Korean War veterans not forgotten in Bellmore-Merrick

“We just wanted to be represented. We didn’t want to be forgotten,” said Bernard Hoffman, a Korean War combat veteran from Merrick, explaining why the Korean War Veterans of Nassau County recently erected a monument at Veterans Plaza in Bellmore.

The bronze plaque, set on a granite stone, was dedicated last Saturday, on the green next to the village’s Long Island Rail Road station, at Bedford Avenue and Sunrise Highway.

Hoffman said that the monument has been in the works for two years. Korean War veterans had noticed that there were World War I and II and Vietnam War memorials in the park, but none for the Korean War.

Members of the Korean War Veterans contacted State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., of Merrick, who secured a state grant to fund installation of the monument. Town of Hempstead Councilwoman Angie Cullin, of Freeport, helped secure the necessary permits. The park, Hoffman said, is managed by the Town of Hempstead.

“This memorial will enhance Bellmore’s Veterans Plaza, offering a special monument for community members to pause and remember their fellow neighbors who fought in Korea to protect our freedoms as Americans,” Cullin said. “We will never forget their bravery and honor in serving our nation.”

“Korean War veterans, like all veterans, served our country with distinction,” Fuschillo said. “Their bravery and heroism should never be forgotten. This new monument is another way to honor the service and sacrifice of Bellmore’s Korean War veterans, and I was pleased to participate in the dedication ceremony.”

“They call it the forgotten war,” Hoffman said of the Korean conflict, which pitted communist North Korea against democratic South Korea from 1950 to 1953. Combat troops from 22 nations –– including nearly 180,000 Americans –– helped prevent a communist takeover of South Korea. Five million soldiers and civilians died in the conflict, and today North and South Korea remain divided by a demilitarized zone along the 38th parallel. Some 50,000 U.S. troops help guard the South Korean border.