Colleen O'Neill's Story
by Bill Sutton
Seventy years ago, Korea found itself in a war against Communism. This year KBS Broadcasting is making a documentary to honor the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the freedom they attained as a result of that hard fought war. American forces were incremental in achieving their freedom for them; the film will be broadcasting all over S. Korea this year once editing is completed.
A naturalized citizen and resident of Astoria, Colleen O'Neill (pictured, inset), was born in Seoul, Korea during the Korean War. Her father was gunned down by a machine gun, and she lost her mother to starvation. Before her mother died, she gave Colleen to a trusted neighbor, but he realized he, too, was going to die the same death, so he turned Colleen over to the Holt Orphanage in Seoul. At that time the orphanage was serving the entire Oriental Eastern Seaboard. Now known as the Holt Foundation, it is currently centered in Portland, Oregon.
As the war ended an Army doctor and his wife, Mike and Mildred O'Neill, wanted to help. They adopted a seriously malnutritioned little girl named Bok Soon Lee, and had her transported to a hospital in New York. It took two years to save her life.
Later she would be learning English, but during the interim they found her singing Japanese lullabies, a result of the previous Japanese occupation of Korea. By the time she was safely at home in Issaquah, Washington, her new name was Colleen Theresa O'Neill.
In 2004 KBS produced a documentary in search of any living relatives who might possess the mitochondrial line of Colleen and her highly famous violist son, Richard O'Neill. The producers are well aware of the O'Neill story.
Because the first documentary went over with such success in Korea, they found it only befitting to continue Colleen's story in this documentary. Richard and his camera crew (the crew is pictured at Astoria Column) landed in Astoria the last week of January, spending four days with Colleen and her soul mate, Bill Sutton. During their off time they toured our coast from the Peter Iredale all the way to Ecola State Park. They truly loved their time here.
They not only interviewed Colleen, but also filmed a very intimate and probing interview with Richard, then another with Bill. Before departing, they also filmed Richard and Bill (on his piano) playing Schubert's "Ave Maria" and Bill's "Jeju," a piece Bill named for South Korea's Jeju Island, South Korea's own little Hawaii.
The documentary probably won't be seen on American TV, but it should be on You Tube.