|
Over the last few years, I have received several requests to tell more of the
story of my involvement with the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Some of those requests directly implied that I was not the Founder of the Korean War Memorial. The true story will give you pause.
I think it will also give you strength to know that somewhere out there, a few of us do care about honor and dignity... Founding The Memorial The requests center around why I am not mentioned in any public
or official proclamations or publications relating to the Korean War Veterans Memorial. Many of the messages imply I had no involvement with the Memorial in Washington. Few know I founded the Korean War Memorial Fund in December
1984, or that my involvement stems to 1983. In fact, my original symbolic donation of $10.00
used to create the Korean War Memorial Trust Fund was dated December 1, 1984,
far before any politicians or beltline bureaucrats had more than a passing interest in Remembering Korean War Veterans.Past highly questionable fundraising soured Congressional support. A series of articles by Pat
Furgurson of the Baltimore Sun raised awareness. A solution was needed. In 1988, General Richard G. Stilwell credited me with ``laying the cornerstone of this magnificent project." It was a private letter and not circulated. At the time, General Stilwell was the Chairman of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Advisory Board. So what happened to
make me a non-person? And to excluded me from any official involvement with a Memorial so close to my heart? Why? The National Committee During the Korean War, a young woman was saved by American troops. That young woman, Chayon Kim, later came to the United States and became an naturalized American citizen.
In 1979, far before it became fashionable to support a Memorial, Chayon decided it was time to honor the memory of the servicemen who saved her country and her life. She formed an organization styled the National
Committee for the Korean War Memorial. She aggressively began a search for a location and supporters. She developed a detailed plan, and met with every governmental agency involved in approving such a project. In
late 1983, as the project gathered strength, board members of the Committee removed Kim. The miserable story of how the National Committee for the Korean War Memorial sank into ruin and disgrace is well documented in
numerous articles by the Washington Bureau Chief of the Baltimore Sun, Pat Furgurson, and other publications. Much of the story is recounted in an official government publication describing hearings before the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate on October 29, 1985. In a letter dated December 12, 1986, Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II summed up his feelings to me about the National Committee:
``Thank you for sending me a copy of that fine article about you and the Korean War Memorial. The tribute to you is more than well deserved." ``I only wish that the swindlers who
conned so many of us could be slowly and painfully emasculated."
It was a very painful to discover the extent of the situation, for I had volunteered to become involved with the Committee in a letter I sent to the Committee on November 7, 1983. Colorado President A few days later, I received a letter from the Executive Director of the Committee appointing me to
the post of President of the Colorado Sponsoring Committee of the Korean War Memorial. I was absolutely delighted, and immediately set to work to create a committee. General P.X. Kelly, Commandant of the Marine
Corps, appointed a First Lieutenant from the Recruiting Station in Denver. Colonel Vernon D. Eliis, Deputy Base Command for Lowry Air Force Base volunteered to represent the Lowry Technical Training Center. The
Commandant of the Air Force Academy appointed an officer from the History Department at the Academy. On January 16, 1984, I wrote a letter to the Committee asking for a certified copy of the corporate non-profit
registration so that I could apply for fundraising status in Colorado. I wrote again. No answer. I put fundraising on hold until the papers could be filed. Finally, I received a letter from the Committee dated May
2, 1984, apologizing for not answering my letters. But no corporate papers accompanied the letter. A cryptic reference was made in the letter to ``the AP wire fiasco." I waited. Baltimore Sun I did not know that Pat Furgurson of the Baltimore Sun had been investigating the Committee for some time. The corporate papers did not arrive because corporate papers did
not exist. According to the Baltimore Sun, the charter had been revoked in 1982 for non-payment of fees. No paper, no registration in Colorado. By this time, Furgurson had written a series of articles condemning
the National Committee. The letterhead of the Committee listed such prominent men as Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II,. James Michener, General Matthew Ridgeway, Mrs. Douglas MacArthur, Edwin Meese, and a host of other
names. Even Gerald Ford. Some of those listed on the letterhead had no connection with the Committee. It was a mess. I was ashamed. But I had been cautious enough to take no actions on behalf of the Committee
in Colorado. Not one dime had been raised. Confrontation I demanded an explantion from the Committee. Nothing. I received a telephone call from
Washington suggesting I call General Jack Singlaub. At the time, I was living in Boulder, Colorado, and General Singlaub lived just the other side of the Continental Divide near Winter Park. I immediately called him
and voiced my misgivings. He replied that it was essential that we meet immediately, and suggested brunch at Winter Park the next morning. He said he had a number of documents I simply must see.
