We didn’t do much talking/We didn’t raise a fuss/But Korea really happened/So please remember us.
Those words are from a poem titled “Korea” that can be read at the Korean War Memorial located in Downtown Jersey City at the foot of Washington Street.
The memorial was the setting of a morning ceremony last Sunday where at least 30 veterans of the Korean War gathered, many of whom have never visited the memorial before.
The event was organized by the AMVETS (American Veterans of World War II – Korea – Vietnam) Post No. 20, located in Lyndhurst. Many of the members once resided in Jersey City and in other parts of Hudson County. Also attending were members of the Korean War Veterans of Hudson County organization.The Korean War, from 1950 to 1953, was referred to for many years after as a “military action” that saw over 36,000 American soldiers killed and over 100,000 wounded according to U.S. Defense Department figures. An estimated million-plus South and North Koreans died during the conflict.
From June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953, it was a conflict between Communist North Korea and anti-Communist South Korea, and considered by historians also to be a war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Congress never officially declared war. The end result of the conflict is that North and South Korea are still divided geograpically along the 38th parallel.
For many of the veterans on Sunday morning who wore their various medals and outfits, it was a time in their lives that they can’t forget.
Remembering the ‘Forgotten War’
They came to the Korean War Memorial, with Liberty State Park and the Hudson River in the background.
The memorial itself is enclosed by two semi-circular walls, with three obelisks standing inside the enclosure. At the center of the display is a sculpture representing two soldiers in combat gear, one injured and the other supporting him.
On the obelisks are the engraved names of 127 Hudson County residents who died in the conflict. The walls of the memorial are engraved with pictures of various events from the Korean War, along with a poem commemorating the conflict. The cement ground consists for panels known as “pavers” that have printed dedications to those who lost their lives in the war.
The veterans, once teenagers and young adults who came of age in combat, studied the different parts of the memorial looking for names of fellow soldiers.
Angelo Polito, trustee for the AMVETS Post No. 20, was a 20-year-old Jersey City boy who found himself training in California, then shipped to Honolulu where he worked as a medic treating those troops who were flown there to recover.
“Guys with one leg, in full body casts, they caught us unprepared,” said Polito, who would later choke with tears during the ceremony. “It was an experience that kids do, but it was a war that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Joseph Cassella was another Jersey City youth who came to Korea in February 1951, who is still haunted by what he experienced during his stint in the 2nd Infantry Division as a corporal. He was discharged in 1952.
“You would see these children with no fathers, 2 to 3 years old,” he said. “That’s why I have a soft heart for kids.”
Cassella was later honored by his fellow veterans during the ceremony for his work in getting the memorial started.
The memorial broke ground in 2001 with the opening on Dec. 7, 2002, the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Cassella, as head of the Korean War Veterans of Hudson County in October 1998, got the effort started.
Former mayor Bret Schundler and former Hudson County executive Robert Janiszewski each contributed $30,000, and the Korean community in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area raised over $100,000.
Debbie Rumore, Cassella’s daughter, said that she remembered when her father decided to embark on this project to build the memorial.
“I told him that he would never be able to do it. But he is one very strong-willed man, and he once he puts his mind to something, he gets it done,” said Rumore, who also came to the memorial to join her father.
Also saluting Cassella and his fellow veterans was Acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith, who also attended the ceremony.
“These Korean War veterans have made American strong, and we have not done enough to honor them sufficiently,” said Smith, who said that also came to the ceremony in memory and respect of his late uncles, both of whom served in the military.
Smith then wrote out a personal check for $200 to the Korean War Veterans of Hudson County.
During the ceremony, there was a request during the ceremony for the public to help maintain the memorial by purchasing one of the pavers in the memory of a loved one who had served in the Korean War or any war.
For more information, call the Korean War Veterans of Hudson County at (201) 858-4318 or write to Box 841, Bayonne N.J. 07002.