Nice post. My Dad served in Korea (Navy).
Posted on 07/06/2003 7:45:31 PM PDT by BenLurkin
PALMDALE - Back when William J. "Pete" Knight was fresh out of training school after learning to fly fighters, he was geared up to enter the Korean War.
But, before he was able to fly his first mission, the man who would become the fastest man alive and a state senator, R-Palmdale, had his dreams dashed.
The conflict had wrapped up and all the fighting was over.
He said he was too young to give a lot of thought about the politics in the war.
"I was too young to be concerned with the politics," Knight said. "My mission was to fly."
But he said Sunday at a meeting of the American Red Cross in Palmdale, that he was thankful for those who fought.
The public service organization honored the veterans of the Korean War with a presentation of a video containing actual footage from the war, recapping the events of the time including the United States' participation in heading off what many called the first big hot spot in the Cold War against communism.
The conflict started on June 25, 1950, when communist North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations asked the United States and other countries to help South Korea regain control over the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.
About 54,000 United States troops were killed in the conflict and the Chinese and North Koreans lost about 10 times as many.
A armistice was worked out and the active conflict ended July 27, 1953, almost 50 years ago.
"Instead of waiting for things to get bad, we jumped in there and started helping people," said board of director member James Bierstine.
"The young men and woman answered the call to arms and that was definitely not a first," Bierstine said.
"It was not the forgotten war and it will never be the forgotten war," he added.
The program was attended by other veterans of the Korean War including former Assemblyman Thomas Lacy.
He said that he fought in World War II and the Korean War ranging in years from 1945 to 1955.
During the conflict he monitored communication between and among the Chinese and the North Koreans. He would help find out where they were planning an attack so that the troops would be prepared.
He said that he was lucky to return home alive because the enemy would bomb around the place where he was working on a regular basis.
His work was classified top secret and he said that it was exciting work that kept him busy.
Like Knight, he did not consider the politics at the time, but in retrospect he was proud that he served his country.
"If we didn't push them back then we'd still be fighting over there," he said.
Also among those in attendance was Mayor James C. Ledford. He said to the crowd that his father had served in the armed forces during the Korean War and that he had grown up as a military brat.
Among the items used to commemorate the conflict is a flag with 22 stars in the center that represent the nations that fought to save South Korea.
The words "Freedom Is Not Free" are written at the bottom.
In the center of the stars is the Korean symbol for peace and harmony.
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