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Korean War Vets Honored BY LINDA WILSON
Veterans from through out Queens gathered at the Veterans Memorial Garden in front of Borough Hall last Thursday for Memorial Day ceremonies, which this year specifically honored those who served and died in the Korean War. The Korean War broke out 50 years ago, on June 15th, 1950, when the Republic of Korea, whose army was outnumbered and underequipped, was invaded by the North Korean People's Army. Korea had been divided at the 38th parallel in 1945 in a meeting after World War II between the Soviet Union and the United States. The conflict on the Korean peninsula from 1950 to 1953 resulted in more than 54,000 soldiers killed on the American side and some 103,000 wounded, Borough President Claire Shulman noted. Although known as America's "forgotten war," the Korean War, Shulman declared, "was one of America's most influential wars. In addition to its national impact, it also had major effects here in Queens." Those major effects included 2,000 New Yorkers who lost their lives and 7,000 who were wounded, Shulman said. "Today, over 100,000 Korean War veterans reside in the five boroughs. Every one of them deserves our respect and our thanks for their efforts a half-century ago," she declared. "Second, the war and its aftermath spurred many Koreans to come to the United States, and many of them settled here in this borough. Now there area about 60,000 Koreans living in Queens. They help make the New York metropolitan area the second largest concentration of Korean-Americans after Southern California. They have also made major contributions to our borough's society, economy and culture. They, and the other immigrant groups that have settled in this borough came here for the same reasons that immigrants have been coming to America throughout its history--opportunity and freedom. This is the freedom that the men and women that Memorial Day honors fought and died for." Shulman introduced state Senator Serphin Maltese and former Congressmember Thomas Manton, both of whom recounted their Korean War experiences. She presented each with a Declaration of Honor on behalf of the citizens of Queens, expressing gratitude for the sacrifices made on behalf of the United States. She asked each Korean War veteran present to give his or her name and address to staff member Barbara Legoff so that similar proclamations could be issued to them as well. Manton and Master Sergeant Roy Ward of the Fordham University Army ROTC Color Guard assisted Shulman in laying a memorial wreath at the garden.
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