
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 15, 1993                   TAG: 9305170247
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

KOREAN WAR VETS DESERVE MONUMENT

THE HOLOCAUST Museum is a fine thing, standing as a memorial for the brutal and systematic murders of millions. No one can dispute the importance and seriousness of this.

However, I feel it is irreverent to erect that one before erecting a long overdue memorial to the Korean War. Our American troops were in this war from June 1950 through July 1953 as part of the United Nations force. This was an intense war, resulting in the loss of 50,000 Americans. (That many were lost in the decade of the Vietnam War.)

I am not a veteran, but it has always been my adamant belief that no veteran should ever have to defend his honor or demand respect from the American people. And, under no circumstances, should veterans have to plead with others to remember their dead. They have already paid the price for these things in combat, and their valor and sacrifices should never be ignored or denied.

I feel that we have inflicted the unforgivable insult of neglecting the memory of those who served and sacrificed in Korea. Perhaps I am one of only a few noncombatants who voice a mournful song for these proud veterans. In speaking out for them, it is hoped others will remember them, too. K. LOUISE PADGETT SALEM

by CNB