[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 112 (Friday, July 26, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1389-E1390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               NATIONAL KOREAN WAR VETERANS ARMISTICE DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 26, 1996

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember the 43d anniversary 
of the end of the Korean war.
  This war, often referred to as the forgotten war, played an important 
role in modern world history. Its impact on the course of the cold war 
cannot be understated. The United States response to the North Korean 
invasion of South Korea demonstrated that the United States would not 
idly stand by and allow Communist countries to invade their neighbors. 
Our response indicated that even after the carnage of World War II, 
Americans were still willing to make heavy sacrifices to defend freedom 
and fight Communist dictatorships around the globe.
  Following its liberation from the Japanese in 1945 at the end of 
World War II, Korea was divided into two temporary zones of occupation, 
controlled by the United States and the Soviet Union, pending the 
establishment of a legitimate Korean national government. Subsequently, 
the Soviets refused to relinquish political control over North Korea. 
U.N.-sanctioned elections were held in the south on May 10, 1948, but 
the Soviet Union established a puppet regime in the north which 
boycotted the elections. The following year, the United States forces 
completed their withdrawal from South Korea. The United Nations 
attempted to mediate the disagreement between the North Korean regime--
the People's Democratic Republic of Korea--and the Republic of Korea 
[ROK] in the south, but tensions remained high as both governments 
insisted on reunification under their exclusive control.
  On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces equipped with Soviet-made 
weapons invaded South Korea with the intent of reunifying the country 
by force. The United States and the free world responded to this 
aggression rapidly. On June 27, the U.N. Security Council passed a 
resolution calling upon its member states to help the Republic of Korea 
repel the North Korean invasion. The same day, President Truman ordered 
U.S. forces into action on the side of the South Koreans.
  The North Korean Army met with initial success. They shattered the 
South Korean Army, captured the South Korean capital, Seoul, and swept 
south to occupy almost the entire Korean peninsula. The first United 
States ground troops to go into combat were badly outnumbered and 
inadequately supported--and they suffered heavy losses--but the United 
States and ROK forces eventually established

[[Page E1390]]

a stable perimeter around the South Korean port of Pusan.
  The U.N. counterattack led by the United States in September 1950 
rolled back the North Korean invaders, forcing the North Korean Army up 
the Korean peninsula nearly to the Chinese border. The amphibious 
landing at Inchon was a brilliant strategic move that in one bold 
stroke transformed defeat into victory and destroyed the bulk of the 
North Korean Army. The Chinese entrance on the side of the North 
Koreans changed the nature and the dynamic of the war. For the next 6 
months, the battle lines surged back and forth along the Korean 
peninsula as U.N. and Communist offensives met with varying degrees of 
success before the front stabilized just north of the 38th parallel. 
For the next 2 years, a bitter but more limited war was fought as truce 
negotiations dragged on. Chinese tactics often neutralized the U.N. 
forces' superior firepower, and the war became a brutal battle of 
attrition. An armistice agreement was signed in Panmunjom on July 26, 
1953, and hostilities finally came to an end.

  The valor of U.S. troops in Korea is legendary. The U.S. forces that 
served in Korea conducted themselves bravely in difficult 
circumstances, fighting at times against overwhelming odds and often in 
brutal, life-threatening weather. Names like Task Force Smith, Dean's 
delay, the Pusan perimeter, Inchon, Chosan, the Iron Triangle, and the 
Punch Bowl all call to mind the heroism, sacrifice, and resilience that 
American troops displayed in the course of this war.
  One and a half million Americans served in the Korean Theater during 
this conflict. 5.7 million Americans served in the military during the 
conflict. 54,246 Americans died in Korea--2,300 of them from 
Pennsylvania. 8,000 Americans remain missing in action.
  Last year the Congress passed and the President signed legislation 
designating July 27 of each year through the year 2003 as National 
Korean War Veterans Armistice Day. Under this law the President is 
directed to call upon the American people to observe the day with the 
appropriation ceremonies and activities in honor of the Americans who 
died as a result of their service in Korea.
  It is only appropriate that we take such actions to remember these 
heroes of America's forgotten war, and to honor the supreme sacrifice 
that they made. We must also use this occasion to remember, praise, and 
thank the veterans of the Korean war who put themselves in harm's way 
but survived that terrible conflict. These men and women served their 
country faithfully and well in a distant and often inhospitable part of 
the world.
  Several years ago a group of concerned citizens in western 
Pennsylvania decided to build a memorial in Pittsburgh to honor the men 
and women who served our country in the Korean war. The Korean War 
Veterans Association of Western Pennsylvania Memorial Fund, Inc., was 
established in 1993 to design and build this memorial. The city of 
Pittsburgh donated a site for the memorial in 1994. A national design 
competition was held in the spring of 1995 and a winner was selected. 
An armistice day memorial ceremony will be held this weekend on July 27 
at the future site of the memorial to remember and honor all of the 
brave Americans who served in the Korean war. I am proud to note that I 
have been asked to participate in this important ceremony.
  I urge my colleagues and my fellow Americans, each in their own 
fashion, to honor the veterans of the Korean war on this anniversary of 
the armistice.

                          ____________________