By Tessa Belcher
Northeast News
August 17, 2011

A groundbreaking for a memorial dedicated to the Missouri Korean War Veterans occurred Aug.12 at Washington Square Park.

The weather was stormy and the rain fell hard, but many of the veterans and speakers shared that the weather was incomparable to what the veterans experienced.

“It was like this every day in Korea,” Paul Wolfgeher, Korean War veteran, told Northeast News.

Veterans lined the front of the crowd gathered to watch the groundbreaking and listen to speakers honor and proudly announce the Veteran’s Memorial.

A dedication for the finished Memorial is expected to be held Sept. 28, 2011.

Private donations fund the Memorial and contributions are also being accepted.

“I think it’s always important for us at the City, for us at the Parks Department to always give knowledge and to pay respects to those who have given their lives, given their time, given their service over the years to ultimately protect our people here in this country,” said Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioner President Jean-Paul Chaurand.

For more information, contact Jim Shultz at (913) 481-1055 or Debra Shultz at (816) 560-7752. To make a donation, send checks to P.O Box 481903, Kansas City, MO 64148 made payable to Mo. Korean War Vets Memorial.