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Letter: Korean War veterans too long forgotten

Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007 | 7:20 a.m.

Being a veteran, I am proud of all veterans and active military men and women who serve and sacrifice for our great country.

It is more than disconcerting that veterans of the Korean War are rarely, if ever, recognized in the media.

More than 36,000 Americans lost their lives in Korea's three years of war and, as of this writing, about 8,000 are still missing in Korea. In 10 years of war in Vietnam more than 58,000 Americans lost their lives.

The Korean War was called "forgotten." That is an understatement; we never existed.

Several years ago, in a letter to veterans from the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, every American war from World War I, even Panama and the Grenada invasion, was listed.

Only Korea was omitted in that letter, perhaps the greatest insult of all to us veterans of the forgotten war.

I wrote a blistering letter to the then-secretary of the VA, for whatever good that did.

Walter E. Gunther, Las Vegas

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