Veterans, families, posts asked to submit memories, images and voices of a war that should never be regarded as “forgotten.”
The September 2000 American Legion Magazine honored the 50th anniversary of the Korean War armistice through more than 40 articles, personal remembrances, photos, humorous anecdotes, little-known details and descriptions of the harsh, deadly conditions troops faced.
Every element of the publication aimed to dispel myths and revive firsthand memories about what later was regrettably called “the Forgotten War.” The majority of material for the issue was submitted by members of The American Legion.
The American Legion Media & Communications Division is once again calling on American Legion Family members to share their Korean War stories. Similar to a collection of more than 120 stories and photos called “Our WWII Story” which was published on legion.org between 2019 and 2021, “Our Korean War Story” will serialize such topics as:
- Personal accounts from Korean War veterans – Legionnaires, family members, post namesakes and others connected to the organization
- Local post efforts to support the troops during the Korean War and to remember the sacrifices of the war afterward
- Community activities that honor Korean War veterans
- Stories and photos of unique equipment, artifacts and other memorabilia from the war
These materials can be submitted using the legion.org/legiontown web platform under the category “Our Korean War Story.” Once submissions are prepared and approved for publication, they will be posted on the site, which offers easy social media sharing. From those, pieces will be highlighted in the weekly American Legion e-newsletters, as well. Selected submissions will also be used in a future issue of The American Legion Magazine.
In addition, American Legion Magazine staff writers and editors will work with national library staff to resurface American Legion responses and messages from that period of U.S. wartime history.
Nearly 1.8 million Americans served in the Korean War combat theater. The Department of Defense puts the number of in-theater U.S. deaths at 36,754, with another 17,672 having lost their lives outside the combat zones. The number who went missing or were captured, with no remains stands at 8,075.
It is a war to remember today as U.S. forces deploy with their NATO allies to the perimeter of Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Korean War veteran Jack Sauter, who flew 21 combat missions from two aircraft carriers and the peninsula itself during the Korean War, noted in the September 2000 magazine that the war’s story “was relegated to a great never-never land … In most of our high school history texts, it scarcely rates a paragraph.
“And yet, it deserves to be remembered. For the first time, the principle of collective security was tested on the battlefield and communist aggression was stopped cold.”
The aim of this project by the American Legion Media & Communications Division is to ensure strengthen historical memory, while veterans of the Korean War – 361,749 of whom have been American Legion members in the last decade – are available to share firsthand accounts.
- Honor & Remembrance