In the Heartland, Remembering the ‘Forgotten War’

It rained in Des Moines on Sunday but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the more than 1,000 people attending the unveiling of a Korean War memorial. One veteran remarked: “I saw enough rain when I was in Korea. I never thought I would be standing in it for something like this.” The memorial, a 14-foot-long center monument and eight 5 1/2-foot-high tablets relating the story of the war, is reportedly the first of its kind to honor those who fought in the Korean War during the early 1950s. Gov. Terry E. Branstad, in an address at the dedication ceremony, said: “It’s a symbol that the people of Iowa have not forgotten the so-called forgotten war . . . . We’re proud Iowa becomes, as far as we know, the first to have a free-standing memorial.” Of the more than 54,000 Americans killed in the war, 508 were from Iowa.

--Farther South, another governor, Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts, is expected to address a gathering today in the port city of Beaufort, S.C., at a special Memorial Day ceremony. After the traditional holiday parade, 19 unknown black Union Army soldiers who served in South Carolina during the Civil War will be reburied, complete with full military honors. Archeologists were able to identify the soldiers’ units as the 55th Massachusetts and the 1st North Carolina (Colored) Infantry Regiment--which were assigned to Folly Island near Charleston during the war--by using remnants of uniforms and military records as well as bone analysis. However, none of the soldiers have been identified. The remains of the soldiers, who appeared to have succumbed to disease, were accidentally unearthed in May, 1987, at a battlefield site on Folly Island.

--Joe Clark, the Louisville slugger from Paterson, N.J., is on the mend after undergoing surgery to replace a heart valve. Officials at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, N.J., said Sunday that Clark, principal at Eastside High School, was in satisfactory condition after a four-hour operation. “They did everything that was to be done in the operation” with no difficulty, hospital spokesman Tom Casey said. Clark, 52, achieved notoriety a number of years ago after taking a tough stand at his troubled inner-city high school, often walking the corridors with a baseball bat or exhorting his charges with a bullhorn.