WASHINGTON, July 27, 2012 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta observed the 59th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice today by reminding a gathering of Korean War veterans that America will not permit cuts to the military to again “allow us to lose our edge,” as he says happened on the eve of that conflict more than 60 years ago.
Panetta was the keynote speaker at an observance of the armistice that ended the 1950-1953 conflict, held at Arlington National Cemetery, just across the river from Washington. It was an opportunity to remember the more than 50,000 U.S. service members who lost their lives in the Korean War, and to celebrate the “sheer grit, determination, and bravery” of those who fought for a noble cause in a distant land to make the world a safer place, he said.
“For three long, bloody years, American troops fought and died in Korea, in difficult conditions, where the country’s mountainous terrain and the unrelenting cold of winter were bitter enemies in themselves,” Panetta said.
“It was an uncompromising war, where capture by a vicious enemy often meant summary execution. In Korea, American troops and their allies were always outnumbered by the enemy, awaiting the chilling sound of bugles and horns that would signal another human wave attack.”
Panetta said the troops that fought during that Cold War conflict will never forget the battles waged in the country’s mountains and at Massacre Valle, Bloody Ridge, Chosin Reservoir and Pork Chop Hill. Those fights, he said, “became synonymous in our lexicon with the heroic sacrifice and the grim determination of the American fighting man.” read more>>>
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