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Korean War Armistice a nightto remember

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  • Originally published July 26, 2008 at 11:44 p.m., updated July 26, 2008 at 11:44 p.m.

“I will go to Korea.”

Dwight D. Eisehower,

campaign 1952

There once was an amusement park called Hot Wells on U.S. 290 northwest of Houston, on the road to Hempstead, where my folks would take us kids to have some truly great times.

After we took the giant slide down to the great big pool and played hard, then played the arcades, it was time to gather at our picnic spot and treat ourselves to Mom’s fried chicken, potato salad, etc.

But, on one particular night, as my Dad listened to the news on the car radio, he let out a whoop (which was very unusual for him) and told us there was something to really celebrate.

He hugged my Mom, and said, “I told you Ike would do it! I told you!”

It was July 27, 1953, and the bloody Korean War was finally over after more than three years of carnage. I was just 9 years old, but my Dad’s celebration on that night is still vivid in my memory. He was so happy. Perhaps his favorite quotation of all time was the promise Mr. Eisenhower made during his campaign against Democrat Adlai Stevenson -- “I will go to Korea.” Meaning he would put an end to it.

As happy as Dad was that night, Duane Cook of Victoria was even happier, I’ll bet. Duane did some hard time in the Korean War, and he usually calls me each year when the armistice anniversary nears, just to remind me of the night when hostilities ceased.

Today is that anniversary, and this year I called Duane to let him know that I had not forgotten the terrible conflict that they sometimes call “The Forgotten War.”

When the armistice came about 10 p.m. that night, Duane said, “It was the blackest night I ever saw. But it was one of the best nights I ever saw.”

Both sides were shooting everything they had that evening, “using up their ammunition,” Duane said, but at 10 p.m., “Everything got completely quiet.”

He and some buddies found themselves on the wrong side of the lines as the armistice took hold, and Duane ended up with a Chinese soldier’s rifle aimed squarely at his face. “I’m sure glad he didn’t pull the trigger,” said Duane, a master of understatement.

But there were almost 37,000 Americans who were not so fortunate, and who gave their lives in the fight against Communism.

And Duane is proud of the job they did, and the result of their toil.

He points out that Seoul, the capital of the South Korea we fought so hard to defend, is now among the world’s major cities. “I’m proud of the South Koreans,” Duane said. “They have freedom, and that’s what we fought for.”

As for Korean Armistice Day, “It’s probably a day that not many people remember.”

But don’t worry, Duane. Some of us, like that 9-year-old boy at Hot Wells 55 years ago who watched his father celebrate the cease-fire – we’ll try to keep reminding them.

Jim Bishop is a senior editor for the Advocate. Leave him a message at 361-574-1210 or jbishop@vicad.com or comment on this column at www.victoriaadvocate.com



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