Shopping on Memorial Day

By Jason Lim

I live in Pentagon City, Virginia, with a large mall located next to my apartment building. For this Memorial Day weekend in America, my building had a special sign posted in the lobby warning the residents that the shopping traffic over the Memorial Day weekend is expected to be inordinately heavy and that the residents should either get out of town to avoid the crunch or stay home in the safety of their apartments. You would think that a natural disaster was about to strike.

In a way, this is quite understandable, since Memorial Day heralds the beginning of summer fun. When growing up in New York, I still remember getting excited to drive down to the Hamptons on Memorial Day weekend because that was the first weekend when all the young people from New York City would congregate to ogle and be ogled by peers. Girls would look gorgeous wearing the latest fashion in swimwear while guys would try to fit in one more set of pushups on the filthy bathroom floor in the beach houses to look as pumped as they could before venturing out into the often freezing sands.

In the midst of all the shopping, frolicking, and greeting that we do on Memorial Day, however, I believe that it is important to take a moment to reflect on what Memorial Day means in a U.S.-Korea context.

For Korean War veterans, Memorial Day can be bittersweet since the Korean War is often characterized as the ``Forgotten War." Squeezed in between World War II and the Vietnam War, Korean War is often overlooked in both its historical significance and individual sacrifices borne by the veterans.

But numbers belie the forgetfulness of the Korean War. Over 1.8 million American soldiers served in the Korean War, with 33,600 killed and 8,176 missing in action (MIA). 7,140 were prisoners of war ( POW)s, of whom 4,418 returned and 2,701 died in captivity.

It was also the first racially integrated war in American history, with over 300,000 African Americans and 130,000 Hispanics fighting in Korea. It was also the first battle in the Cold War and first military intervention sanctioned by the United Nations.

And the Korean War is still not over. Although an armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, there has been no permanent peace treaty. Technically, the war is still ongoing.

This is why a Korean American graduate student at George Washington University is spearheading an effort to push through the Korean War Veterans Recognition Act (S. 1888), which will add National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day (July 27) to the list of days on which the American flag should be displayed. The Act is sponsored by Senator Clinton, with Senators Cochran and Casey.

Hannah Kim, who would rather remain in the background so as to emphasize the collective nature of the effort, was born 30 years after the end of the war. As such, she has no direct personal connection with the Korean War per se. But her reason for doing this is nevertheless very personal. ``Without the Korean War veterans and their sacrifice, I would literally not be here," she says. ``I hope to recall the Forgotten War into the public consciousness ― lest we forget."

She views her efforts as an act of remembrance and giving thanks, and a ``small contribution to bring about reconciliation and peace." Her goal is to raise awareness of the sacrifices Korean War veterans and the ``somber fact that the Korean War still has yet to end." If you are interested in finding out more on the Korean War Veterans Recognition Act, and how you could help, contact Kim at hannahkim115@yahoo.com

One might think that an American remembrance of her own veterans would have no bearing in a Korean context. But he would be wrong, because today's South Korea is inextricably tied with those who fought and died there 58 years ago. Regardless of where you stand along the political spectrum, you can't dismiss the simple fact that every one of these deaths represents an American who died on Korean soil and that his death leads directly to where Korea is today.

Their sacrifice becomes more meaningful in light of recent mass candlelight vigils in Korea against President Lee's policies of American beef imports. In fact, the massive, flickering river of people shouting, chanting, and singing in the heart of Seoul against government policies and even against America ― freely and with nary a soldier in sight ― is the best gift of remembrance that we can offer to those veterans who were killed during the Korean War. Would all these have been possible without their ultimate sacrifice? Perhaps. But more likely not.

Of course, this is not to dismiss the millions of Korean soldiers and civilians also killed during the war, or the blood, sweat, and tears of the democracy activists who fought against the dictators in late 1980s. But any Korean would be dishonest not to recognize, or remember, that Americans died to help produce a Korea where freedom and democracy can be taken for granted.

A brief moment to remember that freedom is not free. That's what Memorial Day is all about.

Jason Lim is a research fellow at the Harvard Korea Institute, researching Asian leadership models. He can be reached at jasonlim@post.harvard.edu.