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The sometimes forgotten
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We hail those that wore the uniform of the US Armed Forces every November 11. We honor the Greatest Generation, we finally honor those that fought the Cong, we honor those that have fought in the Middle East. But more times than not, we as a people, tend to forget those of another conflict.
Korean War Vets, it seems, get lost in the shuffling of history. Between the celebration of the Greatest Generation's defeat of global domination and the highly profiled protests of the Vietnam War, lies a war that lasted only 3 years but has had lasting effects. US troops still patrol the line between North and South Koreas. But for most, the War is but a footnote in a history book.
They fought under Generals like Patton and MacArthur. They were the first to use Agent Orange. Places with names Inchon, Wonsan, and Hungnam are names read quickly by school children and then soon forgotten.
Just under 170,000 became physical statistics. 54,229 KIA; 103,248 wounded; 8,142 MIA; 3,746 captured. This is a war that took it's toll. Not celebrated like the war that ended five years earlier or protested like the war a decade later. But to those that fought and those left on the homefront, just as important.
How this war has slipped into the shadows of history, one can only guess. But over recent years, the country has started to remember. On June 30, 2008, Congress chartered the Korean War Veterans Association (http://www.kwva.org). In Springfield, Illinois is the memory through an interactive museum (http://www.theforgottenvictory.org/). On July 27, 1995, the Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated (http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/projects/WashingtonDC/korean.html).
So to those veterans of Korea, and all veterans, YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN.
Remember Korea
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