- Rex Gruber, 95, is a Korean War Marine veteran who grew up in Union, Nebraska, and was wounded in combat
- Eunji Lee, 14, moved to Omaha because her father is stationed at Offutt and met Gruber there — the two are now best friends
- South Korean photographer Rami Hyun traveled to Omaha to photograph Gruber and preserve his story for future generations
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) – A 95-year-old Korean War veteran from Union, Nebraska, received 8 pages of handwritten thank-you letters from students in South Korea — all because of a friendship with a 14-year-old girl whose father is stationed at Offutt Air Force Base.
Rex Gruber, a U.S. Marine veteran, met Eunji Lee at Offutt, where her father, Jinki Lee, serves in the South Korean military. The two quickly became close friends despite an 80-year age gap.
"Rex as my best friend because I have to honor him and it's my duty and all the Korean people's duty because he's our hero," Eunji said.
After Gruber spoke at StratCom about his service in the Korean War, Eunji recorded it and sent it to her school in South Korea. Her classmates responded with letters filling 8 pages.
"By the time I read the eight pages, it made tears come to my eyes because all them little kids over there, her school kids wrote nice letters to me," Gruber said.
Gruber grew up in Union, Neb., and joined the Marines before being wounded in Korea.
"I went in the Marines then and then and I didn't get back to Union until I was wounded," Gruber said.
His daughter, Rexann McCord, said his willingness to talk about the war is relatively recent.
"Growing up, he never talked about the Korean War. Probably in the last maybe 20 years does he talk about it," McCord said.
To document Gruber's story, Eunji organized a photo session in August 2026 at Field Club in Omaha. The photographer, Rami Hyun, traveled from South Korea specifically to photograph Korean War veterans and preserve their stories for future generations.
"In the Korean War we learned just number, location, and battle, not individual stories," Hyun said.
Hyun said his work gives veterans something they deserve to feel.
"They see not that normal grandfather or just old guy, they feel they are deserve to call hero. They automatically change it they got honor," Hyun said.
When asked about his role in that transformation, Hyun was modest.
"I just click it," Hyun said.
Hyun photographed Gruber solo and then with family — both by blood and by choice.
Jinki Lee said Gruber embraces the connections he makes.
"He really loves to meet people and sharing his story," Jinki said.
Gruber and Eunji plan to keep spending time together. She said she has already invited him to an upcoming event.
"I'm going to, I have a homecoming in a month. I'll take him as my partner," Eunji said.
Eunji described their unlikely bond using a simple analogy.
"Our age gap is like 80 years, and I know I'm Korean, he's American, and we are like identity and every personality is totally different, but we became friends and best friends because you know the magnets N and S is totally different, but they belong together," Eunji said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
