Say Thanks to a Korean Vet

[JPhillips]

Don't know how many of you know, but we are at the 50th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. I am pretty close to this as my dad served. Throughout his life he rarely mentioned anything about his service, to the point that I didn't even know what unit he was in. All I knew was he volunteered before he was drafted so he could pick his service and hopefully end up in a tank!

After he died, I learned his unit and some details about his service. A minister and family friend told us that he would speak to him about it occasionally. He wouldn't tell us much, as he believed dad didn't want it shared, but he did say he felt blessed to survive and that it had changed his life after he was discharged.

All of this got me very interested in the history of the Korean War. I learned that dad was likely in the thick of things at Pork Chop Hill and was likely involved in a lot of other actions during the last year of the war. I did a lot of reading and became engrossed by the "Forgotten War".

I started an oral history performance project that unfortunately dried up after I was laid off and moved. I hope to pick this up , maybe as we get towards the sixtieth anniversary. My experience with Korean vets, both personnally and in print has left me grateful and sorrowful for these guys. Many were raised during WWII, and this stalemate war with little public reaction was a mystery. Most didn't fully understand why they had to fight in Korea, but they did their best and prayed to come home alive. Unfortunately thousands didn't and thousands more were scarred for life.

So take the time to say thank you to these guys. Most of them aren't hereos or cowards, just ordinary men and women who got caught up in a political duel between the US and USSR. They did their best in some of the worst conditions you can imagine. They didn't save the world from tyranny, but they answered when duty called.

To anyone who has family the served in Korea, tell them thanks. I appreciate it.

For anyone with questions about the war, feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer, and I'm sure others can fill in where I leave off.

[neofied]

50th anniversary of the cease fire, not the end of the war. The two Koreas technically remain at war. Both Koreas have troops at their respective parts of the DMZ. And the US has troops at the South Korea side of the DMZ.

[CamEdwards]

JPhillips,

Thanks for the story about your dad. I had a chance to interview a half dozen or so Korean War vets about a year ago, and it was one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had.

I'd also be interested in hearing more about your oral history project. I'm working on something called the "Living History Project" here in Oklahoma City, trying to get high schools to include an interview with an Oklahoma veteran as part of the curriculum for Oklahoma History. I'm planning on making a formal pitch to Oklahoma City's schools in a few weeks, but I heard from my alma mater last week and they want to take part in the project.

It amazes me that we (and I include myself in this) no so little about something that happened just 50 years ago.

[Fritz]

JPhillips,

Thanks for the reminder.

[JPhillips]

neo: You're absolutely correct. One of the amzing things about Korea is that we never singned a peace treaty. Thanks for the correction.

Cam: It didn't get off the ground as well as I had hoped. Like I said, when I got laid off and had to move it obviously messed it up. The plan was to start from the two volume oral history, "The Forgotten War". I contacted the publisher and edited a roughly one hour fifteen minute piece using six actors, myself included. I got a grant from the Jackson,MS Arts Alliance to perform the piece on two consecutive weekends. Later we performed it for a local high school as part of their Memerial Day activities. From there the goal was to open it up to do original oral history pieces. The first performance went from the start to the night after Inchon.

The most satisfying part of this was performing it for vets. They were very grateful that somebody cared enough to say thanks. A couple of guys knew one of the main characters of the performance, and filled me in on some other details I didn't know. One woman brought me her father's discharge papers and asked me to explain what it was he did. I did my best and tried to get her to contact the local VFW.

Good luck with the project. This and my work with female writers incarcerated at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility are the two most memorable projects I've done.

[Fritz]

FWIW, the Korea monument in D.C. is one of my favorites.

[Super Ugly]

My grandad fought in D-Day and then he went off to Korea. He got shot in the testicles. Still, he had three kids after that ... Fair play to the old guy ...