THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 30, 1995 TAG: 9507290019
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Most Americans, we suspect, didn't know until a few days or weeks ago that a Korean War Veterans Memorial had been built in our nation's capital and was to be dedicated last Thursday, 42nd anniversary of the armistice.
But in a way this is fitting. After all, we call the bloody three-year United Nations police action the forgotten war. And over its duration much of America, still war weary in July 1950 when North Korea attacked South Korea, was indifferent to it. Returning warriors heard neither cheers nor jeers.
Nor did America pay much attention to post-conflict adjustment. ``Most folks,'' recalled one veteran, ``came back and got out and got a job and settled down to living.'' Of course, jobs were easier to find then.
Korea occurred in times much different from Vietnam's. It was, for one thing, a more conventional war. And when our troops were fighting the North Koreans, television wasn't bringing the horrors into virtually every American home each night. When President Truman fired General MacArthur, radio was most people's only contact with the general's emotional return to the United States.
Also, the sacrifice in Korea was not futile. The U.N. force - some 20 countries sent troops to fight there - did prevent North Korean invaders from conquering South Korea. Communism's advance was halted successfully on that peninsula, and the communist powers, which backed the North, became more cautious about sponsoring further expansions in this manner.
One veteran of the Korean War put it this way: ``We didn't win, but we didn't lose. You can say we accomplished our objective.''
While this sets Korea apart from Vietnam, the earlier hostilities were a foretaste: no declaration of war, limited goal, an unmobilized homefront. And as in Vietnam, America paid a dear price: More than 50,000 U.S. troops died in battle, including hand-to-hand combat so fierce some were reminded of World War I's trench warfare. And though to a much lesser degree than with Vietnam, the Korean experience shook people's confidence in government and created more cynicism, more suspicion.
Yet through the long agony that we call Vietnam, Korea too seldom seemed a reference point. Over the decades one has heard relatively few references to Korea, period. Even the planning of the memorial - which evoked controversy similar to that which surrounded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial - was little noted in the media.
For two decades we have searched for positives from Vietnam. Maybe one is that the belated recognition of those who served there prompted the even longer overdue tribute to Korea's veterans.
Finally, we have remembered the forgotten war. by CNB