News-Info-Alerts

Re: Making All Aware of Korean War

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: September 01, 2003

"Making all aware of Korean War
By Cheryl Lecesse - Staff Writer

BILLERICA - While the nation stays focused on its campaign in Iraq, a group of area veterans attempt to raise awareness of the so-called "Forgotten War," in which fighting ended 50 years ago last month.

"If you don't remember today's mistakes, somebody will have to do them later," said John Cull of Lowell, who fought in the Korean War.

About 15 members of the Greater Lowell Korean War Veterans Association continue efforts to educate younger generations about the Korean War. Cull, association commander, said the association was founded in honor of Joseph Ouellette, who was killed in action when he was 19. In the state, 1,506 soldiers in the war either died or are missing.

"Too many young people went over there and never came back," Cull said.

Through Veterans Day is on Nov. 11, the nation is honoring Korean War veterans and those who died in service with a series of celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of the armistice signing, which ended fighting in Korea.

"It was a place we went that nobody ever heard of," said veteran Ed Macdonald of Woodbury Road, who served in the Marine Corp. on tanks during the war. He remembered sleeping under the tanks at night to keep safe from North Korean soldiers.

"Part of this 50th celebration is definitely to try to make the American public aware of Korea and what the United States tried to do over there," said veteran Larry DeBenedictis of Chelmsford Road, who worked with Enterprise Bank on Boston Road in North Billerica on a Korean War display. The display included booklets and other information about the Korean War in honor of the armistice's 50th anniversary.

"You think of what you left behind in Korea," DeBenedictis, who served in the Army National Guard, said. "The men in your squad, the men in your platoon, that's all you ever knew. Sometimes you think of Koreans you knew well."

"Remember where you were when they announced the war was over?" Macdonald asked.

"We were right on the line at the time," said Phil Belden of Chelmsford, who was a sergeant major, the highest rank a non-commissioned officer could reach.

Others in the group had already been sent home, after serving during the first part of the war. DeBenedictis joined the Army National Guard while in high school and fought for seven months beginning in April 1952. He was retired in November 1952 after losing both of his legs in an explosion.

"He does a hell of a polka just the same," Cull said.

John Watson of Boston Road was in captivity as a prisoner of war, released two months after the armistice of September 1953.

Cull compared Watson's experiences to those of Private Jessica Lynch, a recent POW in Iraq who spent her two weeks in captivity in a hospital.

"They'd get a kick in the slats for not looking right," Cull said of Korean POWs. "They'd get beaten."

Veterans held a ceremony July 27 on the Billerica Town Common and at the Korean War Memorial on Andover Road. After the ceremony, many went to Charlestown to celebrate with veterans from across the state at the memorial at Shipyard Park.

Watson said most veterans in town and in surrounding towns really didn't get together too much until about 10 years ago, when the Greater Lowell association was founded. Cull said the group has about 120 members.

"Now it's a really tight group," Watson said. "We always look forward to every time we get together. We don't talk about the war. We talk about daily things."

Kenneth Buffum, director of veterans' services for Billerica, said the department doesn't offer specific benefits for Korean War veterans. The department offers medical assistance to veterans who are ill or whose wounds from combat are causing problems. It offers financial assistance to those who can no longer work due to illness and to widows of veterans who cannot collect social security. The department also offers fuel assistance and food stamps and runs the food pantry for residents in need.

"Our mission is to help veterans and dependents of veterans," Buffum said. "It's an agency that has broadened itself because of the need of the general population."

But because Korean War veterans are aging Buffum said medical concerns for the group are high, especially services for those with Alzheimer's disease, and the need for nursing homes.

"Both of those cases are very difficult," he said, adding that the lack of beds at local VA hospitals, including the Bedford VA, are diminishing the services his departments can provide. "Even some of the private nursing homes face financial difficulties and some of them closed down."

Although some would rather not speak of their experiences, many local veterans have kept the Korean War an active part of their lives. Many have since visited South Korea, while a smaller group recently attended an annual convention in Nova Scotia for Canadian and New England Korean War veterans.

"Korea is very different from what we saw," Watson said, noting Seoul, South Korea's modern look since it was torn apart during the war. "We remember straw roofs on huts, mud huts, and rice patties. Today it's a very different scene."

"The Korean people, the Korean community hasn't forgotten the sacrifices American people have made," Cull said.

Some, like Cull, still keep their draft card and classification in their wallets, small but mindful tokens of their past.

"Years ago it was against the law not to have your draft card," he said.

The Korean War began June 25, 1950, after North Korea invaded South Korea. United Nations forces, including the U.S. military, battled North Korean soldiers until July 27, 1953, when an armistice signed by both sides ended the fighting. A peace treaty, however, was never signed.

"Us Korean guys, we're sort of wedged in between World War II and the Vietnam era," Watson said.

"What we were doing is fighting the Cold War, fighting Russia and China," said Jack Lyons, who served in the Marine Corp. and was stationed in the Chosin Reservoir in December 1950. "As far as I'm concerned Vietnam was the same way."

"One of the biggest things you'll never forget about Korea is the cold," Macdonald said, as others said a large amount of soldiers sustained frostbite, especially during the first winter of the war.

"And the hills," DeBenedictis added.

"The expression over there was, 'just one more hill,'" Macdonald said. "All you saw was hills down below."

He also remembered the country's dirty water, and how one time he drank it when it was put out on the front line with ice because he thought it was iced tea.

But for some veterans, the war has taught them a greater lesson then asking before drinking what look likes iced tea.

"You finally learn what the real important things are in life," DeBenedictis said.

"You always remember the good times," said Lyman Krohn of Littleton, who served in the Army. "We just remember the good times."

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