By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
October 5, 2011

It’s been called the forgotten war, but on Wednesday, Sept. 28, Kansas Citians remembered the Korean War once again and honored the Missouri veterans who served.

More than 400 people, including U.S. veterans, gathered to watch the unveiling of the Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial at Washington Square Park in Kansas City.

As the white sheet was pulled away, it revealed a solid concrete structure etched with the names of Missourians who sacrificed their lives to give another country freedom.

This memorial was a dream of the late James Shultz, a Marine corporal and Korean War Veteran.

“He vowed one day to see the Korean War and its veterans were never forgotten,” Shultz’s daughter Debra Shultz said.

Shultz died last year at the age of 79, but his formation of the board and advisory committee of the Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial paved the way to erect the memorial, which stood before attendees Sept. 28.

“The Korean War was a war the United States didn’t want and it didn’t want to know about,” his daughter said. “Just five years before, we ended WWII and the country wanted to move away from the heartbreak, the loss and the deprivations of that war.”

Americans wanted to move on with their dreams, and the grip of communism laid thousands of miles away, she said.

But for those who fought and their family members, the war was real.

More than 1.5 million Americans served in the Korean War and nearly 37,000 American service members died, including more than 900 from Missouri. More than 8,000 are listed as missing in action.

United Nations troops lost 3,100, the Republic of South Korea lost 47,000 soldiers and more than 1 million Korean civilians died.

Since signing a compromise in 1953, the Republic of South Korea has received its own taste of democracy and freedom.

“The Republic of South Korea has risen to dizzying heights from the ashes of destruction from back-to-back wars to become one of the most prosperous nations on the planet, ” said keynote speaker Col. David J. Clark, executive director of the 60th Anniversary Korean War Commemoration Committee.

American soldiers left an enduring legacy, he said.

“It mattered then and it matters now,” he said of the veterans’ service. “You, and your friends who never came home, are heroes and will never be forgotten.”

Dick Stoermann of Leawood, Kan., served in the Navy as an engineman second class during the Korean War. He nearly died.

In September of 1950, his ship, a Navy LST, pulled up to the beach in Incheon, South Korea.

When communist snipers began shooting, they were 300 yards away from water due to the tide.

Seven drums of gasoline were on the main deck and the fuel was gushing through the bullet holes.

“The gasoline was running all over the ship,” Stoermann told Northeast News.

Part of the damage control team, he worked frantically to wash away gasoline from the ship.

“Every now and then I heard a ping and the bullets were hitting the side of the super structure above me and I thought, ‘I’m going to get a round in my head any minute.’

“I was lucky.”

Despite his close call, he has no regrets, he said.

“I’m proud that I served my country. Not everybody gets an opportunity to do that,” he said. “I have no regrets and I’d do it again.”

For Korean War veteran and Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial Executive Committee member David A. Tanquary, Washington Square Park and the surrounding area were his stomping grounds.

“During the depression and during the ’30s we were playing around in this area, never dreaming of course there would be a Korean War or that we’d be here at a dedication ceremony years later,” Tanquary told Northeast News.

One-hundred twenty two from Kansas City, Mo., died in the war and Tanquary knew about 12 of them through school. He also attended Central High School with Shultz.

When the veterans returned home, there were no parades or fancy celebrations, he said.

“Many people were upset because they didn’t think we won the war, but what we went to do was preserve the Republic of South Korea and we did. In those terms, it was a great success,” he said.

Asked what he thinks of the memorial, he said, “I think it’s very beautiful and it’s unique.

“There’s no other memorial in the United States that’s like it.”