Young Peace Corps volunteer, Paul Courtright was helping leprosy patients in the countryside of South Korea 1980. He enjoyed cooking eggs and listening to music. On his way back home from his medical checkup, he got caught in the middle of Gwangju massacre. Between Peace Corps policy and frustration, he decided to act. He escaped Gwangju to tell the US embassy what was going on there.

He couldn't stop writing notes about what he was witnessing. It was the only way he could process what he was seeing. is based on his massive amount of notes. This memoir is not only the record of Gwangju uprising but also a great story of how the incident changed a young man's life in a very short period of time.

“We have no voice. You have to be our voice. You have to tell people outside what they’re doing to us.” She glanced around the street, then returned her fearless gaze to me. I was rooted to the spot. I was to be the “witness” and she had given me a clear task. I failed the halmeoni. I was given a responsibility that now, forty years later, I can finally face. I hope I’m not too late.