Under a hot, bright sun Windsor remembered its veterans of the Korean War.
Thursday's ceremony on Korean Veterans Day comes as tensions continue to rise in the Korean Peninsula with the recent testings of intercontinental missiles by the North, and those in attendance admit they are watching the events unfold with apprehension.
"Shaking in my boots," laughs Ruth Lavoie who served as a Navy nurse, the first woman she says who was sworn into the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service in 1951. "Never ever do I want to see anything like that again."
M.J. Kim, of the Korean Society in Windsor is also watching advancements in North Korea with trepidation, but also some hope.
"I'm afraid of that, but I'm pretty sure that the United Nations and Americans and Canadians will help us to keep our country calm and safe," he says.
This year marks the 64th anniversary of the cease fire in Korea. It is a time to remember the 516 Canadians who died, the 1558 casualties, and the thousands who suffered invisible and lasting wounds. Almost a million UN forces worldwide were killed, wounded, or remain missing in action.
Canada contributed the most troops per capita after the United States and the United Kingdom.
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For many North Americans, the TV show M.A.S.H. offered a glimpse into the conflict that many call "The Forgotten War" for the way troops were treated when they returned. However, Jim Chapman worked in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital and says the show did not accurately portray day to day life as doctors and nurses treated the wounded, sometimes close to enemy lines.
"There was nobody drinking booze and stuff like that," he chuckles. "It was very top notch. It was something that you get through, and you get home."
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