[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 11274-11275]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 IN SUPPORT OF KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL WALL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 15, 2011

  Mr. HALL . Mr. Speaker, I am honored to introduce--together with 
Representatives Sam Johnson, Howard Coble, John Conyers, Jr., and John 
Dingell--a bill to amend legislation authorizing the Korean War 
Veterans Memorial to permit the addition of a Wall of Remembrance. P.L. 
99-527 stated as a priority ``. . .to honor members of the United 
States Armed Forces who served in the Korean War, particularly those 
who were killed in action, are still missing in action, or were held as 
prisoners of war.'' This bill seeks to further honor those who gave 
their lives to preserve freedom, not only for the Republic of Korea but 
for the entire non-communist world. To the 33,686 Americans killed in 
action this was not an abstract geopolitical issue, nor was it a ``cold 
war.'' The Korean War, fought some 60 years ago, was a desperate fight 
to stop the spread of totalitarian regimes and signaled to North Korea 
that the United States would support our friends and allies.
   The Korean War is sometimes referred to as the ``forgotten war,'' a 
footnote between the Second World War and the Vietnam War. The 
sacrifice our young men paid to preserve our freedom should not be 
forgotten. This legislation will ensure that their deeds will be 
memorialized for all Americans to see on our National Mall. For, as the 
``greatest generation'' of Americans fought World War II to save the 
world for democracy, the Korean War generation of Americans fought to 
save the world from communism.

[[Page 11275]]

   The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in 1995. It is an 
extraordinarily moving memorial. Our legislation will permit, through 
private sector contributions, a glass Wall of Remembrance to encircle 
the outer edge of the existing Memorial Pool. This wall will list the 
Americans killed in action by name, and will list the wounded, missing 
in action, and prisoners of war by number. It will also honor the 
Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) that served 
alongside their U.S. comrades in American units to maintain our 
frontline combat strengths. Over 8,000 members of the KATUSA gave their 
lives for their country and ours. Their names were lost to history, but 
their numbers deserve recognition for the sacrifices that would 
otherwise have been American casualties. This bill will also allow for 
the Wall of Remembrance to list the number of casualties of our 
Republic of Korea allies and the United Nations allies that served in 
support of maintaining the freedom of the Republic of Korea and its 
people.
   Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, I was visited by a distinguished 
veteran of WWII and the Korean War, Colonel Bill Weber. Bill is a 
double-amputee of the Korean War and would have died of his wounds but 
for subzero temperatures that prevented him from bleeding to death. The 
sculptor of the Korean War Veterans Memorial used Bill's image to model 
one of the 19 soldiers. Bill spoke passionately and convincingly to me 
about the need to enhance the existing memorial with the Wall of 
Remembrance. As Bill said, ``This is our final battle, and we must 
succeed for over 33,000 of our brothers who cannot speak for themselves 
and whose sacrifices remain largely unknown.''
   I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring our Korean veterans by 
supporting this legislation.

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