[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11151]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



COMMEMORATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE START OF THE KOREAN WAR--A 
    SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO THE 503D FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION OF THE 2D 
                           INFANTRY DIVISION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 15, 2000

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the courageous 
Americans who fought and died in defense of freedom in the Korean War. 
On June 25th, we will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the start of 
that conflict--the so-called ``Forgotten War''--which claimed more than 
35,000 American lives.
  On behalf of President Clinton, I will co-chair, with Veterans 
Administration Secretary Togo West, a Presidential Mission to Korea to 
represent the people of the United States during the anniversary 
commemoration ceremonies in Seoul. We will be accompanied on that 
mission by some of my comrades-in-arms with whom I served during my 
wartime tour in Korea, members of the 503d Field Artillery Battalion of 
the 2d Infantry Division.
  The battalion landed in Korea in August 1950, arriving in time to 
participate in hard-fought battles that defeated the North Korean 
offensives against the United Nations forces on the Pusan Perimeter. 
When the Chinese entered the war in November with massive ground 
assaults against UN forces in North Korea, the 503rd and rest of the 2d 
Infantry Division fought their way out of encirclement by the Chinese 
near Kunu-ri.
  The battles in North Korea exacted a terrible price--the 503d lost 
almost all of its equipment and nearly half of its men. But in early 
1951, overcoming many obstacles, the battalion rebuilt itself into a 
combat-ready unit, and played a major role in the 2d Infantry 
Division's stubborn stand against a far stronger force during the May 
1951 Chinese offensive, an action that earned the entire division a 
Presidential Unit Citation.
  During the battalion's fifteen months in Korea, members of the 503d 
received nineteen Silver Stars, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, and 
seventy-nine Bronze Stars. The battalion suffered 512 casualties, 
including 150 men who died in Communist prison camps and 79 who remain 
listed as missing in action.
  The 503d, a Black unit, lived up to its motto of ``We Can Do It,'' 
serving with heroic valor in the face of relentless attacks by the 
enemy. In doing so, it shattered the biased and unfair negative 
stereotypes attached to Black fighting men and women in Korea and 
earlier wars.
  Mr. Speaker, today I pay special tribute to my brave and loyal 
Brothers who served in the 503d Artillery Battalion, and join with them 
in saluting all of our comrades-in-arms in Korea, whom we will never 
forget.

 Presidential Mission to the 50th Anniversary Commemoration Members of 
              the 503d Artillery Battalion--June 25, 2000

       Ronald Chatters, Samuel Gilliam, Harvey Ginn, Robert Greer, 
     Hezekiah Gregory, Walter Jackson, William Jackson, Elgin 
     Miller, Donald Minter.
       Henry Mitchell, Charles B. Rangel, Leroy Sykes, James 
     Thompson, John Worley, Robert Lee Wyatt.

     

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