A crowd of about two hundred came out Saturday morning for the rededication of the Korean-Vietnam Conflict Memorial at Wyandotte County Lake Park.
The memorial was built in 1988, at the time the only dual Korea-Vietnam memorial in the nation. In the decades since, it became run down, so much that Unified Government Commissioner Mike Kane recalled being “embarrassed” when he saw the deterioration.
A concerted effort from the mayor, UG commissioners, and the Parks and Recreation Department found the money in a tight budget environment to restore the monument to its former beauty.
Two powerful speeches highlighted the ceremony. Lieutenant General Milford Beagle, Jr.(pronounced beg-lee), commander of the U.S. Army’s Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, gave the keynote speech.
”We are not here to unveil something new,” said Beagle, “but to renew something valued. So this rededication is more than a ceremony. It is a reminder — a reminder that the names etched here will still speak, and we are still listening.”
The general continued, honoring the character of those who served. “ All of that today, we recommit to remembering not just the wars but the warriors. Not just the cost, but the character. This rededication is a promise, is casted in stone and sealed in memory. A promise that we will remember who they were, what they gave, and why it matters.”
District judge Tony Martinez followed Beagle’s speech with a tribute to his father, Korean War veteran Roberto Martinez. The elder Martinez, 90 years old and wheelchair bound, sat silently near the podium. Eyes moistened and tissue boxes passed among the crowd as the judge spoke.
He recounted his father’s words when asked to recall a story from his service.
“My father thought about it for a long time, thought hard about this request, and finally he said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘There are no good stories in war, only bad, son. You should not ask and we should not talk about the horrors of battle and the destruction that men bring down on each other and their families.'”
“‘There’s no good that comes from those who survived it to talk about it here. We should not suffer it again by telling stories here.'”
“‘ Tell them right or wrong, son, when we were called, we went without question. Don’t forget! Tell the people, son, that we were good men, and we were good soldiers, and we gave then and we are still giving what we can when we are asked.'”
Roberto Martinez saw action at the Chosin Resevoir in northeast Korea, one of the most brutal conflicts in modern history. The battle was fought in harsh winter conditions, with temperatures reaching as low as -36 degrees.
A wave of 120 thousand Chinese troops Badly outnumbered U.S. and Korean troops were surprised and encircled by in late November 1950, eventually fighting their way out to the coast for evacuation.
Nick Scherzer, son of Pat Scherzer, then a member of the county commission and instrumental in establishing the monument, recounted how his father had hatched the idea in 1985 along with fellow veterans Al Bukaty and Mike Sarras. Scherzer also retold the story of how his father had fought top-ranked professional boxer Tony Chiaverini in a Memorial Hall exhibition to raise funds.
He closed with a challenge. ”We challenge the Unified Government to make the care and upkeep of this memorial a permanent budget item so it never fades again. Let’s keep this sacred ground in the shape it deserves year after year.”
KCK Mayor Tyrone Garner, himself a U.S. Army veteran, talked about the importance of funding the renovation, after previous administrations of neglect.
“I can’t be the mayor and a veteran and see a crumbling memorial to those individuals from Wyandotte County that gave the ultimate sacrifice and go home and sleep good at night — especially being a veteran.”
Garner found a receptive audience with the UG commissioners. “So I went and I pushed it [with the commission]. There was no discussion. There was no debate. It was a ‘Yes, yes, yes. Make it happen.'”
Angel Ferrara, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, spearheaded the project, with an estimated cost of $140 thousand.
The monument received several repairs and updates, including new concrete sidewalks and stairs and replacement of three damaged granite panels. The site also got energy-efficient lighting installed, and weather sealant to deter future weather damage.
