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71 Years Later, Pittsfield Remembers the 'Forgotten' Korean War

Arnie Perras, VFW post commander, is the last of the nine-member committee that initiated the monument in 2002. He says it's up to the younger veterans to continue the memorial. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — VFW Post 448 Cmdr. Arnie Perras led the 71st Korean War memorial ceremony Saturday morning. 

He is the only living member of the committee that led the effort on Pittsfield's 2002 monument remembering those lost in the "Forgotten War."

"Sadly, from nine on the (Korean War Monument Committee,) it appears I am the last man standing," he said to a small crowd in front of City Hall. "We really need our younger veterans to help us out by joining us soon to carry the torch forward."

Without the membership of younger veterans, these types of ceremonies will not happen in the future, he said.

The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea after border conflicts and insurrections in the south. Hostile action ended unofficially on July 27, 1953, in a truce.

Perras asserted that the armistice did not actually end the war in 1953, but scaled it down and made it become somewhat of a hidden war. The truce was a cease-fire agreement and a peace agreement has never been signed.

"Also, I feel obligated to remind people of just a few actions that occurred during the cease-fire, at times referred to as the DMZ Wars especially active in the 1960s, where many U.S. and Korean soldiers were killed in ambushes, firefights, and minefields," he said, detailing events occurring as late as 2010 when North Korea torpedoed a South Korean Corvette submarine, killing 46 people.

The United States lost 36,516 service members during the Korean War, with more than 92,000 wounded, more than 7,400 missing in action, and more than 7,000 taken as prisoners of war.

Perras served in Korea with the 8th Army, 7th Infantry Division, 10th Cavalry, 2nd Recon in areas around Unchuni and the Korean DMZ.  

The monument — dedicated on Veterans Day in 2002 — honors 20 servicemen who were killed during the war with a time capsule buried beneath including dog tags, a small P38 military can opener, military patches, and a DVD from a one-hour fundraiser televised on Pittsfield Community Television. A bell was sounded after each name was read aloud.

"Today, on behalf of the brave men, to which their names appear on this monument, and to the 36,516 that lost their lives in the Korean conflict, and to 1,243 that lost their lives thereafter, often referred to as the second Forgotten War or the DMZ Wars, and to many others that have served their country without recognition, and to those still serving, we wish to honor them all in appreciation of their sacrifice and contributions towards the preservation of our freedoms and values of the United States of America and its allies."

Hank Morris placed a wreath in front of the monument and Joe DiFilippo played the taps. A recording of Tony Pastore singing the national anthem was played, as he passed away in 2021 and was a long beloved singer for veterans' events.

Perras reported that although it has been decades since major hostilities, U.S. troops remain as a deterrent to the "nuclear armed and often belligerent" North Korea. The U.S. and South Korea hold major joint exercises every spring and summer including live-fire drills with tanks, aircrafts, and warships.

"In 2018, about 17,500 U.S. and 50,000 Korean troops participated," he said. "A major goal is to ensure that the two militaries can work together seamlessly in a sudden crisis."

From his perspective, if these exercises are terminated or delayed, it would leave thousands of troops untrained to counter another invasion or hostile action from North Korea, as it remains in a "dangerous location with ongoing threats from the north almost yearly since the armistice was signed in 1953."

"Since the signing of the armistice, South Korea has emerged as an economic powerhouse, becoming the world's 14th largest economy which had a gross domestic product of $1.7 trillion in 2024, 57 times greater than North Korea," he said.

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