September 1, 2009

Project to aid ROK Ministry Commemoration 2010 Programs

Korea Veterans Association of Canada seeks to locate all living Veterans who served in Korea during Korean War

Terry Wickens, national president of the Korea Veterans Association of Canada (KVA Canada) says his organization has embarked on an ambitious project for the 2010 Korean War Commemoration period: Identifying and contacting all living Korean War Veterans in Canada.

Wickens and KVA Canada national vice president Paul Rochon are spearheading this ambitious program, in cooperation with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA) in Korea.

“This is one of our major projects to mark the 2010 60th anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration period,” Wickens explains. “We will be asking all of our units across Canada to reach out and locate Veterans and provide us with their names and addresses,” Wickens said. “We will send out an advisory with recommendations for all units to follow very soon."

This is in harmony with the MPVA program that seeks to establish a worldwide data base of living Korean War Veterans so that they can all be contacted in 2010.

“We understand that the program relates to the President of Korea wishing to send a personal message of thanks to every living Korean War Veteran in all of the 21 nations that served with Korea in the war,” Wickens explains.

“It’s a very ambitious program and in Canada we have taken it on early and we’re already well into it.”

He noted that KVA Canada is interested in any cooperation that can be provided by other Veterans organizations, such as the Atlantic Provinces Korea Veterans Association, Cape Breton Island Korea Veterans Association and the Korea Veterans Associaton of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Terry Wickens, National President Korea Veterans Association of Canada, Chairman, KVA Canada Heritage Unit

Wickens also hopes that other Veterans groups, including the Royal Canadian Legion, ANAVETS - Army Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada and the Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping will also cooperate in helping to locate the Veterans.

Wickens and Rochon have reviewed current data bases available to them and believe they may already have close to 5,000 names – out of the estimated 10,000 Korean War Veterans who are still living.

Verifying existing addresses of the Veterans will be very time consuming, but essential to the program.

Rough figures for the numbers of Canadians who served in Korea are 27,000 in the Canadian Army, 5,000 in the Royal Canadian Navy and 1,500 in the Royal Canadian Air Force – nearly 34,000.

Of them, Veterans Affairs Canada estimates approximately 24,000 have passed away since the war ended 56 years ago.

The youngest Korean War Veterans in Canada would be in their mid-70’s and many survivors are in their 80’s. A few are in their 90’s.

“Let’s face it, we are a dying breed,” Wickens said. “But we are working cooperatively on this and other worthy programs and we will go out in grand style.”

KVA Canada also plans to hold a major national service at the Korea Veterans National Wall of Remembrance in Brampton, Ontario on July 27, 2010 – the month and day on which the Korean War Armistice was signed in 1953.

Wickens and Rochon – very heavily burdened with such assignments – are encouraging Veterans from all across Canada to plan to participate in this possibly “last hurrah” event.

“We understand from a recent briefing in Korea that the MPVA may assist us as a co-sponsor of this and the other major events that we are planning,” Wickens said.

The Korea Veterans National Wall of Remembrance in Brampton, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. The Wall is affixed with 516 grave marker tablets that are miniatures of those existing in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea where 378 Canadian Fallen are buried, and from the Commonwealth Cemetery near Yokohama, Japan. Other tablets are for Fallen who are buried elsewhere, including those soldiers who fell in battle and have no known graves and Royal Canadian Naval personnel who were lost at sea.

“The MPVA, which is spearheading the 2010 commemoration programs for the ROK Commemoration Committee, knows that because of age and health conditions, many Veterans can no longer make the long journey to Korea to participate in the planned ceremonies and services,” Wickens notes.

“So the MPVA has proposed to bring Korea to Canada, and meet with those Veterans who cannot travel because of health or personal financial conditions.

“Their plan is to help fund these local ceremonies and also co-sponsor banquets associated with them, where the Korean Ambassador of Peace Medals will be awarded to qualified Veterans who participate.”

The MPVA is conducting similar support programs in all 21 nations that were allied with the Republic of Korea during the Korean War.

Paul Rochon notes that the allocations for the Veterans Revisit to Korea program has been almost quadrupled for 2010.

“We do not know how many places Canada will be allotted as yet,” Rochon notes. “We do know that it will be many more than in previous years as the MPVA is providing funding for 2,700 Veterans, spread across the 21 nations allocated according to how many served.

“Canada had the largest number of servicemen in Korea behind the United States and the United Kingdom and so we expect our allocations may be up sharply from the usual 30 slots made available to us.”

Paul Rochon, National Vice President Korea Veterans Association of Canada, President, KVA Canada Heritage Unit

Rochon said he is reaching out to all interested Veterans, whether or not they belong to KVA Canada. That is in line with the philosophy of the Korean Government that the benefits of the programs should extend to all Korean War Veterans, regardless of their veterans organization affiliations.

“We all served together and we all deserve the chance to participate in this wonderful program,” Rochon says.

In 2010 the current plan extends the program slightly by one day in most cases, with the Veteran spending six days and seven nights in Korea.

The Veteran is responsible for paying his own air fare but the Korean Government pays for his hotel, meals and ground transportation while in Korea.

This year, MPVA is asking local coordinators in the 21 nations to ensure that participating Veterans are healthy enough to withstand the rigors of the long flights involved and the fairly fast paced itinerary in Korea.

There have been serious injuries among participating Veterans in recent years. This past summer one Veteran from the US died in Korea after he fell while visiting an outpost in the Demilitarized Zone. He had actually served on that very position 57 years earlier.

There are other programs planned for 2010, in Canada and the other 20 nations that were allied during the Korean War, and there are some very spectacular commemoration events planned in Korea.

More will be disclosed later about these very significant programs.

Terry Wickens and Paul Rochon will benefit much from everyone’s total cooperation, for they are hard pressed in addressing these programs – as well as some that need their attention in 2009.

Anyone - from within KVA Canada or other Veterans organizations - wishing to help with the Veterans data base program should contact Terry Wickens via e-Mail at terrywickens@sympatico.ca

Above article provided courtesy of the Korean War Veteran, koreavetnews@aol.com