It was early September 1984. After giving me the documents, General Singlaub had nothing good to say about the Committee, and suggested I carefully look into the problems at the Committee.
The next day, the phone calls started. Threats I came home from work and my wife Nancy said to check the telephone recorder. It was a call from
the Committee. I didn't return the call. The next day another call came in on the recorder. The words threatened action if I didn't immediately return the call. I really didn't have anything to say to a group of
people who had lied to me... and many others. The next day and the third call was the last straw for my wife of 13 years. She said she couldn't take the pressure. Her words were that she knew I would not give up
on the Memorial, and that she didn't want any part of something that would take ten more years. My wife filed for divorce. The Memorial was not all the problem. But it was like a knife in both our sides.
She was wrong. It took 11 more years. Fired Needless to say, I was not pleased. I
spent the next three weeks investigating the Committee. Each bit of evidence led to another piece of evidence. I wrote dozens of letters. Several of the prominent figures on the letterhead replied that no permission
had been given for their names to be use for fundraising. The Committee had even used Ambassador MacArthurs' name on a mass mailing without bothering to inform him. The Committee resented my investigation, and in
mid October 1984, I received a Western Union Mailgram informing me I had been fired. The Mailgram was signed by the new boss of the National Committee. That gentleman would later become an influential member of the
Korean War Veterans Memorial Advisory Board. The connection would haunt me permanently. American Battle Monuments Commission I had befriended Col. William E. Ryan
of the American Battle Monuments Commission. During the fall of 1984, we talked several time about the situation. There was legislation in Congress asking for a Korean War Memorial, but the controversy killed any
possiblity of passage. By this time, I had also befriended Bill Temple of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Bill is a veteran soldier of the Pusan Perimeter and Kuni-ri, a rifleman with the 38th Infantry. Bill was livid.
We kept talking about what to do, and I felt that we should seek out some way to get the Memorial back on track. In early December 1984, I called Col. Ryan at the ABMC, but he was not in the office. Colonel Badger
answered the phone, and we commiserated on the situation with the Committee. I asked him if he had any thoughts on how I could restart the concept of the Memorial. Badger said the ABMC had authority to accept money
from individuals, businesses, or others for purposes relating to the honoring of veterans. The money would go directly into a U.S. Treasury account. So I suggested that I would send in $10 to start a Korean War
Memorial Trust Fund, and he wholeheartedly agreed. So off went a symbolic $10 check, and on December 12, 1984,
Colonel Ryan acknowledged by letter that my donation was the first to be received.
Stalled Legislation Bill Temple sent in an additional $10, and we were off and
running at snail pace. I wrote hundreds of letters, and the word began to get out. But slowly. I didn't intent to create a group. I'm a loner, and groups don't fit my needs. Bill was exactly the same way. So we
decided to concentrate on telling others about the ABMC fund. Just two guys on a mission. Meanwhile, legislation was languishing in both the House and Senate. In fact, the bills were dead. And a battle was raging for
control of the Committee. In April, 1985, on the spur of the moment, I called Bill Temple and asked him to meet me in Washington. I had the choice to pay my mortgage or go to Congress. I chose Congress. I left on
a Thursday night and arrived in Washington early Friday moring. We met at Col. Ryans' office at the ABMC. Bill and I were meeting for the first time. Our goal was to talk with staffers of every House member
responsible for handing Memorial bills. We did not have the luxury of appointments. We simply went from office to office asking for five minutes time to tell our story. Usually we were told to come back, so
eventually we had over a dozen appointments spread through Friday. We talked with all the staffers, and pled our case for a Trust Fund to be handled by the American Battle Monuments Commission. The next month, we met
again to canvass the Senate side. Again, the same drill. Meet on a Friday morning and rush from office to office. It worked. New bills were introduced, two of which specified the ABMC as the organization to accept
money and build the Memorial. A Senate hearing was held on October 29, 1985 to discuss a Memorial. The sordid affair of the National Committee was laid to rest. Senator Wallop Meanwhile, Senator Wallop decided he didn't want any more Memorials on the Mall. Wallop was Chairman of the Subcommittee on Public Lands. As far as he was concerned, no
Korean War Memorial was going to be built on the Washington Mall if he had anything to do with it. It was a very curious time. It seemed as if the dream of a Korean War Memorial would remain a dream.
