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 The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Illinois Department of
Veterans' Affairs, Illinois Korean Memorial Association, and the
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, along with media
partners the Illinois Press Association and the Illinois
Broadcasters Association, are sponsoring "Illinois Remembers the
Forgotten War." For more information, visit
www.illinois-history.gov
or
www.veterans.illinois.gov.
Illinoisans killed in action in Korea,
May 1953
By county of residence
(Source: U.S. Department of Defense records)
Champaign:
- Pfc. Paul W. Schnepper, Army, May 29.
Cook:
-
Cpl. Earl F. Burris,
Army, May 17.
-
Pfc. Fred L. Hatzold,
Army, May 9.
-
Pvt. William R.
Hoffman, Army, May 15.
-
2nd Lt Charles W.
Lender, Army, May 24.
-
Sgt. 1st Class
Alphons Manitowabi, Army, May 20.
-
1st Lt. James A.
VanVeen, Air Force, May 27.
Jo Daviess:
- Cpl. Donald O. Streicher, Army, May 13.
Livingston:
- Sgt. Harold E. Green, Marines, May 23.
Macon:
- 1st Lt. Dwight A. Kirk, Army, May 29.
Richland:
- Pfc. Richard F. Giese, Army, May 13.
Saline:
- Sgt. Charles K. Dwyer, Marines, May 4.
Stark:
- Pvt. Robert W. Tracy, Army, May 27.
Tazewell:
- Pfc. Virgil D. Musselman, Army, May 3.
Key events during the Korean War, May 1953
The armistice talks had just resumed at Panmunjom when May 1953
arrived, and they ran into a staunch opponent -- South Korean
President Syngman Rhee, who opposed any agreement that let Communist
Chinese forces remain on Korean soil and that did not guarantee the
reunification of North and South Korea. Rhee had good cause for
concern as the split of Korea into Communist North and democratic
South after World War II had resulted in the brutal invasion of his
country three years earlier, and when the Chinese entered the war in
late 1950, the cost in South Korean blood and property skyrocketed.
In reality, United Nations commanders did not need Rhee's
approval to sign an armistice, since such an agreement was a
military decision, and Rhee had placed his forces under U.N.
command. It was not a peace treaty, after all, just an agreement to
suspend fighting. Nevertheless, everyone realized that South Korean
acceptance was crucial to any armistice, and as a result Rhee's
threat to continue the war on his own in spite of an armistice had
to be taken seriously.
While the infantry war ground to a stalemate, the U.N. commanders
were cranking up the pressure on the Communists. The 58th
Fighter-Bomber Wing launched a massive air raid on the Toksan Dam on
May 13, involving 59 F-84 Thunderjets. The raiders destroyed a major
North Korean irrigation system, resulting in the flooding of
thousands of acres of valuable rice crops and miles of highways and
railroad tracks. Further attacks on North Korean irrigation dams
followed over the next two weeks.
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 Illinois Korean War Memorial
The Illinois Korean War Memorial is located in Springfield's Oak
Ridge Cemetery, the same cemetery that contains the Lincoln Tomb.
Oak Ridge is the nation's second-most-visited burial ground, behind
only Arlington National Cemetery.
Dedicated on June 16, 1996, the memorial consists of a
12-foot-tall bronze bell mounted on a granite base. At the
circumference of the base are four niches, each with a
larger-than-life figure representing a branch of the armed services.
Inscribed on the base are the names of 1,754 Illinoisans killed in
Korea.
The Illinois Korean War Memorial is administered by the Illinois
Historic Preservation Agency and may be visited daily free of
charge.
Korean War veterans oral history project
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum
The oral history program at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Library and Museum offers
"Veterans Remember," a collection of interviews with Illinois
residents about their wartime experiences, at the library's website,
http://www2.illinois.gov/alplm/
library/Pages/default.aspx. The interviews concern the
experiences of Illinois veterans who fought in several conflicts,
including the Korean War, as well as the experiences of those on the
home front. Visitors to the website can listen to or watch the
interviews in their entirety. Several of the interviews have
transcripts, and most have still images as well.
Website visitors will need a computer capable of playing MP3
audio files or MPG compressed video files in order to listen to the
interviews. The transcripts and still images are also accessible.
Volunteers conducted and edited many of the interviews and developed
the transcripts that accompany them.
Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs
The mission of the Illinois Department of
Veterans' Affairs is to empower veterans and their families to
thrive. The department does this by assisting them in navigating the
system of federal state and local resources and benefits; by
providing long-term health care for eligible veterans in the state's
Veterans' Homes; and by partnering with other agencies and
nonprofits to help veterans address education, mental health,
housing, employment and other challenges. For more information,
visit
http://www2.illinois.gov/veterans/. Follow them at
http://twitter.com/ILVetsAffairs or
http://www.facebook.com/illinois.veterans.
Korean War booklet
The Illinois Korean Memorial Association, an all-volunteer
organization, has published a booklet, "A Brief History of the
Korean War," copies of which have been provided free of charge to
public libraries, high schools and junior high schools in Illinois.
Individuals may obtain a copy by sending a $10 check or money order
to: Illinois Korean Memorial Association, P.O. Box 8554,
Springfield, IL 62791.
Tax-deductible donations are welcome. All donations go to the
book project and to the upkeep of the Illinois Korean War Memorial.
[Text from file received from the
Illinois Historic
Preservation Agency]
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