MANSFIELD — It’s been more than 70 years since military commanders from the United States, North Korea and China signed a ceasefire agreement to end the Korean War.
But the United States’ military involvement in South Korea never really ended.
The United States has maintained a peacekeeping force there in cooperation with the South Korean government for decades.
Now, those service members will have a memorial in their honor in Mansfield.
The back of the Korean War monument in Mansfield’s Central Park has been engraved with an inscription honoring the country’s Korean Defense Era Veterans.
The Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 51 will unveil the monument and host a brief dedication ceremony on Saturday, June 29 at 11 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Dale Walker was stationed in South Korea with his twin brother four years after the ceasefire.
He said recognition for Korean Defense Era veterans is long overdue.
“There’s been very few defense monuments erected,” said Walker, president of KWVA Chapter 51.
“Since this monument is already here, our group in Richland County decided to just put the addition on the back of this for the defense veterans.”
Walker said many defense-era veterans faced imminent danger, especially if they were stationed near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a strip of land serving as the buffer zone between North and South Korea.
In late 1966, North Korean guerrillas entered South Korea for the first time since the armistice was signed. It kicked off three years of skirmishes known as The Second Korean War or the Korean DMZ Conflict.
That’s when Walker was stationed in Korea.
Not a Forgotten War
Walker was drafted shortly after graduating high school. He went through basic training and became an infantry medic on the DMZ.
“When I was there in ’67, the North Koreans ambushed my unit,” Walker recalled. “There was four of our guys killed and 17 wounded within just a few minutes.”
“Those guys don’t have a monument dedicated to their service.”
Walker served alongside his twin brother, Doug, who died from cancer a few decades after his military service.
While they never received medical confirmation, Walker said his family believes Doug got sick due to Agent Orange exposure. The chemical herbicide has been linked to numerous diseases and birth defects.
The military used Agent Orange to kill off enemy food supply and vegetation cover during the Vietnam War. It was also used in the Korean DMZ in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
“A lot of people talk about the Korean War being a forgotten war. But it was it was not forgotten by the families that were affected,” Walker said.
“Technically the war is not over. It was just a ceasefire agreement in ’53. There was never a peace treaty signed.”
Despite the horrors of the conflict, Walker said he feels proud when he sees the modern day progress of South Korea.
“Now they’re producing cars that Americans are driving,” he said. “The war, the sacrifice was worth it, to save the Korean people and their freedoms and help them prosper — even though it was a very terrible war.”