The Forgotten War
The Korean War, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953, is known as The Forgotten War. It was sandwiched between World War II and the Vietnam War. Although the war lasted only three years over 54,000 American men and women died or are listed as missing. This is in contrast to the 58,000 that were lost during the seventeen years of the Vietnam War. The war was not a declared war. President Truman referred to it as a Police Action under the authority of the United Nations. The Korean War has never officially been concluded. The fighting ended when an armistice agreement was signed on July 27, 1953. The UN negotiator of the armistice was LTG William K. Harrison who lived in Charlotte for a while in the 1980’s. Many of those who served were veterans of World War II which ended in 1945. Similarly, many who served in Korea would serve in Vietnam, America’s involvement in which began in 1959. Whereas the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington was dedicated in 1984, and the Mecklenburg County and North Carolina memorials were dedicated in 1989 and 1991 respectively, it was not until 1995 that a Korean War Veterans Memorial was created in Washington. Only now, in 2013, is a memorial to the veterans of this Forgotten War being dedicated in North Carolina.
This memorial and cache have special meaning. therapaint’s father served in the war, and the following passage is a veteran's story.
The dedication on the Korean war memorial in Washington DC reads:
Our nation honors
Her sons and daughters
Who answered the call
To defend a country
They never knew
And a people
They never met
So it is with all wars our country has fought, and every veteran's answered call lives on in his or her own life or death and in the lives of the veteran's family. Some make the ultimate sacrifice, and the rest come home to a life that will never be the same. My mother and father fell in love with each other at a young age and were high school sweethearts with big dreams. My father graduated high school and tried in vain to find work; many employers were hesitant to hire young men during that time since most were being drafted. One day my father, without telling anyone his intent, signed up for the army and went away to Fort Jackson for training. Soon after boot camp, he was on his way to Korea where he would spend the next two years with the 32nd Infantry right smack on the 38th Parallel. My mother recalls that dad cherished her. He was gentle, fun-loving, and devoted to his family. He was afraid of losing my mother while he was overseas, and he saw almost every soldier in his company receive a "dear John" letter. My mother helped him overcome this fear by faithfully writing him an encouraging note every night he was overseas for two years; that's right, every night for two years. She also recalls that in 1954 he came home a different man. He was still devoted to his family, but he wasn't mirthful anymore, and he would often just sit and stare at nothing; his mind elsewhere.
My dad never talked about his time in Korea with anyone. Every now and then I would find a few black and white photos that he sent home to my mom while he was overseas - they were taken in bleak surroundings and were labeled "my tent", "my buddies" and so forth. When I asked my dad about the pictures he would just shake his head and change the subject. My dad was an excellent marksman, and he earned many medals for this skill while in the service, but he didn't want to discuss that either. When the temperatures dropped in the winter, my dad's hands would crack and bleed, and my mother said that the cold in Korea had damaged his hands. He struggled throughout his life with depression and other maladies, but he always provided for our family faithfully.
I am thankful for my father, and I'm thankful that he served the United States of America, the greatest country in the world. He died suddenly on August 24th, 2006, and I miss him. He was a true southern gentleman, and he loved his grandchildren very much. I'm proud that he went to defend a country he never knew and a people he never met, but I'm jealous of Korea. It kept a part of my father that I'll never know, and it shaped our family in ways I'm sure my parents never planned. Faithful service begets sacrifice, and our veterans make many sacrifices to defend freedom home and abroad. Take time today to say a prayer for our men and women in service and their families.
There are caches hidden at the four other war memorials in Mecklenburg County. There is a fifth one hidden for those who will use the information garnered from the four to compute the coordinates. It would have been nice to include this cache in that group of four veterans caches, but to preserve the history of the original group and to pointedly say that it’s about time that a Korean War Veterans Memorial was created in North Carolina, this cache will remain separate.
The Lost Cause (GC16M4V): visit link
Spirit of the American Doughboy (GC162HP): visit link
The Greatest Generation (GC169W9): visit link
The Wall (GC170FT): visit link
Veterans Cache (GC176R0): visit link
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A - Armed Force Branches Noted
B - US Forces Killed in Action
C - US Forces Missing in Action
D - North Carolina KIA and MIA
E - Number of Stelae
F - Year George E. Preddy Died
G - North Carolina Marines Who Died
H - Union County Residents Who Died
I - Medal of Honor Recipients
Checksum: A + B + C + D + E + F + G + H + I = 34,621
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N 35° AA.XXX’
W 80° BB.YYY’
AA = G – (3 x H) + A
BB = D – (3 x E x G) + H + A + I eye
XXX = B – (3 x F x I eye) – (E x G) – H + E – 1
YYY = D + A + H +1
Checksum: A + A + X + X + X + B + B + Y + Y + Y = 25
NOTE: The cache location has changed. Complete the following calculation for the final:
AA.XXX=AA.XXX+478
BB.YYY=BB.YYY+253
Checksum: A + A + X + X + X + B + B + Y + Y + Y = 45
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The cache is being published on Veterans Day, 2013. The memorial was dedicated two days earlier with dignitaries from Korea adding to the ceremony. The national anthems of the US and Korea were both sung. During the event, there was a flyover of five Korean War era Corsair fighter planes. Upon the dedication of the memorial the park was renamed "Mint Hill Veterans Memorial Park." The website for the memorial: visit link
While making one last check before publishing the cache gbmcache chatted with a young Korean man who was at the memorial with his two sons. He said that he wanted them to know what he had learned as a child from his father who was only 3 and 4 during the war: Korea's success as a modern democratic nation is the result of men, mostly American, who were willing to die for the sake of another county's freedom.
Please place the cache back where found as mentioned in the hint.