Pittsfield Remembers the 'Forgotten War'
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Community members gathered in front of City Hall on Saturday to remember the "Forgotten War."
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 448 held its annual ceremony at the Korean War Monument to mark the 72nd anniversary of the armistice that saw the fighting end in Korea. The 2002 monument names 20 Pittsfield residents who were killed in action.
"Our VFW monitor motto is to honor the dead by helping the living, which highlights a dedication to remembering those who have served while actively supporting those who are still with us," said post Cmdr. Arnie Perras, explaining that many are still unaware of what happened overseas.
"… We like to do this so that people never forget."
For James Clark, the city's director of veteran services, the Korean War is personal.
"My father was a young graduate of Pittsfield High School. He entered at the time when the war was going on as a weather forecaster for the Air Force. He left the service at the war's end while he was going through pilot training; he didn't regret that, because he soon became a Pittsfield police officer and then also a city firefighter in Pittsfield," he explained.
"While growing up, my dad used to bring me to the ceremony because those 20 names, about three-quarters of those folks on that stone, are his high school classmates at Pittsfield High. So it's near and dear to me and obviously to him, to do that every year."
The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea after border conflicts and insurrections in the south. Hostile action ended unofficially on July 27, 1953, in a truce. During the war, 36,516 American troops lost their lives, and 1,243 died thereafter. The South Korea lost more than 200,000 soldiers and nearly 3 million civilian and military lives were lost on both sides.
A peace treaty was never signed and a demilitarized zone has separated the two nations since.
The armistice was signed on that July day in 1953, but Perras reminded attendees that this didn't end the war, relaying thousands of reported military engagements inside the Korean Demilitarized Zone between 1954 and 1999.
"Hostilities remained and became an unnoticed, somewhat smaller Forgotten War," he said.
"… The armistice was actually a ceasefire agreement. A peace agreement was never signed, and after all these years, we are technically still at war under a ceasefire declaration."
Perras outlined actions that occurred during the ceasefire, such as the DMZ Wars, especially active in the 1960s, when many U.S. and Korean soldiers were killed in ambushes, firefights, and minefields. In 2010, North Korea torpedoed a South Korean corvette submarine, killing 46 people.
Today, the United States has about 28,500 troops deployed in South Korea, mostly at the Army station at Camp Humphreys.
From his perspective, if these exercises are terminated or delayed, it would leave thousands of troops untrained to counter another invasion or hostile action from North Korea, as it remains in a "dangerous location with ongoing threats from the north almost yearly since the armistice was signed in 1953."
"Since the signing of the armistice, South Korea has emerged as an economic powerhouse," the VFW commander said.
"Last year, they were the 14th largest economy, and this year, the 13th, and they had a gross domestic product of $1.7 trillion, and now this year, in 2025, it's $1.8 trillion, 57 times greater than that of North Korea. North Korea remains militarily powerful but economically isolated."
Mayor Peter Marchetti said that while it is referred to as the Forgotten War, "We are here today to remind our community that we lost many brothers and sisters in this war. We are always to remember the sacrifices that were made by the brave men and women who put on the uniform to defend the country in need."
Perras served in Korea with the 8th Army, 7th Infantry Division, 10th Cavalry, 2nd Recon in areas around Unchuni and the Korean DMZ.
The monument — dedicated on Veterans Day in 2002 — honors the 20 servicemen who were killed during the war with a time capsule buried beneath, including dog tags, a small P38 military can opener, military patches, and a DVD from a one-hour fundraiser televised on Pittsfield Community Television.
A bell was sounded after each name was read aloud.
Perras is the last living member of the Korean War Monument Committee and closed the event with a wish for new members to continue the veteran organizations' charge.
"Unfortunately, I'm the only one left. All the others have passed away, and most of us that worked on this monument also worked on the World War Two monument to your left on the other side of the city steps, and that has a time capsule in it as well, and all of those have passed," he said.
"So, time for my commercial: We really need the younger veterans to help us out by joining us soon to carry the torch forward. The American Legion offers a free membership, and the VFW is now offering a five-year free membership to Iraq, Afghanistan, Desert Storm, and Submariner veterans."
He said that otherwise, they will soon no longer be able to hold these ceremonies, as well as others such as the Iraq/Afghanistan annual ceremonies on South Street for 9/11 terror attacks.
"Annual visits to veterans in nursing homes, performing military funerals, and many other events and veteran posts will continue to close due to lack of membership," Perras said.
The names of Pittsfield residents who were killed in the war:
* Francis R. Abbott
* Bryceland C. Ames
* Arthur A. Boland
* Edward J. Callahan
* James C. Costello
* James C. Couch
* Raymond L. Di Maleo
* Bernard A. Greenleaf
* Hubert C. Harrison
* Joseph A. Mc Cue
* Eugene H. McGovern
* James M. O'Boyle
* Hugh A. Olsen
* Clifford C. Pye
* Jack H. Roberts
* Robert A. Skowron
* Roger B. Smith
* William J. Smith Jr.
* John E. Stammel
* Antonio C. Stracuzzi
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