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CNN Sunday Morning
Celebrations Mark 50th Anniversary of Korean Armistice
Aired July 27, 2003 - 10:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: The armistice that ended the fighting in the Korean War is being remembered today half a century after it was signed. Ceremonies marking the anniversary taking place in the United States and on the Korean Peninsula.
CNN's Patty Davis is with us now live from the Korean War memorial in Washington -- Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Andrea, it was 50 years ago today that the guns fell silent. An armistice signed, bringing a nearly three-year conflict to an end.
Now, today the Bush administration, President Bush, has declared today Korean Armistice Day.
Now, more than 36,000 Americans died, more than three million Koreans, hundreds of veterans, hundreds upon hundreds here today, many of them in their 70s, to commemorate the end of that war.
Now, it has often been called the forgotten war, one that veterans came back, out of the headlines, people weren't paying much attention.
But the veterans today say that they have not forgotten, they still remember all they went through. They say what they were for was to stop communism from going into South Korea. North Korea had invaded South Korea in June of 1950, and President Truman had ordered U.S. troops there to help, to help with the police action.
Now, what we're hearing right now is a dance by a South Korean troupe of dancers. We expect to hear from Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. He'll be giving a speech commemorating this event. After that he will lay a wreath over at the memorial.
The U.S. Postal Service also has put out this stamp, which commemorates the end of the conflict, which shows the Korean Veterans Memorial here on the Washington Mall.
Of course, all this taking place in the middle of increasing tension with North Korea. And veterans here say they will never forget 50 years ago -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: And the fact of the matter is even today there's still 37,000 U.S. troops who are still based on the Korean Peninsula.
Patty Davis in Washington, thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 27, 2003 - 10:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: The armistice that ended the fighting in the Korean War is being remembered today half a century after it was signed. Ceremonies marking the anniversary taking place in the United States and on the Korean Peninsula.
CNN's Patty Davis is with us now live from the Korean War memorial in Washington -- Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Andrea, it was 50 years ago today that the guns fell silent. An armistice signed, bringing a nearly three-year conflict to an end.
Now, today the Bush administration, President Bush, has declared today Korean Armistice Day.
Now, more than 36,000 Americans died, more than three million Koreans, hundreds of veterans, hundreds upon hundreds here today, many of them in their 70s, to commemorate the end of that war.
Now, it has often been called the forgotten war, one that veterans came back, out of the headlines, people weren't paying much attention.
But the veterans today say that they have not forgotten, they still remember all they went through. They say what they were for was to stop communism from going into South Korea. North Korea had invaded South Korea in June of 1950, and President Truman had ordered U.S. troops there to help, to help with the police action.
Now, what we're hearing right now is a dance by a South Korean troupe of dancers. We expect to hear from Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. He'll be giving a speech commemorating this event. After that he will lay a wreath over at the memorial.
The U.S. Postal Service also has put out this stamp, which commemorates the end of the conflict, which shows the Korean Veterans Memorial here on the Washington Mall.
Of course, all this taking place in the middle of increasing tension with North Korea. And veterans here say they will never forget 50 years ago -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: And the fact of the matter is even today there's still 37,000 U.S. troops who are still based on the Korean Peninsula.
Patty Davis in Washington, thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
