The American soldiers who shipped out to the Korean peninsula in the first three years of the 1950s had a sense of history under their sleeves. Many were the sons or younger brothers of those who fought in World War II. Some were war-tested veterans who put their boots back on.
The country called upon them. They responded.
They couldn’t know, though, that a United Nations “police action” to protect South Korea from invading North Korean Communists would develop into the first hot clash of Cold War superpowers, when China entered the struggle. Until then, U.S.-led forces had pushed the enemy back beyond the 38th parallel. The war descended into a brutal, internecine engagement with heroic clashes that still jog the memory — Pork Chop Hill, Heartbreak Ridge, Chosin Reservoir. The children of Korean War veterans may have gleaned most of what they know about the war through a television show, M*A*S*H, which entertained a generation but never explained why it was known as “the forgotten war.”
It’s not forgettable for the cost.
More than 2.5 million people perished. The American dead is listed at 36,574; more than 7,500 are considered missing in action.According to the Office of Veteran Affairs, 2.3 million of the 5.7 million U.S. service members who served during the Korean War are still with us. Like those who served in World War II, their personal stories now frequent the obituary page, silencing the oral histories that help Americans understand the bloody price paid on their behalf.
Saturday was the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the fighting on July 27, 1953. It is a significant marker, because for all intents — no peace treaty was ever signed, and North Korea remains a closed society with a nuclear-war rattler at the helm — war is in remission. South Korea, with its democratic government and thriving economy, remains a persuasive but partial answer to the question: Why did we go to war?
Other reminders are all around us.
- Gildo De Paolis left Phillipsburg High School after his junior year and became one the “Chosin few” to fight at that battle, be wounded and live to tell about it. Now 82, he has been through multiple reconstructive surgeries and says he prays for an end to war.
- Vincenzo Romeo left Easton and served as a cook before he was captured on Nov. 2, 1950. He died of dysentery a month later in a prison camp. Last year, in a ceremony at Easton’s Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Nick Romeo received the medals his brother had earned; Vincenzo’s remains are interred in Korea.
- Alfred Blue of Hanover Township was unable to join more than 4,000 veterans who traveled to Korea for the 60th anniversary. Blue, an Army staff sergeant who said he nearly froze to death in the war, received a commemorative medal through the help of others.
Korean War memorials in our neighborhoods list the names of those who fell: Fifty-two service members from Northampton County; 10 from Warren County; 43 from Lehigh County; seven from Hunterdon County.
On Saturday, President Obama asked Americans to make an effort to honor Korean War veterans and hear their stories. Like their Vietnam brethren, they returned to a country tired of war.
“Perhaps the highest tribute we can offer our veterans of Korea is to do what should have been done the day you came home,” Obama said.
Let’s welcome them home — again — and pause to remember those who missed out on a whole lot back home.