Korean War

* For veterans of what often has been called “the forgotten war,” the Korean “police action,” Josh Getlin’s article, “Vietnam and WWII: Myths and Memories” (April 9) is an unhappy reminder of the appropriateness of the “forgotten war” label.

For those whose knowledge of the Korean War may be somewhat incomplete, a few related facts might be enlightening. While the United States may have provided the vast major of combat forces in Korea, our participation was as part of a United Nations action in response to North Korea’s invasion of South Korea. World Book lists U.S. casualties in Korea as almost 59,000 dead and missing, and U.S. causalities in Vietnam as 56,000 of which 45,800 are listed as combat.

The Korean War may not be classified as a “watershed,” but for the next of kin and its surviving veterans, its status as the “forgotten war” remains a grim irony.

EARLE ROSSNEY

Temecula