South Korea thanks veterans in Turlock

South Korea gave thanks Tuesday to about 100 veterans in and near Stanislaus County who came to its defense more than 60 years ago.

Han Dong-Man, consul general in San Francisco, presented the Ambassador for Peace Medal to men who helped in the fight against communist North Korea.

“All of you truly deserve the title of hero,” he said. “... Your sacrifice and devotion will be forever recorded in history.”

The ceremony in the Event Center at California State University, Stanislaus, was organized by the staff of Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock. The medal has been presented to veterans who returned to South Korea for visits, but Denham said many are not able to do that.

One by one, the veterans, most in their 80s, came to the stage to receive their medals. Some walked with a quick step. Some used canes or wheelchairs. All got hearty thanks from the consul general and the congressman.

“I think it’s nice of the Korean people to do this,” said medal recipient Rex Embry of Modesto, who was a sergeant in the Army’s 23rd Infantry Regiment. He noted that South Korea, now one of the world’s economic powers, was a place of “mud huts, straw roofs and mud roads” during the Korean War.

It lasted from 1950 to 1953 and ended in a stalemate with North Korea that remains to this day. U.S. forces suffered 33,739 combat deaths, according to the Defense Department.

The event featured the national anthems of the United States and South Korea, as well as a color guard and other trappings of a military observance. Many of the veterans wore the hats of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and other groups. Women wearing traditional Korean gowns handed the medals up to the stage. Teenage cadets from the Stanislaus Military Academy escorted the recipients back to their seats.

Honoree Richard Marlow of Modesto, a sergeant in the Air Force’s 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, said he has received letters of thanks over the years from the South Korean government.

“They’re very, very appreciative and they’re not afraid to show it,” he said. “If you have to serve, it’s nice to know that someone cares.”

Bryan Harrison of Modesto received a medal during a visit to South Korea, recognition for his service as a gunner’s mate seaman aboard the USS Orleck, a destroyer.

“A lot of students nowadays don’t even know about the Korean War at all,” he said while waiting for other veterans to be recognized Tuesday.

The medals are for men and women who served with U.S. forces in Korea during the war and the two years of peacekeeping that followed. Some of those presented Tuesday were received by family members on behalf of deceased veterans.

Richard Silveria of Modesto served after the armistice was signed, as a sergeant in the Army’s 279th Infantry Regiment.

“It’s just good recognition,” he said. “The Korean government recognizes what we did for them.”

This story was originally published October 28, 2014 at 8:20 PM with the headline "South Korea thanks veterans in Turlock."