President Obama Signs Rangel Korean War Resolution

Press Release

On Wednesday, July 7, 2010, President Obama, signed a joint resolution that was authored and initiated by Congressman Charles B. Rangel. The resolution recognizes the 60th anniversary of the Korean War and reaffirms the U.S.-Korea alliance.

"President Obama's signature sends a message to all Americans that we must not forget the Korean War veterans. I thank the President for acknowledging the enduring sacrifices of the men and women who answered their nation's call to defend Korea sixty years ago," said Rangel.

In just three years, more than 34, 000 American soldiers were killed in the Korean War. Today, there is no peace treaty ending the war, and 28,000 American soldiers are still stationed in South Korea. A so-called police action sandwiched between the WWII and Vietnam War, the conflict has been treated as an afterthought.

Congressman Rangel, who was with one of the first American units to land in Korea following the North Korean invasion, was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his valor.

"The battles exacted a terrible toll on my unit, which lost nearly half of its men and almost all of its equipment. I know how much this recognition means to all the Korean War veterans and their families," said Rangel.

On June 24, 2010, at Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the leaders of both House and the Senate paid tribute to all veterans of this war on behalf of the entire Congress.

The Korean War, which began sixty years ago when North Korea invaded the South on June 25, 1950, merely ended in a cease-fire marked by the signing of the armistice at Panmunjom on July 27, 1953, and the peninsula still technically remains in a state of war.

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