by Danielle Ozbat
Thirty-one Korean War veterans were honored at the “We Remember Our Korean War Vets” banquet last week. Sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Chester, the event was held at St. John’s Episcopal Church and had veterans from the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines. Four World War II veterans were also honored.
This is the second veterans event of its nature as 41 World War II veterans were honored at Chester Presbyterian Church and presented with medals last June. These events are the brainchild of Dr. Joseph C. Hillier, who founded the club in 1972 and plans to honor Vietnam veterans next.
“It’s our intent [next fall to]have a picnic to honor the Vietnam War veterans.” Hillier said. “The reason we’re [going to do]a picnic is because there’s so many of them, we couldn’t [have them all in one room].”
The veterans, who were either accompanied by their wives or family members, were served dinner and dessert by members of the Kiwanis Club and then listened to a speech by Lt. Col. William C. Latham (Ret.).
Latham, a military historian and instructor at Fort Lee’s Army Logistics University, provided a detailed history of the Korean War, the current tense relationship between China and North Korea and the United States and North Korea.
“The Korean War lasted from 1950 until right now; we are still at war with North Korea.” Latham said. “[And] for years and years, [the Korean War]has been known as the forgotten war. It is overshadowed by WWII, which ended in 1945, and then by the Vietnam War, which lasted an entire decade and involved more people over that duration of time. But people forget how far away Korea is and how many Americans served in Korea.”
According to Latham, 1.8 million Americans served in the Korean War, and he referred to it as one of the bloodiest wars in the 20th century: there are 4.4 million casualties in all, and of those, 33,000 Americans were killed in action while 7,800 are missing in action.
After Latham’s speech, each veteran was presented with a medal by Major General Donald R. Gardner (USMC, Ret.) and Latham. Kiwanis Club member Tom Sokol introduced the veterans, who shared short stories of their time in the Korean War.
Stan Orchel, Sr., US Army Major, said he was a major in Korea and he was there for a year. Ludwig Hoge, Staff Sgt. with the US Army, was also in Korea for a year and said it was the coldest place he had ever been. Malcolm Stone, US Army Sgt., shared that he was there for eight months and landed in Pusan.
While some stories were poignant and highlighted the harsh realities of the war, others were humorous, and veterans laughed with and entertained each other. Tom McCracken, Sgt. in the USAir Force, and Frank Kirks, Army, joked that they both received “Dear John” letters while they were stationed in Korea.With nostalgia floating in the air after the event ended, Kiwanis Club president Danny Wyatt shared that he lost an uncle to the Korean War and that honoring the veterans was the club’s way of paying tribute to those who served.Hillier echoed Wyatt’s statements and said, “It’s been a great source of pride to our Kiwanis club to be able to do this, [it’s] one little way that we can honor these people for the service they gave to our country.”
