I’m standing in the middle of a group of children. The children are eager to see me and crowd close. They smile and the girls giggle shyly. An elderly man joins me. It is he and others like him who join the present with the past. Decades ago, this man was one of the children crowding close to another American – my father.

In 1950, Army Captain Stephen Holoviak was one of many soldiers engaged in the Korean Conflict. As we know, war is never pretty or without victims, but there were victims my father never expected. While he might have expected to find children who were orphaned by the ravages of war, he did not expect to find abandoned children who were shunned by society because of their heritage.

Touched by the plight of these children, Captain Holoviak established an orphanage. He funded much of the project himself and endowed the orphanage. Today, the orphanage receives support from the government and is supplemented by the endowment that has benefited from the amazing growth of the South Korean economy.

My father’s involvement ended with his death in 1962, but the “waifs” as he called them were always special to him.

Visitors to my office see an official citation hanging on my wall. It is from the president of the South Korean government to my dad for his support and establishment of a home for these children.

One day, Hong Rim, professor in the finance department, who is from South Korea, noticed the citation and I told him the story of my dad’s project. Knowing I was scheduled to speak at a conference in Seoul, Dr. Rim left my office, did some investigating, and came back with information for visiting the facility.

I spoke at the International Industrial Relations Research Association world conference in Seoul, Korea in June. And after the conference I headed for Pusan.

It was an emotional journey for me. I met one of my father’s original waifs who not only called the orphanage his home, but is now a worker there. The current director is the great-grandson of the man who helped my dad start the orphanage. Both men remembered my dad and were delighted to share their stories. What a gift for a man who lost his father when he was but a child.

And then there were the children, 43 in all, 20 boys and 23 girls. The youngest is three, the oldest is a sophomore in college.

The current facility is very modern and the children are well-cared for. And it adheres to the original mission to help orphans regardless of heritage. Each child has a story. One young man, a gifted artist, was found in a trash can.

On my return, I shared my experience with my family. Both my sons are excited not only to visit a piece of their family history but to continue the family involvement. Since the children lack ordinary school suppies and other small items, we are planning, among other things, to send supplies on a regular basis.