They Came from Thailand, the Land of Smiles. In Korea, They Became “Little Tigers.” On a Korean hill under Chinese attack, a mortar shell destroyed a Thai soldier’s bunker, disabled his machine gun and wounded him. The Thai soldier returned to the position with a carbine. Then he found another heavy machine gun, took it apart and carried it forward in several trips. He reassembled it on a destroyed bunker and fired at the advancing attackers. This was Pork Chop Hill, Korea, on 1 November 1952. The soldier was Private Chuerak Kichprachoom. His Silver Star citation records those actions. He belonged to the Thai battalion attached to the U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. That November, Chinese troops repeatedly attacked the hill. Bombardments damaged the defenses. The fighting reached close quarters. The Thais fought back with American artillery support, counterattacks and hand-to-hand combat. They held the position. South Korea’s veterans ministry remembers this defense as the battle that earned the Thai soldiers their nickname: “Little Tigers.” Thailand sent 6,326 personnel to the Korean War. South Korean records list 129 killed, 1,139 wounded and five missing across the war—not this battle alone. Behind the nickname were men who had crossed the sea to fight in another country, and families waiting for them to return. From South Korea, I offer my deepest gratitude to Thailand’s Korean War veterans and to the Thai people. How many people remember that Thai soldiers stood against Chinese attacks on Korea’s hills?