Postal Service to Issue Stamp Honoring Korean War Memorial, Armistice

[thedrifter]

Postal Service to Issue Stamp Honoring Korean War Memorial, Armistice

By Rudi Williams
> American Forces Press Service
>
> WASHINGTON, June 23, 2003 - A photograph of a patrol of stainless
> steel statues trudging through snow toward an objective is
> featured on the new commemorative postage stamp honoring the
> Korean War Veterans Memorial that's slated to be dedicated by the
> U.S. Postal Service on July 27.
>
> The 37-cents stamp also honors the 50th anniversary of the
> armistice that ended hostilities during the Korean War.
>
> The stamp's official first day of issue ceremony will take place
> at the Korean War Veterans Memorial on Washington's National Mall.
>
> The statuary troop patrol consists of 14 soldiers, one sailor, one
> airman and three Marines. The 7-foot-tall figures represent racial
> and ethnic cross sections of America - whites, African- Americans,
> Asians, American Indians and Hispanics.
>
> One Marine carries an ammunition case about the size of a lunch
> box and a tripod on his shoulder.
>
> The airman, wearing a fur hat, is the only one not wearing a
> helmet. There's also a statue of an African-American Army medic
> and a South Korean soldier fighting with the American unit.
>
> Previous U.S. stamps have recognized the bravery of Korean War
> veterans and the significance of the Korean War in U.S. and world
> history. In 1985, the Postal Service issued the 22-cent "Veterans
> Korea" stamp. "The Korean War," a 33-cent stamp, was issued as
> part of the 1950s, and the "Celebrate the Century" stamp pane in
> 1999.
>
> Congress authorized the building of the Korean War Veterans
> Memorial in 1986 and it was dedicated on July 27, 1995.
>
> Shown marching in a wedge formation as if on patrol, the statues
> represent troops walking grimly through a triangular field of
> juniper bushes and marble barriers that symbolize the rough
> terrain in Korea. Their objective, at the apex of the triangular
> "field of service," is symbolized by a masted American flag. The
> figures are clad in wind-blown ponchos to recall the harsh weather
> troops endured during the three-year war - 1950 to 1953.
>
> The 19 statues reflect off a shiny, 164-foot-long black granite
> wall. A computer-controlled sandblaster etched the wall's 41
> panels, creating a mural of more than 2,500 images of U.S.
> personnel who supported combat troops. The etchings represent
> Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard personnel.
> Equipment etchings include everything from rocket launchers,
> vehicles and tankers, to hospital units, to chaplains of all
> denominations and switchboard and radio operators.
>
> Faces etched into the wall came from photographs in the National
> Archives and the National Air and Space Museum. Some of the people
> whose images were used are still alive.
>
> The reflective quality of the granite creates the illusion of 38
> statues, symbolic of the 38th Parallel and the 38 months of the
> war. When viewed from afar, it also creates the appearance of the
> mountain ranges of Korea.
>
> The third element of the Korean War Veterans Memorial, an area of
> remembrance, consists of a circular reflecting pool at the apex
> surrounded by a grove of 40 Linden trees. "Freedom Is Not Free" is
> engraved on the segment of the wall that extends into the pool
> area.
>
> The memorial recognizes the contributions of more than 1.5 million
> Americans who served in Korea during the war. It also acknowledges
> the United Nations member countries that assisted South Korea in
> the conflict.
>
> The Pool of Remembrance bears the inscription: "Our nation honors
> her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country
> they never knew and a people they never met."
>
> The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when North Korean communist
> troops invaded South Korea. The U.S. and 21 other nations rallied
> to the defense of South Korea with military personnel, medical
> support and supplies. More than 34,000 Americans had been killed
> and another 103,000 wounded when an armistice was signed on July
> 27, 1953.
>
> More than 3,000 soldiers from other United Nations countries were
> killed and 16,000 were wounded. South Korean casualties vary
> greatly, with estimates ranging from 50,000 to more than 400,000
> dead and hundreds of thousands wounded. Millions of civilians are
> thought to have been killed or wounded.
>
> John W. Alli of Catonsville, Md, took the photograph on the stamp
> just before a snowstorm in January 1996. Alli, who served two
> tours of duty in the Persian Gulf as a Marine Corps second
> lieutenant, is now a commercial airline pilot and a lieutenant
> colonel aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
>
> 200306237a.jpg Marine Corps Reserve Lt. Col. John W. Alli of
> Catonsville, Md., took the photograph on the stamp just before a
> snowstorm in January 1996 when he was a lieutenant. Photo courtesy
> (c) 2002 USPS.
>
>
Here is the Stamp...........


Long Over Due..........





Sempers,

Roger

[the humper]

the 27th, the end of the "everyday fighting", 37 months and 2 days of pure hell. But again, there are a lot of S. Koreans who have lived a better life than their counterpart up North!!!!!
SF
NC

[Boats]

Like Roger said it's long over due.

I know a few x-Korean soldier's who've waited for this day. I thank everyone of them for their contributions.

[Jerry D]

Ditto.... A big Thanks, to all of the Remaining Korean Era Veterans for thier services for their country