A Good Day

After posting another negative on the VRCC forum today, I came back from my drive to find that the USPS had dropped off the latest "The Graybeards" magazine, the official magazine of the Korean War Veterans Association.
A story about my Honor Flight in April was in it. It is very unusual to get something published in "Graybeards' that soon. Kinda made my day complete.

For those who might be interested, here is the story (again).

wayne

The Forgotten War, Remembered

It was just after noon on 27 April 2016. I have been up since 0430 to be a chosen Korean War veteran to go on the Northeast Indiana Honor Flight to Washington DC.

Now, six and one half hours and 500 miles later I have been to see the very impressive and majestic WWII Memorial. I have seen but not talked to the former Senator Dole from Kansas. He was at the WWII Memorial to greet and talk to the veterans. He was in a wheelchair and I'm sure that it took much effort for him to be there since he was badly wounded in WWII. Veterans, mostly in wheelchairs, were talking to him. I did not interfere. However, I did talk to Indiana Senator Donnely who has a record of helping Hoosier veterans.

After viewing the WWII Memorial and having a group picture taken, we have just visited the Korean War Memorial. This Memorial does not have the imposing grandeur and history telling of the WWII memorial but, in a sense, it tells its story in a different way.

The Memorial is composed of nineteen stainless steel , seven foot tall figures, each one representing a different branch of the Armed Forces. However, in this case, they are all on patrol. The patrol is cautiously advancing up a slight hill representing the Hills of Korea. They all wear ponchos indicating the typical weather in Korea. The rearmost figure is looking slightly to the rear and has his left hand palm outward and back indicating proceed cautiously. These nineteen figures are reflected in a polished granite wall next to them for a total of thirty eight figures; thirty eight months being the war's duration and also the 38th parallel.,the fought over dividing line between North and South Korea. The Reflecting Wall has 'ghost' sample images of the more than 300,000 personnel involved in support groups, backing the combat soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines.

I was much taken in by the raw telling of the Memorial. No history, no names, just the bottom line, a patrol doing its job. The Memorial ends in the inscribed Words on the apex of the wall “Freedom Is Not Free” The American Flag is at the point of prominence.

After spending some time viewing this Memorial, My knees persuaded me to take a rest. My son and I walked some distance away and found a isolated park bench .

I'm sitting, along with my son, within sight of the Korean Memorial, stretching my legs and thinking about my duty in Korea as part of a medical clearing company. The words on the inscription were clear and to the point and I understood the meaning of the words. Although I hadn't seen combat, I saw the results. “Freedom Is Not Free” . The 618th Medical Clearing Company, where I saw duty, brought that home. In the midst of this thinking, I wondered if my War was still “The Forgotten War”

As I was thinking this in the quiet of sitting on the park bench, a young couple came up to me. The young man introduced himself. He also was in the Armed Forces as an MP in Iraq and Afghanistan and was presently a police officer in Virginia. He then introduced his girl friend. She was a South Korean, a quiet young lady of beauty . The young man thanked me for my service in Korea, his eyes looked moist. His girl friend ,up to then, had been silent but then she spoke up and also said “Thank you” As she said it, tears were running freely down her cheeks.

I said “Why are you crying?' Immediately, I knew.

The Forgotten War has never been forgotten by some.

It was with the deepest humility that, though I served in a support group, I knew that this young lady considered me a part of the United Nations Action that resulted in a continued free South Korea. She knew the costs incurred by veterans of the Korean War.

“Freedom Is Not Free” How true!