The Southwest Florida Korean War Veterans Association gathered in Eco Park last Friday to honor those who lost their lives in the conflict.
June 25 marked the 60th anniversary of the Korean War’s start.
Association President Bob Hebner said a group of 20 or so veterans placed a wreath, manufactured by a Korean florist, at the Korean War memorial at the Cape park.
He called the ceremony “simple,” as the veterans got together to “remember” the conflict.
“It’s the forgotten war,” Hebner said. “It’s a shame. When we came back there was not any fanfare. We didn’t get spat on like the soldiers coming back from Vietnam, but it wasn’t a popular war.”
Hebner said he’d like to raise the profile of the Southwest Florida Korean War Veterans Association.
Though membership is small, he said that’s probably due to the fact that Korean veterans not knowing the association exists.
He added that it could also be due to number of Korean War veterans being in their 70s and 80s.
“We’re a fading group,” Hebner said.
Hebner and two other members of the association, along with their wives, are visiting Korea later this year.
The group plans on taking advantage of a special program from the Republic of Korea, which pays for veterans and their families to revisit the country.
Last Friday, though, was all about paying tribute to those who lost their lives, or lost something that could never be recaptured.
“We were there and we lost over 35,000 of our people in Korea,” Hebner said. “There was another 100,000 that got wounded, and a lot of people are still carrying those scars.”