Nearly a year has passed since the sinking of the Sewol-ho ferry.
The tragedy left more than 3-hundred people, most of them high school students, dead or missing.
Efforts to honor the victims, and the heroes, have continued not only here in Korea,... but also in the United States., where two heroines were awarded a special prize for sacrificing their lives to save others.
Kwon Soa has this story.
It's a medal they will never wear.
Two young women who sacrificed their lives to save passengers on the ill-fated Sewol-ho ferry were awarded gold medallions at a chapel in Philadelphia on Sunday for their acts of bravery in the Sewol-ho ferry disaster.
Choi Hye-jeong was a teacher at Danwon High School, which is where the more than 3-hundred-20 students on the ferry were enrolled.
They were on a class trip to Jeju Island.
Choi is said to have gone down with the ship to save as many people as possible.
Park Ji-young was a member of the crew who reportedly saved around 50 passengers before she died, handing them life vests... without leaving one for herself.
"We will think of the prize as an honor given to us by our children and will live our lives in proud service of society."
The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation is a non-profit established by U.S. President Harry Truman in 1951 in remembrance of four chaplains who went down with a torpedoed cruise ship during World War Two,... after saving other passengers and giving up their own life vests.
"We feel like this act by the two young ladies, Miss Choi and Miss Park, is directly related to the sacrifice of the four chaplains."
Former U.S. Presidents Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan are also among those who have received the prize for their service to the public.
Choi and Park are the first Koreans to be given the award,... which now stands as a reminder to people around the world of the sacrifices made on April 16th, 2014.
Kwon Soa, Arirang News.
