thedrifter
07-23-07, 05:42 AM
'We need to remember them'
Dallas: Event marks end of Korean War, pays tribute to POWs, MIAs
12:00 AM CDT on Monday, July 23, 2007
By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News
ssandoval@dallasnews.com
The table was set and waiting.
Four place settings for those who would not come.
Four plates. Four upturned goblets. A vase in the center with a red ribbon and a single red rose.
As about 150 veterans, their families and supporters marked the 54th anniversary of the end of the Korean War at the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Sunday, they took a moment to remember prisoners of war and those missing in action whose fates remain unknown.
There was one place setting to represent the POWs and MIAs from each branch of the military that served in Korea: the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force.
The plates held a dash of salt, to represent the tears that have flowed from the families they left behind, and a lemon to represent the bitter faith their loved ones have that some day the missing will be found.
The upturned goblets represented the missed milestones in the lives of the young soldiers who never returned home.
They didn't go home or go on to college and toast their graduation, or toast their wedding, or the birth of their children, or the marriages of those children.
"They didn't have the same opportunities that I have had and that you will have," said Army veteran William F. MacSwain.
POWs and MIAs are often forgotten at military ceremonies, Mr. MacSwain said.
"A lot of them will never be found. But we need to remember them anyways," he said.
These veterans know about being forgotten.
For a long time, Korea was "the forgotten war," they said, not getting as much attention as World War II or the Vietnam War.
Veterans organizations didn't want the Korean War vets to join up when they got home, said Army veteran Glen Thompson.
"They made the remark: 'You didn't fight a real war. It was a police action,' " the Garland resident said.
Now, the veterans who marked the July 27, 1953, cease-fire say history has shown that their nearly three-year fight was an important stand against Communism.
With commemorative ceremonies and local Korean War veterans associations going into schools and educating children on the war, they are trying to make sure they aren't forgotten again.
Ellie
Dallas: Event marks end of Korean War, pays tribute to POWs, MIAs
12:00 AM CDT on Monday, July 23, 2007
By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News
ssandoval@dallasnews.com
The table was set and waiting.
Four place settings for those who would not come.
Four plates. Four upturned goblets. A vase in the center with a red ribbon and a single red rose.
As about 150 veterans, their families and supporters marked the 54th anniversary of the end of the Korean War at the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Sunday, they took a moment to remember prisoners of war and those missing in action whose fates remain unknown.
There was one place setting to represent the POWs and MIAs from each branch of the military that served in Korea: the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force.
The plates held a dash of salt, to represent the tears that have flowed from the families they left behind, and a lemon to represent the bitter faith their loved ones have that some day the missing will be found.
The upturned goblets represented the missed milestones in the lives of the young soldiers who never returned home.
They didn't go home or go on to college and toast their graduation, or toast their wedding, or the birth of their children, or the marriages of those children.
"They didn't have the same opportunities that I have had and that you will have," said Army veteran William F. MacSwain.
POWs and MIAs are often forgotten at military ceremonies, Mr. MacSwain said.
"A lot of them will never be found. But we need to remember them anyways," he said.
These veterans know about being forgotten.
For a long time, Korea was "the forgotten war," they said, not getting as much attention as World War II or the Vietnam War.
Veterans organizations didn't want the Korean War vets to join up when they got home, said Army veteran Glen Thompson.
"They made the remark: 'You didn't fight a real war. It was a police action,' " the Garland resident said.
Now, the veterans who marked the July 27, 1953, cease-fire say history has shown that their nearly three-year fight was an important stand against Communism.
With commemorative ceremonies and local Korean War veterans associations going into schools and educating children on the war, they are trying to make sure they aren't forgotten again.
Ellie