By Courtney Dentch
The 50th anniversary of the cease-fire that ended the “Forgotten War” was remembered in Flushing Saturday by those who lived it – the Korean immigrants who were freed by the conflict and the Korean War veterans who fought the battles.
Eight U.S. military servicemen from Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island were presented with the Korean Freedom Metal at the commemoration service organized by Whitestone-based Korean War Veterans Memorial Association and held at the Korean American Presbyterian Church of Queens in Flushing.
“Today it can be said that the United States has the greatest fighting force in the world, and that is because of you men and women,” association President Andrew Musumeci told his fellow veterans.
The bilingual ceremony to commemorate the signing of the armistice to end the Korean War in 1953 was initially to be held in Kissena Park, the site of a future memorial to the war's veterans, but the continuing rain forced the event indoors.
The three-year Korean conflict, often referred to as the “Forgotten War” in America, is remembered by the South Korean people who were freed from communism under the North Koreans, said Ambassador Won Il Cho, the Korean consulate general of New York.
“The Korean people will be forever grateful,” he said in both English and Korean. “You will forever be our heroes, and you should be proud of Korea's successful development in democracy, trade and economy.”
Musumeci recalled moving up the Korean peninsula with U.S. and United Nations troops, braving below-zero temperatures as they fought the North Koreans in conflicts including the Chosin Reservoir in northeastern Korea, he said. Throughout the war, the battles often went back and forth, with the armies clashing again and again over a single city or region, he said.
“The city of Seoul, believe it or not, was taken and retaken four different times,” Musumeci said. “That's how the battle ensued there.”
The Korean War Veterans Memorial Association has been working to establish a monument in Kissena Park to commemorate the conflict, Musumeci said. The site on the Flushing park's mall is a fitting one since the neighborhood boasts the largest concentration of Korean people outside Korea, said City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing).
“We have to remember those who toiled during that conflict,” he said. “The future generations need to understand what happened 50 years ago, and 50 years from now they need to understand what happened 100 years ago. That's why we cannot let it go anymore without putting something up there.”
The association has submitted a drawing of the proposed memorial, featuring a statue of soldiers and a new flagpole to fly the American and Korean flags, to the Parks Department for approval. While the group awaits the decision, it is working to raise the $250,000 to build and maintain the monument, which Musumeci hopes to have in place next year, he said.
The memorial has won approval from the Korean government, Cho said.
“Kissena Park will be a wonderful place to have our countries' flags flying 24 hours a day.”
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
