By Mike Fletcher
Tribune staff writer
— A handful of Korean veterans stood at attention Tuesday to honor the brave soldiers who didn’t make it home after the three-year war in Southeast Asia.
Each one of the veterans turned to another, shook hands and thanked each other for their service 60 years ago.
“In just three years, 54,246 lost their lives and 8,176 were prisoners of war or missing in action,” said Tom Hagen, a Vietnam veteran who serves as a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Local 8035.
Marking the anniversary of the truce ending the fighting in the Korean War, some veterans remain bitter since a formal peace treaty was never signed.
“The Korean War never fully ended,” Hagen said. “It was one of the bloodiest and coldest wars. That’s why it’s important we don’t forget those guys who served.”
Hagen spoke in front of a small group that gathered Tuesday at the Veterans Memorial in Darrough Chapel Park to thank the men and women who fought in Korea. The event was put on by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8035 Women’s Auxiliary.
The war began in June 1950 as a battle to defend South Korea against North Korea’s advances.
On July 27, 1953, the fighting ended and an armistice was signed to signify a cease-fire. But a formal treaty never has been completed.
The names of the 28 Howard County men who died in the Korean War are etched in brick at the memorial as a constant reminder of their ultimate sacrifice.
“The Korean War is often overlooked and called ‘the forgotten war,’” Hagen said. “Let us remember those who fought and died in Korea.”
Thomas Miles, 82, Logansport, served nine months in the 8th Army 151st combat engineers in Korea and remembers it as being “cold.”
“We didn’t have any heat,” he said gazing at the veterans’ names etched on the bricks of the memorial.
“Some guys had heat.”
“I volunteered for the draft,” Miles recalled. “I was in my 20s and going to school. They never sent me anything, so I went up and volunteered to be drafted. When it was over, I was in the middle of the ocean. We were the first ship back to the states. When we came back, we actually had a welcome committee.”
Paul Waldman Sr., Kokomo, who served from 1946 to 1952 as part of the Army’s heavy mortar company, came to the memorial to pay his respects to those who didn’t return home.
“That’s why we’re here,” he said.
Asked about his experience during the war, Waldman shrugged, “I just try to forget all about it.”
For Lester Creason, 81, it was a time to remember two Marines who were killed next to Creason in Korea.
“I was in between two Marines who got killed,” said Creason, vice commander of the Order of the Purple Heart at Grissom Air Reserve Base.
“[The Chinese] were walking right over my feet. Today, I think about those two men. I volunteered to go looking for them, but I was injured when pieces of shrapnel hit my hip.”
A Vietnam veteran, Jim Ault, former commander of the VFW 8035, re-iterated the importance of remembering our fallen heroes of Korea during a brief speech.
“About six or seven years ago, we held our first Armistice Day event and only one Korean veteran arrived,” said Ault. “He’s dead now. Each year, we try to draw more before they are gone and thank them for their service. It’s our duty as all veterans to remember and pay honor to those who served in Korea.”
• Mike Fletcher is the Kokomo Tribune crime reporter. He can be reached at 765-454-8565 or mike.fletcher@kokomotribune.com.
