Edina Rotarian receives Medal of Honor from Korean government

At the Rotary Club of Edina meeting on August 15, 2013, long time member Harold Harris received a special recognition from the Korean government of Korea and its people.

Harris was presented with the Korean Medal of Honor for his military service during the Korean War and this contribution to restoring peace and democracy in Korea over 60 years ago.

Harris has been a member of the Rotary Club in Edina since 1994.

Presenting the award was Woodrow Wooj Byun.  Byun was born in Korea and is also a past president of the Rotary Club.  In his presentation, Byun shared that “I would not be standing here if Minnesota didn’t send over 9,000 solders among whom over 4,000 of them lost either their lives or were seriously wounded to Korea in 1952 alone.”  He also noted that “since then, South Korea’s economy made a meteoric jump from the bottom 10 to the top 10 economies around the world. 

Pictured above are Edina Rotary Club of Edina members Wooj Byun, Harold Harris, and Club President Steve Slyce, after Harris was awarded a special recognition from the Korean government.

After his military service, Harris finished his degree at MIT and became a successful business man.  He has also been recognized as a major donor to Rotary International.

Harris resides in Edina with his wife, Beverly.

The Rotary Club of Edina is one of approximately 32,000 in over 200 countries and geographical areas. The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the idea of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster the development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service; high ethical standards in business; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society; the application of the ideal of service in personal, business and community life; and the advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace.