American Legion Commander Robert Tulipani, Grand Marshall Joe Arena, American Legion Member Doug Main, Major Aldo Biagiotti, Jr., Board of Selectmen members, other invited guests, and all citizens of Ridgefield and their families:
Good afternoon. On behalf of the Board of Selectman, I would like to congratulate and thank the American Legion for organizing a wonderful parade today for all Ridgefield families to enjoy. In particular American Legion Commander Robert Tulipani, and American Legion Member Doug Main for all their hard work. They deserve our heartfelt thanks.
In all seriousness, we are really gathered here today for a more somber occasion—to honor our veterans, especially those who have paid for our continued freedom with their lives. But freedom is not free. In our small patch of earth, Ridgefield, we are caretakers of graves of the brave soldiers of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War: We know family members who saw action in World War I, World War II, died in Viet Nam, and fought in the Persian Golf War.
The year 2000 marks the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the new millennium. The year 2000 also marks the 50th anniversary of the Korean War. I was only two years old when the war started, and quite frankly, our history classes in school devoted so much time to the World Wars that the Korean War was but a small chapter. So I did some review. The Korean War is often called the forgotten war. Forgotten, partially because of it coming on the heels of World War II, and then followed soon after by the Viet Nam conflict. But the Korean War was significant in many ways. The Korean War triggered the buildup of U.S. forces in NATO and ushered in the "Cold War." And, according to US Army (retired) Colonel Harry Summers, Jr., "Although seen as an aberration at the time, the Korean War now serves as the very model for American's wars of the future.
Historian and Korean War combat veteran T.R. Fehrenbach wrote in his classic This Kind of War, "Americans in 1950 rediscovered something that since Hiroshima they had forgotten: you may fly over a land forever; you may bomb it, atomize it, pulverize it, and wipe it clean of life—but if you desire to defend it, protect it, and keep it for civilization, you must do this on the ground the way the Roman legions did, by putting young men into the mud." And that they did. America, the richest and most technologically advance nation on earth…with nuclear weapons, the world's best navy and air force…. chose a foot soldier's fight. One and a half million American men and women, a cross-section of the nation's population, struggled side by side during the conflict. They served as soldiers, chaplains, nurses, clerks, and many other combat and support roles. 131 were awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest commendation for combat bravery. Of those, 94 had given their lives in the acts that earned them that honor. In all there were 109, 975 American casualties: 55,000 killed, the remainder wounded in the line of duty. For these soldiers and their families, this could never be the "forgotten war."
"They went not for conquest and not for gain, but only to protect the anguished and the innocent. They suffered greatly and by their heroism in a thousand forgotten battles they added a luster to the codes we hold most dear: duty, honor, country, fidelity, bravery, integrity…" William Sessions, former FBI Director and a veteran of the Korean War.
One last quote: Abraham Lincoln once said: "Poor is the nation that has no heroes, but beggared is the nation that has them, and forgets them."
We shall not forget. Thank you.
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