Goodlander vows to never forget Korean War on Armistice Day

TILTON — Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH) served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy before representing the Granite State in Washington, D.C. Sharing Korean War Armistice Day on Monday, with veterans who served during a “forgotten war,” brought her immense pride.

“These are extraordinary patriots,” Goodlander said.

Goodlander was the keynote speaker for Korean War Remembrance Day, held on National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day at the New Hampshire Veterans Home on Monday. The day marks the armistice signed on July 27, 1953, at Panmunjom, which created a demilitarized zone and stopped fighting in Korea, while dividing the peninsula.

“When you think of the stories of service, for some of the veterans who served here in Korean, they lost parents in the first World War, siblings in the second World War,” Goodlander said. “It took so much courage to step up and answer the call, and that’s what they did. They fought under some of the most horrendous conditions you could ever imagine. They fought for the most important cause in history, and that is freedom.”

The ceremony started with Veterans Home Chief Operations Officer Karen Hebert welcoming everyone. The day honored all who served in “the forgotten war, as it has often been called.”

The war started only five years after the end of World War II, and was followed by the infamous conflict in Vietnam, leaving it less recognized to many. She said it was humbling, and a true honor, to be in those veterans’ presence.

“War is hell,” Goodlander said. “The Korean War, like any war, was hell for those who fought in it. We can never forget the cost.”

The posting of colors was done by the Lakes Region Detachment of the Marine Corps League, followed by Heather Sparano singing the National anthem, the Richard Milyaro, the sergeant-at-arms of the Veterans Home Resident Council, leading the Pledge of Allegiance.

Leo Leclerc, Veterans Home Resident Council first vice president, followed with an invocation.

Hebert said while it is often called a forgotten war, a day is put aside each year to remind Americans of those who served in Korea.

“We honor those who served to keep South Korea free from communism,” Hebert said.

Hebert spoke of the start of the Korean War, 76 years ago, on June 25, 1950, when North Korea began rolling tanks across the 38th parallel. She said after recovering from the surprise, the United States helped set up a perimeter. A United Nations force that included 21 countries worked to push the North Koreans back, and years of fighting and long-running peace talks ensued.

Hundreds of thousands of communist troops were killed, along with an estimated 2.5 million Korean civilians. South Korea’s Defense Ministry also estimates more than 137,000 South Korean troops died in battle.

As for American troops, 33,742 were killed in action, 103,284 were wounded, and another 4,821 are missing in action. There were also 7,286 prisoners of war, and 2,847 of them were wounded.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) could not be in there in person, so Vietnam War veteran Stephen Sayewich read her Armistice Day proclamation. Sayewich also thanked those in the room who served in the Korean War.

“The governor mentions 1.7 million members, but there were six million service people at that particular time, so the numbers were fairly great,” Sayewich said.

Goodlander addressed the veterans and the team at the Veterans Home. She said any time she walks the halls of the home, she feels honored to know she's in the company of so many who served in every branch of the military, in a variety of battles, conflicts and wars.

“What I see is that you are not just receiving care,” Goodlander said. “What I see is that you have built a community that has had a profound impact, and continues to have a profound impact, on our state.”

Goodlander thanked every veteran in the room, as well their loved ones and family members. Having grown up as the daughter of the Navy veteran — and serving 11 years herself — she said it does take a village to stand by veterans.

In Washington, Goodlander takes a daily run past the Korean War Memorial. She is reminded the soldiers who served answered the call to defend another country they may never have known, and people they had not yet met.

“There is no greater love than the love that leads a person to put their life on the line for another,” Goodlander said. “What you have done for each and every one of us, and for the world, is an extraordinary service that I will never forget.”

Goodlander said growing up, the Korean War loomed large in her household. She recalled her dad giving her a book called “The Coldest Winter,” a history of the war that stuck with her, because, as Sayewich said, there were six million Americans who wore the uniform during those three years. That included tens of thousands of Granite Staters, she said. More than 130 soldiers who died, and dozens who remain unaccounted.

“The idea that this war could ever be forgotten is one that I wholeheartedly reject with every fiber of my being,” Goodlander said. “This is a war that we must remember, and that we must honor. I believe we are who we remember. As individuals, as a state, as a nation.”

Goodlander said remembrance is an active verb, so a war can never be forgotten. She shared lessons that stuck with her, because of the Korean veterans’ service. Written in granite at the Korean War Veterans Memorial is “Freedom is not free.”

“We say these words a lot, but the forward truth is that the freedom you fought for, and the freedom you delivered, is an extraordinary inheritance,” Goodlander said.

Goodlander said to imagine what they endured is humbling, and what they fought for, and delivered, is democracy in South Korea. She said in 1953, South Korea’s capital was destroyed, and the country was one of the poorest. Now, it is one of the 10 largest economies in the world, going from receiving American aid, to becoming a donor nation.

“It is a miracle what has been produced,” Goodlander said.

Another lesson to her is there is “enormous power” in unity, as more than 21 nations sent forces. It was an alliance born of shared sacrifice that lasted for the past 70 years.

“The world came together in unity, alongside us in the fight for freedom,” Goodlander said.

She said one area of concern, and a lesson that cannot be forgotten, is Korean War veterans came home to too little recognition.

“The country can never move on from your service, and I want you to know I will never forget what you have done for us,” Goodlander said.

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) sent along messages, and Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) sent a video greeting. Ellysia Zuchowski — daughter of a U.S. Marine with a lengthy military history in her family — played "Taps."

The ceremony finished with a benediction by Leclerc, before the retiring of colors by the Lakes Region Detachment.

Both before and after the ceremony, Goodlander met some of the veterans, including Peter Martel. Martel served as an electrician's mate third class in the U.S. Navy, 1947-50. When the Korean War started, they extended everyone's service for another year, so he got out in 1951.

“Most of my service was on a troop transport,” Martel said.

More than 70 years later, Martel recalled where he served, stop by stop, in the two-month trip around the Pacific. He started in the California Bay Area, and stopped in areas like Guam, Manila, China, and Japan. Martel pointed to a folded flag pin on his hat, and said while he made it home, that wasn’t the case for his friend and fellow soldier Willie Thorpe.

“A division officer came down to our shop one morning, and said he has a transfer to a minesweeper,” Martel said. “Anybody interested? Well, this guy was, and I was, and a couple others. He had two months', three months' seniority than I did, and the division officer always took the one with most seniority. Six months later he was killed. He was a good friend.”