Holding back tears in the Capitol rotunda Wednesday, Charles Dudley recalled how he wept as he piled bodies atop one another after a firefight near the 38th Parallel six decades ago.
“I got used to seeing the blood,” the 86-year-old said, his voice cracking. “It upset me so bad. I sat down and cried so hard.”
Dozens like the retired Army corporal shared their own war stories Wednesday in Little Rock when state and military officials gathered alongside war veterans and their families at the Capitol for a ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Korean armistice. Gov. Mike Beebe, Secretary of State Mark Martin and others delivered remarks to veterans and a crowd of hundreds at the event, part of the “Arkansas Remembers: The Forgotten War” memorial.
About 6,300 Arkansans fought in the conflict, which began in 1950 and lasted three years. Nearly 55,000 American servicemen died in the war, 461from Arkansas. An exhibit featuring photographs and war memorabilia will be on display in the Capitol through Friday.
Millions of Korean War vets remain alive today. Beebe recognized the efforts of the soldiers Wednesday, noting that their bravery should not go unacknowledged in the future.
“It wasn’t that Korean veterans were disrespected: they weren’t treated badly like Vietnam veterans in the airport or on the street, but they were forgotten more often than not,” Beebe said Wednesday. “You are not forgotten. You are not dismissed. You are not unimportant. You deserve the same recognition that every veteran deserves from time immemorial.”
After the speeches, the consul general of South Korea also thanked the veterans on behalf of his country.Visiting from Houston, Sukbum Park called the war in which American troops battled to fend off communists from the north a conflict of “mankind versus tyranny.”
“In order to preserve the dignity of mankind and the ideal of liberty, young soldiers sacrificed their lives for a country they had never known and for a people they had never met,” Park said.
Despite the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953, the Korean War still has not ended. The country remains divided, something retired Air Force Lt. Col. Steve Gray said was apparent Wednesday as he displayed a Hubble telescope image of the Korean Peninsula.
Trails and clusters of light shone from the South, but the North was nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding waters.
“The picture that the colonel held up illustrates what’s happened as a result of the freedom they enjoy in the South,” said 83-year-old William Driggers, a retired army master sergeant who fought in the war. “You look at the 38th Parallel dividing line, and everything north of that’s dark and everything south of that is lit up like a Christmas tree. The Koreans you talk to talk about how great it is - the freedom they have.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 07/25/2013