident?
I can only believe that God was with us every mile of the way.
We were not searching for monuments.
We were searching for people.
We met children in their classrooms, listening with bright eyes to stories of courage.
We met families who still carried the memory of sons and brothers who never returned.
And along the way, I found myself praying often.
Not asking for anything.
Only saying thank you.
It became my way of praying.
Thank you for the road.
Thank you for the people we met.
Thank you for the kindness we did not expect.
Thank you for bringing us safely home, again and again.
I have come to believe that we are given far more than we could ever ask for.
Now, as I face illness, I find myself at peace.
Our journey had been completed.
The road had been traveled.
The children had heard the stories.
I once called this illness my “badge of honor.”
I understand it differently now.
It is a reminder
of those who gave everything,
and of how much has already been given to me.
When I think back, I see again that small town in Vermont where it all began.
Readsboro.
We did not know how far the road would lead.
But now I know this:
Seventy thousand miles was not our achievement.
It was simply our way of saying
Thank you.
Sungyull and Changwha Koo established the 6.25 Foundation to honor the sacrifice of American soldiers who gave their lives in the Korean War (June 25, 1950 – July 27, 1953) by visiting their hometown elementary schools across all 50 states, dedicating library plaques, and making donations in their memory.
Corporal Barlow, MIA, a medical aidman, was tending to the wounded comrades. 6.25 Foundation honored him on July 15, 2021.