Wallop stood fast. No Memorial. Clint Eastwood By this time, it was the summer of
1986, and I had moved to Dallas, Texas. One evening, I received a call from a Korean Vet who said Clint Eastwood was filming a movie called Heartbreak Ridge. I was excited the story of Heartbreak Ridge would be
told by someone like Eastwood. Then I discovered the story line placed Eastwood as a Marine who wins the Medal of Honor at Heartbreak Ridge. I wrote a letter to Eastwood informing him that only one Marine was on
the ground at Heartbreak, and certainly no Marines were involved in ground combat there. The sole Marine was there involuntarily, a pilot whose F4-U was hit by friendly fire. Lt. Arthur Donald DeLacy lay on the
ground, his parachute visible to the soldiers of the 23d Infantry Regiment. The 23d was a regiment of the Second Indianhead Division, United States Army. Two Marines received decorations for the unsuccessful rescue
attempt of DeLacy. One pilot, Captain Samuel Martin, received the Silver Star for drawing fire to his unarmed L-19A observation aircraft. The other pilot, flying an unarmed HO3-S1 rescue helicopter, was Major Edward
L. Barker. Barker also received the Silver Star for three attempts to rescue DeLacy. My father was furious that Eastwood would attempt to change history. Other veterans of the 23d Infantry began to challenge
Eastwood. I was at work one Friday afternoon when my brother said I had a telephone call. I picked up the phone. It took almost a minute before I realized it was Clint Eastwood. He explained to me about his use
of the title Heartbreak Ridge. He said it was a business decision, a great title, and that he had been told that Marines were at Heartbreak Ridge. We went round and round, and I asked him to change the title of the
film. He said this would be impossible, it was in the can, and the advertising was already finished. Done deal. I told him the veterans would not be happy. He said that didn't bother him, he was used to people not
being happy with him. And he said the story line was actually about a Marine during the Grenada Invasion timeline, and really had nothing to do with the Korean War at all. In order to keep him talking and perhaps
make him think about his decision, I told him about Senator Wallop and the Korean War Memorial. I asked if he might help with that problem. He suggested sending a message to Senator Wallop. Clint then asked if it
would help if he talked to President Reagan. He explained that he talked to him all the time. We ended the conversation on that note. The following Monday, Clint called again. He said that he had listened to me,
and had spent the weekend going through the script. He offered to reshoot a scene in the film for my friends from the 23rd Infantry. He would refer to his character as a veteran of the 23rd winning the Medal of Honor on
Heartbreak. He asked me what he should say in the scene. However bad the film was to become, and it was bad, he kept his word to me. He reshot the scene. A few days later, Clint's secretary would send
me a copy of the telegram to Senator Wallop, and a note that Clint would talk to the President on my behalf. For whatever reason, only days later the bill passed out of the Wallop Committee, and was signed into law on October 28,
1996. I stepped out of the picture, never to be seen or mentioned again. To this very day. Outside The Fence Years later, at the Dedication Ceremonies held on the National Mall in Washington, I would stand outside the VIP fence, locked out and unknown.I could smile and know that I
had made a difference to a generation of veterans who would never know how much I cared. I had been to Heartbreak RidgeI stood on the mountain. And I remembered the Forgotten in my own way.Hal
P.S. To this this day, the government does not
recognise the Korean War Project or my personal involvement with the Korean War Veterans Memorial. During this decades long ordeal, several men helped to make the Memorial possible behind
the scenes in the real world. I credit Col. John Kenney, Bill Temple, Seymour Hoppy Harris, Tony Zdanavage, and Pat Furgurson. The unsung heroes...... Forgotten Forever..... Except by me....
|
