YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN . . .
SPECIAL TO U.S. VETERAN
By Tom Cartwright

This year marks the 40th anniversary of what has become known as "America's
forgotten war."

Today, to most of America's youth, the Korean War is little more than a few
paragraphs in their social studies textbooks, a war fought under the auspices
of the United Nations against North Koarean and Red Chinese aggression
against South Korea.

Some 60,000 North Korean troops, heavily armed by the Soviet Union and Red
China, crossed the so-called 38th Parallel, which divided South Korea from
Soviet-dominated North Korea, on June 25, 1950. Within a matter of days,
South Korean and American forces, heavily outnumbered, were in rapid retreat
south. Eventually, they would be forced all the way south to a tiny tip of
Korea. They called it the Pusan perimeter.

The perimeter was held by U.S.-South Korean forces, however, and a brilliant
landing to the north at Inchon, under the supreme command of Gen. Douglas
MacArthur, cut off the communist troops and their supply lines. Soon, they
were in full retreat and forced all the way north to within a few miles of
the Yalu River, which separates North Korea from Red China.

Then, Red Chinese troops crossed the Yalu and struck at MacArthur's troops,
driving them back at great cost in lives for both sides.

MacArthur wanted to attack the Chinese across the Yalu but was refused
permission by U.S. President Harry S Truman. The dispute eventually led to
MacArthur's dismissal by Truman.

After that, a static war was fought for hills and valleys, neither side
gaining much, until a ceasefire ended the fighting on July 27, 1953. The war
ended with both sides nearly where they had started.

Three years of hostilities cost the United States 33,629 battle deaths and
8,177 American servicemen are still listed as missing in action, 389 of whom
are known to have been prisoners of war but not repatriated.

Today, in a quiet corner of the United States, in northern New England and
New York, a giant bridge that crosses Lake Champlain, connecting New York to
Vermont, memorializes all veterans of the Korean War.

Known as the Korean Veterans' Memorial Bridge, it extends for about a
half-mile across part of the lake, its high structure offering motorists
breath-taking panoramic views up and down the serene Lake Champlain, one of
America's most beautiful lakes and one of the nation's most scenic spots.

The multi-million dollar span, which took several years to build, was
dedicated in honor of the Korean veterans of America in 1987.

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