Wreath-laying held at Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Co-hosted by Saeedun Church and KWVMF

"Koreans will never forget you"

Gold Star family: "May this wreath be a symbol of our promise"

Rev. So Kang-seok, senior pastor of Saeedun Church, delivers a memorial address at a wreath-laying ceremony held Saturday at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. [Saeedun Church]
Rev. So Kang-seok, senior pastor of Saeedun Church, delivers a memorial address at a wreath-laying ceremony held Saturday at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. [Saeedun Church]

"Young men with blue eyes, who crossed rough seas carrying rifles and shells / for the freedom and peace of a strange country whose name they did not know — // You were flames that burned hotter than the fire of artillery, / souls of fallen petals on black ash. / Tears hotter than candle wax gathered on those petals, / and you scattered as petal-souls upon the black cinders."

— So Kang-seok, "Souls of Petals, Names That Pierce the Heart"

In Washington, D.C., a wall bearing the names of 43,808 soldiers stands beside statues of 19 figures in military uniform. Together they form the Korean War Veterans Memorial and, within it, the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance.

On Saturday, Korea's Memorial Day, Saeedun Church and the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation (KWVMF) co-hosted a wreath-laying ceremony at the site.

Rev. So Kang-seok, senior pastor of Saeedun Church, paid tribute by reading from "Souls of Petals, Names That Pierce the Heart," a poem he wrote when the Wall of Remembrance was dedicated. Lines from the poem — "We will not forget you. / When Koreans come to Washington, they will stop here / and remember your names. // … May the names of the guardian angels of freedom and peace, engraved on this wall of memory, / rise as stars of love and peace / above the truce line where dark storms rage" — moved those present to reflect on the veterans who gave their lives for Korea.

Glen A. Galtere, a 97-year-old American Korean War veteran and pastor, offered a memorial prayer. "Let us remember those who are no longer with us — those whose remains we cannot even locate," he said. "Those of us who were there can never forget our comrades, the bodies of soldiers piled upon one another. So let us, in the deep silence of our hearts, remember those who were so special and dear to us."

Lou Ann Sherk, speaking on behalf of Gold Star families — relatives of service members killed in the Korean War — then delivered a response. "Today, we honor from the depths of our hearts the mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters who lost a loved one during the Korean War," she said. "Behind every name honored on this wall was a promising life, a family that loved them, and a future forever changed." She added: "May this wreath be a symbol of remembrance, honor and promise — a promise that we will never forget the fallen, a promise to recognize with humility and gratitude the sacrifice of Gold Star families, and a promise that the lessons of service, duty and sacrifice will endure forever in the life of this nation."

The Wall of Remembrance was dedicated in July 2022 at the Korean War Veterans Memorial to honor American service members killed in the Korean War. A wall 130 meters long and 1 meter high encircles the Pool of Remembrance, bearing the names of 36,634 American troops and 7,174 Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) soldiers who died in the conflict.

Funding for the wall came from the South Korean government through the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans, as well as private donors including SK Group and Saeedun Church. At Saturday's ceremony, Saeedun Church donated $10,000 (approximately 16 million won) to the KWVMF.

About 100 people attended the event, including American and Korean-American veterans and their families, Gold Star families, and members of Saeedun Church, gathering to honor those who died in the war.


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