Memorial Day is the day set aside to remember those how died while conducting military service.  Remembering the sacrifices of American veterans during the Korean War is what Seoul based journalist Andrew Salmon wants people this Memorial Day weekend to think about:

June 25, 2010: From Forgotten War to Unforgettable War?

By Andrew Salmon

This time next year, as a key date approaches, I hope that South Korean society will be in the grip of anticipation rivaling that surrounding the run-up to the ‘88 Olympics, the 2002 World Cup or the 2005 APEC Summit. I refer to June 25th, 2010: The 60th anniversary of the Korean War’s outbreak, and the last significant
anniversary likely to be attended by living participants.

I am not recommending joyous celebration: this commemoration demands somber dignity. But like 1988, 2002 and 2005, it needs a national effort, resources and scale. I have met ROK officers preparing commemorations; they are good men, but is Korea  putting the national resources behind this event? Massive amounts are spent on athletic event and expo bids; is it not more important to recall
the tragedy of millions?

There are benchmarks.

Jacques Chirac did a magnificent job hosting the 60th anniversary
of the D-Day landings in Normandy , attended by dignitaries
including President George Bush Queen Elizabeth II and Gerhard
Schroeder. (A fine gesture; inviting the former enemy). Every year,
Arnhem , Holland , recalls the disastrous Allied airborne landings
with recreations of the drops by men clothed and equipped in the
style of 1944; every year, schoolchildren tend the graves of the
“falling flowers.” And the UK commemorated Trafalgar’s 200th
anniversary in 2005 with a naval review featuring ships from 36
nations.  What I would like to see in Korea is a multi-dimensional approach:
diplomatic, military, academic and technological.

I’d like to see Lee Myung-bak hosting the leaders of UNC nations on
a key battlefield – perhaps Incheon. But even if presidents and
queens attend, the key guest should be South Korean, for what
tremendous good fortune – what outstanding timing! – that Ban Ki-
moon is heading the UN, the organization that saved South Korea in
1950, in 2010.

I’d like to see an international naval gala and a re-enactment of
the landing by the ROK Marines – with veterans participating. I’d
like to see a Military Tattoo, as seen in Edinburgh , featuring
bands from UNC nations, and a sound and light show. I’d like to see
a “Parade of Heroes” – surviving veterans of the UNC who won their
respective nations’ highest military awards – and a commemorative
book published on their experiences.

But the commemoration should not halt on June 26. I’d like to see
an ongoing effort, from June 25, 2010 to midnight July 27, 2013, to
create something lasting.

I’d like to see government or industry sponsoring chairs at
international universities to study the Korean War; a filmmakers’
fund established to underwrite film or TV projects; and interactive
consoles and exhibits installed at battlefields across Korea .

I’d like to see schools, universities, the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs
cooperating nationwide to collect written, audio and visual
testimony from survivors – military and civilian – and a database
of these stories established at the National War Memorial. I’d like
Korean embassies in UNC nations to collect photos and testimonials
from overseas veterans, and add them, too.

I’d like to see Korea’s elite computer game makers recreating the
major battlefields – Inchon Landing, Chosin Reservoir, Chipyong-ri,
Imjin River, White Horse Mountain and the rest – online. Viewers
from PCs anywhere in the world could witness the fighting over
these online landscapes, dotted with positions, headquarters and
hospitals, populated with virtual troops, accurately uniformed and
armed, while audio of war thunders in the background. Embedded
within these warscapes, and clickable, could be educational film
clips, photos and testimonies, plus information about equipment,
commanders and events. And not just battlefields. Devastated urban
centers could also be recreated, inhabited by refugees struggling
to survive among the ruins, telling the stories of the civil
population.

Given Korea ’s technological strengths, such an edutainment
resource could bring the war alive for the young generation. As far
as I know, there is no online war recreation project this ambitious
anywhere: Korea could create a global benchmark

It is not to foreign veterans that Korea owes a commemoration next
year: Korea owes it to herself.

Some Koreans see the war as something shameful, a negative element
in the ‘national brand.’ I differ. Firstly, war, the ultimate
tragedy, is central to some of the world’s finest poetry, film and
literature: it fascinates many. Secondly and more importantly, only
through understanding the war’s devastation and brutality can
today’s prosperity and freedom be comprehended. The UNC could not
win the war, but South Korea , decisively won the peace.

The war has been forgotten too long. From 2010 to 2013, Korea ’s
government and society can ensure it is forgotten no longer.

Seoul-based reporter Andrew Salmon is the author of To the Last
Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River , Korea , 1951.

Unfortunately Salmon is correct that many Koreans look at the war as a national shame now instead of looking it as something that they should look back on with somber pride because from the terrible ashes of the war the modern nation of the Republic of Korea was founded.  This was made possible by the sacrifices of both Korean and United Nations Command (UNC) troops.

In 2000 the Korean government did have a number of events to honor the veterans of the Korean War for the 50th anniversary.  However, the controversy over the No Gun Ri Incident put a stain on those commemoration ceremonies.  Instead of veterans being remembered for their service during the war, they were instead forced to defend themselves from accusations of being war criminals. How would you feel as a veteran to travel all the way to Korea for such a ceremony and be forced to answer questions about being a war criminal?  Remember it wasn’t until after these commemoration ceremonies took place that the fraudulent No Gun Ri story was uncovered and even today many people still don’t know the details behind the sensationalized Charles Hanley hit piece.

So I think these veterans are long over due for a real commemoration of their service, but I don’t think the Korean government is going to take much action on its own if the US and other UNC nations aren’t willing to push this issue this themselves.  I think if other nations share interest in a big commemoration ceremony then I think Lee Myung-bak would probably follow through on it.  Asking the Chinese to participate may be something worth exploring as well.

It is too bad that modern Hollywood has still not discovered the many great stories that could be made into movies from the Korean War.  The Korean War is long overdue its own Saving Private Ryan.  Such a movie would really make promoting such a ceremony easier, but it just isn’t going to happen in the near term.  A 60th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony is something veteran organizations will really have to push to get US and other UNC politicians interested in promoting such a commemoration ceremony.

Anyway Andrew Salmon provides many good ideas of events that should be scheduled for such a ceremony, but here is how I would lay out a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War if I was asked to do so.   The 60th anniversary date for the war, June 25th falls on a Friday, which really helps setup a week long commemoration event that I would schedule as follows:

• Monday June 21 - Ceremony at the Taskforce Smith Memorial with US veterans and veterans of other nations could hold ceremonies at their own respective nation’s memorials.  For example the British veterans could go to the British memorial at the Gloucester Valley.
• Tuesday June 22 – Ceremony at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan with the veterans and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
• Wednesday June 23 -Tour of the War Memorial and Seoul with the veterans
• Thursday June 24 – Ceremony at Jayu Park in Incheon with dignitaries from UNC nations that would be followed with a mock landing featuring both ROK and US Marines.
• Friday June 25 – Parade of Heroes down Sejongno in Seoul in the morning with afternoon trip to the DMZ

ROK Marines conduct mock landing at Incheon.

This itinerary would give the weekend to the veterans to fly back home.  This itinerary would cover the major events and memorials of the war along with really giving the veterans an opportunity to see how much Korea has changed since the war.

Here is a few questions for readers:

1. Do you think a 60th anniversary ceremony as described above should be held?
2. If so what events do you think should be included?
3. How would you recommend promoting the event?

Please leave your thoughts in the comments section and lets get a good discussion started on this topic.  Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.