Statement by Congressman Chet Edwards

Dedication of Korean War Memorial

Killeen, TXJune 21, 2003

50 years ago Americans and Koreans stood together in defense of freedom. Today, we celebrate that freedom, and we honor those who fought for it.

50 years ago the sons and daughters of America and the Republic of Korea stood up to communist aggression. Today, we stand together to pay tribute to our partnership in war and peace.

Some have said the Korean War is “The Forgotten Conflict”.

With this memorial we say the sacrifices of those who fought there will never be forgotten.

With this memorial we say that those who died there will be remembered, always.

I come today to thank those of you who fought against communist aggression in Korea. I was born in November of 1951 in the dawn of the Cold War. Forty three years later my first son was born in the wake of the Cold War.

As a father, I want to thank you, our Korean War veterans. You were the frontline troops in an epic 5-decade battle between democracy and communism. At the 38th parallel, you were the first to draw the line in the sand against communist aggression.

Had it not been for your bravery and sacrifice, the world might be far different for my children today.

The Cold War might still be raging. The tyranny of communism might still be growing had you not drawn the line of freedom at the 38th parallel. Instead, communism is withering on the historic vine of failed societies.

Freedom’s line was drawn with the precious blood of the sons and daughters of the Republic of Korea and the United States.

And for 50 years since, their sons and daughters and their grandsons and granddaughters have protected that freedom.

Nowhere in the world is there a better living laboratory of the stark contrast between the prosperity of freedom and the physical and mental poverty of communism. While the Korean people north of the 38th parallel live in hunger and fear, the Korean people south of freedom’s line enjoy the material and spiritual opportunities of liberty.

You who fought and those who died in the Korean War were the first warriors in one of the greatest military victories of all time—the Winning of the Cold War. You fought for freedom for the Republic of Korea and for future generations of the world.

Even as we stand here today, the youth of America and the Republic of Korea are on patrol at the 38th parallel and throughout that region. We learned a valuable lesson in the Korean War. The surprise invasion of June 25, 1950 and Task Force Smith taught us one more time that “the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

An America that once dismantled our armies after cease-fires were signed now knows that maintaining a strong defense at all times is not only the best way to win wars, it is the most effective way to prevent wars.

The lesson of maintaining a strong national defense is one of the lasting legacies of the Korean War, and only our Creator can know how many lives that lesson has saved.

Not long ago, I heard a story about my friend, Congressman Charlie Rangel of New York. Charlie is in Congress today because when he was surrounded by communist forces in Korea, he promised God that if he lived, he would spend the rest of his life making up for the sins of his youth.

Congressman Rangel was visiting South Korea during a time that demonstrations had broken out against the American military presence there. A reporter, thinking that the demonstrations would upset this Korean veteran, asked him whether it angered him to see such demonstrations.

His answer was “that is why I fought in Korea—to give the Korean people the freedom of speech.”