By Capt R Dumas, Reprinted from the Edmonton Sun, 22 June 2017
Four veterans were presented with Ambassador for Peace Medals on behalf of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea (ROK) by Kangjun Lee on June l. The event was hosted by the Kipnes Centre for Veterans and the Korea Veterans Association of Canada (KVA) Unit 21 Edmonton, with support from Canadian Armed Forces members and friends and families of the recipients. The medal presentations have become part of a longstanding commitment by the citizens of ROK to visibly show their unwavering gratitude for what our Korean War veterans have contributed in regard to securing their freedom and prosperity.
The war began. June 25, 1950 with 2 PPCLI having sailed into Korea by that December; active fighting ceased July 27, 1953, with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement. Of the 26,791 Canadians that served in that period, 1,558 were wounded, 516 were killed, and 33 were taken as prisoners of war. Between the signing of the Armistice and the end of 1955, another approximately 7,000 Canadians served in that hostile theatre of operations.
Canadian troops remained in the turbulent peninsula until 1957 as The Cold War brewed on. There are 378 Canadians, buried at the United Nations Military Cemetery in Pusan.