On Veterans Day, American Legionnaires in Korea attended the annual Veterans Day Ceremony to commemorate war veterans hosted by Department of Pacific Area, Veterans of Foreign Wars at the 8th Army War Memorial on Nov. 11, 2016. Charles Woods, commander of American Legion Post 37, Pyeongtaek, Korea, and Legionnaire William Scafe, representing American Legion Post 38, each placed flowers on the steps of the 8th Army War Memorial along with U.S. and Korean officials to honor the sacrifice given by war veterans. Legionnaire Tim Lane acted as the officer of the day during the ceremony.
Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander of United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and U.S. Forces Korea spoke during the ceremony and said, “Veterans Day, for veterans, is a day that brings back those memories, those circumstances of shared hardship, danger, achievement, victory, glory, life, death and uncertainty. All those things that are the experiences of veterans, the sights, the sounds, the smells, the feelings, the emotions all come back for veterans on Veterans Day.”
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert also spoke at the ceremony. “Here on the Korean Peninsula we stand miles from one of the last remaining fault lines of the Cold War,” said Lippert. “Each day this serves as a clear reminder of the thanks we owe the veterans of our two countries and those of the United Nations sending states who fought and died.”
Senior officers, young servicemembers, retired veterans, veterans from assorted veterans’ organizations, civilians and schoolchildren were in attendance for the annual event.