Korean War dead remembered during solemn ceremony at Ohio Veterans' Memorial Park

Robert Haas sat in the front row Saturday, gazing across the expanse of 70 years to the black-granite wall with the names of the dead.

One thousand eight hundred twenty-two names — columns and columns of names etched in stone. All Ohio soldiers and sailors who died in America’s forgotten war.

Haas had served there, the place where American troops fought newly communist China on Korean soil, commanding a platoon near the 38th parallel.

Now in his 94th year, he hadn’t forgotten.

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‘Something special about these guys’

It rained Saturday as the Ohio Veterans’ Memorial Park in Clinton dedicated the engraved names of 1,822 Ohioans killed in the Korean War. On the other side of the wall, the names of 3,095 Ohioans killed in the Vietnam War are etched.

Gary Kindig, president of the memorial park, said in his experience, veterans of the Korean War are notable for their humility.

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“The Korean War veterans, there is something very special about these guys,” he said. “They are very shy about their service.”

The conflict, which took place from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953, is often referred to as the “forgotten war.” Sandwiched between World War II and the Vietnam War, it is seen by many historians as the start of the Cold War and featured Chinese and North Korean forces using Soviet weaponry against a U.N. force comprised mainly – about 90% – of U.S. troops.

In all, more than 36,000 Americans died in the war, with another 92,000 injured.

The back and forth of battle

Haas was joined by several Korean War veterans from the Akron-Canton area, all seated under an open-sided tent as rain pattered on the canvas above.

With friends and family of the veterans packing the tent, speakers braved the rain outside near the wall, putting context to the names carved behind them.

George Theodore, who served in the U.S. Air Force from 1951 to 1959, said the American effort in Korea was a noble one.

“Seventy-five thousand North Korean and Chinese (troops) attacked in 1950 (with) Russian equipment,” he said. “The U.S. came into the war because our effort was to stop communism.”

At severe cost of American lives, they did stop it.

The North Korean forces crossed the border with South Korea on June 25, 1950, less than five years after the end of World War II. Three days later, they captured Seoul. The major South Korean city changed hands four times during the war.

By July 1, the first U.S. ground troops arrived in South Korea as North Korean and Chinese troops continued their advance. But with the U.S. and U.N. forces in the country, the tide turned.

By September, U.S. and U.N. forces had retaken Seoul and advanced to the Chinese border. China expanded its involvement, and the North Korean forces pushed back.

Fierce battles took place, and territory changed hands, with the armies pushing back and forth.

‘28 rounds of ammo’ shot into US soldier in Korean War

The fighting produced heroic efforts from U.S. soldiers, said Frank Thomas, a former associate vice president at the University of Akron and a Korean War veteran.

Thomas told the stories of Ohio soldiers whose heroism stood out in the midst of battle.

One of those, John Stiles, survived until 2020 after being shot numerous times during the war.

“John took 28 rounds of ammo into his body,” Thomas said.

Some of the bullet fragments were never removed, he said.

Stiles’ chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association dedicated a memorial bench in July 2020 to recognize Ohioans killed in the Korean War. Days later, he died, pieces of the war still with him.

‘Intense and vicious’ fighting in Korean War

Del Estep, a North Canton resident, served at the K-9 Air Base in Pusan in 1952 and 1953, working on B-26 bombers.

The planes flew at night, with flares as their guide, he said. In the light of day, they were too vulnerable to Korean jets.

Estep said the troops he served with were stoic about their mission.

“You just did your job and that was it,” he said.

Haas said the fighting his platoon saw was “very intense and vicious.”

“Fighting in ’53 was very intense,” he said. “I lost personnel.”

Conditions were sometimes as extreme as the enemy, with temperatures dropping to 40 or 45 degrees below zero, he said. His platoon operated near the 38th parallel, attacking enemy supply lines that became vulnerable when the Chinese and North Korean forces extended their advances too far.

“We saw a lot of action as far as preventing the enemy from moving supplies and ammunition to their units,” he said.

Seventy years later, he was still wondering how the weather could become so extreme in a country near the same latitude as Ohio.

A tale of North and South Korea

Haas said history shows the effort to preserve South Korea proved worthy.

“I’m extremely glad that we were able to help them and save their democracy,” he said.

The effort has led to a stark difference in the fate of the two Koreas. In 2019, South Korean gross domestic product per capita was estimated at $42,765. North Korea’s, in 2015, was estimated to be about $1,700.

Kindig said the war and its veterans deserve to be recognized and remembered for their sacrifice.

“It truly is the forgotten war,” he said. “This country should know more about the Korean War.”

Theodore gave a decidedly sober and patriotic message to the dedication.

“There is no better country on earth than the USA,” he said. “There are gravesites all over the world with the bodies of our veterans.”

Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Korean War dead remembered during solemn ceremony in Clinton Village