Remembering the Forgotten War
Jeff Danziger's cartoon, ``Thanksgivings,'' Nov. 21, intends to pay homage to our American military men. It depicts five soldiers sitting and eating a Thanksgiving meal. Next to each soldier is a year marking a particular era (a war or military deployment,) and each is dressed in the garb of that period.
``1863'' notes the Civil War, ``1918'' the First World War, ``1942'' the Second World War, ``1968'' the Vietnam War, and ``1990'' the Persian Gulf military deployment.
It would not be practical to depict a serviceman for each of our wars without filling up the whole page (the War of 1812, the Spanish American War, the Mexican War, the Grenada engagement, and the Panama affair). However, most of these were of lesser magnitude than the Korean War.
The Korean War was as severe as the Vietnam War. The men who served there might feel slighted by the lack of recognition. Earl L. Shimp, Pennsville, N.J.
How could Danziger have omitted the Korean War, in which the UN command suffered 142,091 casualties, of which 33,629 were killed? An Orwellian nonevent? B. McCabe, So. Yarmouth, Mass.
Did Danziger leave something out? One time my 80 battle-hardened Marines and I pulled back from the main line of resistance before Thanksgiving and looked forward to a warm meal on that day. But the turkey ran out and the officers ended up eating beans and franks. We were thankful for the food, however.
Good job in thinking of those in our armed forces on Thanksgiving Day - that was a lot more than many people did. Bill Bogdan, Albuquerque, N.M.
The cartoon shows the fighting men of our country eating their Thanksgiving meal from 1863 to the present. All forces are shown except a Korean War soldier. Many of those in that war also served in World War II. Three in my husband's family were recalled as reservists in that conflict and felt they were performing their patriotic duty for the defense of their country. How grateful we are to have such dedicated people and not one should be forgotten. Shirley P. Briggs, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Many readers, Korean War veterans and others, have pointed out that in my cartoon, ``Thanksgivings,'' showing veterans of various American wars eating Thanksgiving dinner in the field, I left out the Korean War. For this omission I sincerely apologize. The Korean War, often dubbed the ``forgotten war'' is no less important because it is less understood. Its veterans made no less sacrifice. As a Vietnam veteran I understand this, and I should have known better. I wanted to illustrate that military service is particularly hard during the most American of all holidays, Thanksgiving, when we all want most to be remembered. My error in leaving out the Korean War only serves to further illuminate the point. And I am sorry. Jeff Danziger
