A copy of "Lest We Forget," a recent publication of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs of Korea, arrived last week. The book tells the stories of Korean War veterans from many countries who served in that conflict 60 years ago. I was honored and humbled to have the story of my Korean War Children's Memorial projects here in Bellingham and in Korea included in that volume.
The Korean War Children's Memorial in Bellingham consists of a Korean-style pavilion located in Big Rock Garden Park. The Korean War Children's Memorial in Korea is an 18-foot-tall sculpture by the Mexican sculptor Sebastian CQ called "Las Palomas." The Korean sculpture is located at the entrance to the Peace Park in Imjingak, Gyeonggi Province, where it is visible from North Korea.
The article in the book tells the story of how I did the research to document that we who served in the armed forces in Korea saved the lives of over 10,000 children, helped sustain over 54,000 orphans in more than 400 orphanages, most of which were either built or repaired by our servicemen. We donated over $2 million from our meager pay for orphanage aid. We wrote home for help and our families, friends and neighbors sent thousands of tons of material aid for the orphans and their caregivers.
I felt this story had to be part of the history of the Korean War and was determined to build a memorial to our "army of compassion" as a friend referred to our servicemen and women fighting in Korea. It was not easy. I had to fight bureaucracies both in Korea and here in Bellingham. In Korea I took the fight right to the Blue House (office of the president) to protest the decision of functionaries in the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs who had rejected my offer of the Sebastian sculpture to serve as the Korean War Children's Memorial - Korea. I won. Minister Yang Kim quickly changed his mind and told me the ministry would help find a location for the memorial.
The Korean memorial was dedicated on Sept. 4, 2010. In attendance were Kim Moon-soo, governor of Gyeonggi Province, which borders North Korea, the Korean Minister of Defense, the Korean Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Ambassador and over 300 Korean War veterans. That memorial is dedicated to the 500,000 children who died in the three years of the war and honors all the servicemen and women who came to the aid of the children orphaned by the war. The media coverage of the event in Korea was intense. Four Korean TV stations sent crews to Bellingham to interview me for their Korean War 60th anniversary documentaries. All of them pictured the memorial in Big Rock Garden Park. Six TV stations in the U.S. interviewed me for their coverage of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. The story was now getting out.
In Bellingham I was told war memorials should be in cemeteries. The Big Rock Garden committee decided that the word "war" should be removed from the title of the memorial and it should be called the "Korean Children's Memorial." The committee cleaned up my sexist language and replaced "our American service men and women" with the term "our American service persons." They rejected the explanatory information on the plaque as "clutter." The city Park and Recreation Advisory Board and the City Arts Commission agreed with them! I convinced Mayor Mark Asmundson that this was stupidity by committee. He agreed and told the parks director to place the plaque as I had written it. What I saw as harassment by the Big Rock Garden committee and city minions did not let up, but I prevailed and the Korean War veterans of the U.S.A. have in Bellingham the only war memorial in the nation honoring our veterans for their humanitarian aid to the civilian populations where they serve.
With the publication of the book "Lest We Forget," the compassion of our armed forces will be made known in over 20 nations where the book is being distributed. Our war veterans deserve no less.
ABOUT WINDOW ON MY WORLD
Window On My World is an occasional essay in Monday's Bellingham Herald that allows Whatcom County residents to share their passion for what they do, an idea or cause they support. Send your Window On My World, which must be no more than 700 words, to Julie.shirley@bellinghamherald.com. All submissions become the property of The Bellingham Herald.
