Léon Moyen

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

Léon Moyen was born on 9 November 1930 in Kehmen, Luxembourg. As a boy, he experienced the German occupation and the Battle of the Bulge. Remembering his country’s liberation by American troops later helped inspire him to volunteer to defend South Korea.

He entered the Luxembourg Army on 5 February 1948 and initially served in Germany, protecting coal trains supplying Luxembourg’s steel industry. After volunteering for Korea and training at Beverloo, Belgium, he sailed from Antwerp aboard the Kamina in December 1950, joining the Belgian–Luxembourg Battalion serving under United Nations command.

On 2 May 1951, Moyen was seriously wounded in the leg during a patrol and evacuated to military hospitals in Japan. Despite his injury, he volunteered for a second tour in February 1952. Promoted to reserve sergeant, he served as a section leader. His commanders commended his courage under fire and his actions in helping his patrol withdraw safely.

Moyen returned to Luxembourg on 21 January 1953. In November 1955, he emigrated to Canada, eventually marrying and raising a family in Toronto.

In July 2023, he returned to South Korea with Luxembourg’s official delegation to mark the seventieth anniversary of the Korean War armistice, honouring his fellow volunteers and those who never returned.