It was a year ago on July 27 when Innisfailian Doug Whorrall proudly donned his uniform and solemnly stood at the cenotaph to honour the 60th anniversary of the ceasefire of the Korean War.
And Whorrall was back at it again last weekend on July 27 with a small contingent of veterans and family members to mark the 61st anniversary, and to honour the second annual Korean War Veterans Day.
The day of remembrance, which Whorrall fought for so long to have established, was created for Canadians to never forget the more than 26,000 Canadian men and women who served in “The Forgotten War”, especially the 516 who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.
“We've been coming here for the last 20 years to celebrate the ceasefire and we also do it on Remembrance Day,” said Whorrall, adding the local unit of Korean War veterans had 32 members when they began to honour the ceasefire two decades ago.
He said there are nine members today in the local Korean War Veterans Unit 77, which was split in two six years ago for logistical reasons to better accommodate veterans who lived out of town. Last weekend a half dozen members of the local unit appeared at the cenotaph to honour the 61st anniversary of the ceasefire.
“This is important because we are Korean veterans and we are proud. It is in memory of the ceasefire and the 516 that were killed and also the 1255 that were wounded,” said Whorrall. “That is why on the cenotaph here we have the First World War, the Second World War and then the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.
“And we go to the schools on November 11 and we tell the kids about Korea, why we were there and what we did and also just teaching the kids that there was actually a Korean War,” added Whorrall.
Meanwhile, Korean War Veterans Day was celebrated throughout Canada last weekend. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Julian Fantino, minister of veterans affairs, both issued statements to mark the special day for Korean War veterans.
“These brave members of the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy played an important role, along with Commonwealth and other allied troops, in defending the Republic of Korea against Communist aggression,' said the prime minister in his press release. “Our troops fought in difficult conditions -- from the bitter cold of the Korean winters to the scorching heat of its summers -- but they persevered.”
