Date: 2008-06-17
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise today to pay tribute to the 5 million valiant men and women who served in the Korean War. Some may know the names Buzz Aldrin or John Glenn. You know. we all flew F86s in the 51st Fighter Wing back then together. They were household names then. I flew 62 combat missions in the Korean War and got a chance to fly with Buzz many times. On Capitol Hill. there are three of us who served in Korea in this CongressCHARLIE RANGEL of New York. JOHN CONYERS of Michigan. and I. The Congress is better off because Korean War veterans are represented. They call the Korean. War the "forgotten war" as STENY HOYER said. Nowhere is this more evident than the fact that the Korean War Veterans Association has not received a national charter. A little known fact is that American prisoners of war in Korea endured even more severe treatment than those of us in Vietnam. In fact. they didnt even want to talk about it for years. Giving the Veterans of the Korean War a national charter will put them in the same echelon as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion. truly a mark of distinction. There is a Sam Johnson Korean War Veterans Group. chapter 270. in north Texas. The founder. Ed Buckman. a great patriot. did not talk about his history or his story for decades. It wasnt until a couple of years ago that he started sharing his experience and became a Korean War veteran champion. Ed Buckman is the one who helped bring the need for a national charter to my attention. Mr. Buckman arrived home in Fort Worth after serving from 1950 to 1951 as a Navy electrical engineer aboard the USS Princeton. The Veterans of Foreign Wars advised him that because President Truman dubbed the conflict in Korea a "police action" and not a war. Mr. Buckman and other military personnel were not considered veterans. He once said he did not say the word "Korea" out loud for more than 40 years. He confided to the Dallas Morning News that he was bitter. -We were treated like dirt when we got home." Then. in 2000. he heard about a parade in New York City honoring veterans. including those from the Korean War. "When I went to this parade." he said. "with 25.000 marchers. they put me on the front float and there were a million people saying thank you. No one had ever thanked me for my service in Korea before." and he said "it inade me feel proud." He tirelessly advocated a national charter for the Korean War veterans. and it brings me great pleasure to know that his hard work paid off. Ed Buckman. your country and your Congress are saying thank you for your sincere devotion to the cause by creating this long overdue national charter for all Korean War veterans. I want to thank STENY HOYER and the others in this Congress for helping do this. Its about time our Nation thanked the Korean War veterans for their service and sacrifice with national recognition and premier status. This July. we mark the 55th anniversary of the Korean War armistice. To the remaining one million plus Korean War veterans we will say. God bless you and God bless America. Your war and your efforts will not be forgotten. This is for you. America salutes you.