Atlantic Beach Korean War vet receives his medals

Learning from a World War II veteran friend who contacted Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) to receive his medals, Atlantic Beach resident William Cohn collected the Korean War medals he earned nearly 60 years ago from McCarthy on Monday.

In just six weeks, McCarthy who worked with the National Personnel Records Center and the U.S. military, was able to put the medals in the 81-year-old’s hands during a small ceremony at her Garden City office.

Cohn, his wife Florene and daughters Barbara Teich and Gale Luber and their husbands, Leon and Jeffrey, gathered in McCarthy’s office as Cohn received the Combat Infantryman Badge 1st Award, Korean Service Medal and Bronze Star, United Nations Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

“I thank you for your service to your country,” McCarthy said to Cohn. “So many of us have been fighting to make sure veterans get what they deserve, regardless of what war and how many years they served.”

Cohn, who was drafted in 1952, served as a corporal in the Korean War for a year and a half through 1953. “I wasn’t celebrated when I got home like the World War II veterans, which is what got me aggravated,” he said. “We just wanted respect. We took the train home for five days from San Francisco and no one said a word to us. When you go to the Eisenhower Park memorial you see people listed from all the wars, the Revolutionary War through World War II and then it says Korean ‘Conflict’; what made us different? Did 50,000 people not die?”

Echoing Cohn’s words, McCarthy said in fifth grade she raised her hand in class and asked why the Korean War was called a conflict. “She couldn’t answer me,” she said of her teacher.

“It’s very nice and I really appreciate what the congresswoman has done for my family and I,” Cohn said.

Barbara Teich, an Oceanside resident, said she and her sister are so proud of their father. “He raised us to be great Americans just as today’s ceremony represents his love for our country,” she said. “He never gives up and he is truly a success story.”

“My family and I are very touched,” said Gail Luber. “He’s just a very smart and humble man. Is this not what our country stands for?”

McCarthy stressed the importance of keeping history alive. “We want our veterans to be apart of oral history month,” she said. “We want those testimonies out there so future generations understand. We must never forget these people who gave up their time and in many instances, their lives to serve our country.”