Tomorrow Magazine Veterans Day Special Issue, 2003

I always
felt something
about that
memorial
was missing.
KOREA
➤ 1,789,000 Americans in
military service
➤ 33,667 killed in action
➤ 7,666 POWs/MIA (presumed dead)
I
Joe McMahon as told
to Martha K. Baker
I was one of the first to go in to Korea
with 1,894 people in the 34th Infantry
Regiment of the 24th Division, in 1950.
In seven weeks, we were down to 194
of those original soldiers. The first man
killed in combat, Kenneth Shadrick,
was from our outfit. [The North
Koreans] overwhelmed us in three
hours’ time — we were under-strength,
under-equipped, under-trained.
People died in the Korean War. So
to me the Korean War monument in
Forest Park [St. Louis] never seemed to
Joe McMahon
U.S. Army 1948–1952
Staff Sergeant
Millwright
St. Louis South Assembly and
St. Louis North Assembly (retired)
UAW Local 136
be enough. I always felt something
about that memorial was missing.
Although several names of people
killed were embedded in the monument
for posterity, no one could see them.
So I joined a committee of about
12 vets from four local chapters of
the Korean War Veterans Association
to figure out what we wanted.
We worked for three years to raise
$13,500 for two new pedestals. We
held fundraisers twice a year and
sold the blue Rose of Sharon, the
national flower of South Korea, and
we took donations.
On Aug. 2, 2003, the day before
the 50th anniversary of the signing of
the Korean Armistice Agreement, we
held a memorial service. About 400
people gathered around the Korean
War Memorial, a large stainless-steel
sundial next to the Jewel Box [an Art
Deco greenhouse]. Our two black
granite pedestals stand on either side
of five flags representing America,
prisoners of war, the United Nations,
South Korea and Missouri. One
pedestal is inscribed “Freedom is
never free,” and on the other is a map
of the Korean peninsula marked with
the 38th parallel and four major cities.
Inscribed on the black granite of
the pedestals are the names of the
28 fallen soldiers from Jefferson
County, St. Louis County and city,
and St. Charles County.
✮
Dec. 27, 1944.
Allies victorious in
Battle of the Bulge.
Feb. 7, 1945. Sen.
Joseph R. McCarthy
of Wisconsin claims
the U.S. State Dept.
harbors communists.
WWII cont.
Feb. 23, 1945.
U.S. Marines raise
flag at Iwo Jima.
May 7, 1945. Germany surrenders;
President Truman
proclaims May 8 V-E
(Victory in Europe) Day.
Aug. 15, 1945.
Korea is divided along
the 38th parallel into
U.S. and Soviet zones.
Sept. 2, 1945.
Japan signs
surrender
agreement.
1944 1945 1946
1946. Chrysler resumes commercial vehicle production, producing
slightly modified prewar models. New sedan, coupe and
convertible versions of the Chrysler Town & Country are introduced.
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