Meritorious Service Record

Thomas Daniel Ryan arrived in Korea in October 1933.
Between spring 1939 and autumn 1940, while in Jeju, he made multiple statements to church members, warning that Japanese war propaganda was false. He declared:
"Japanese newspapers report only victories for the Japanese military, but it is all lies. If China receives support from Britain and the U.S., and the war drags on, Japan will inevitably be defeated. The reason Japan is now implementing a conscription system for Koreans is that its forces are already overstretched in the Sino-Japanese War. If this war continues, Japan will certainly lose."
In autumn 1940, he told Kang Bung-hae (姜鵬海) in Seogwipo:
"Japan, Germany, and Italy have formed an alliance, but if Germany is defeated in this war against Britain, Japan will eventually face terrible consequences at the hands of the British and Americans."
Around the same time, during a sermon at Seogwipo Catholic Church, he spoke to a group of ten believers, predicting:
"Even if Japan appears victorious now, China is a vast country supported by Britain and the U.S. In the end, Japan will be defeated."
His anti-Japanese remarks led to his arrest by Japanese authorities in December 1941. In October 1942, the Gwangju District Court convicted him under Japan’s Army and Navy Criminal Code, sentencing him to two years in prison.
Thomas Daniel Ryan passed away on November 20, 1971.
In 1999, the South Korean government posthumously awarded Thomas Daniel Ryan the Order of Merit for National Foundation (National Medal) in recognition of his contributions to Korea’s independence.