Korean War veterans still passionate about service: ‘I love this great country’
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- Darrel Palmer of West Weber, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War, at a ceremony to honor veterans of the war held Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, at the Weber Center in Ogden.
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- Thirteen of the Korean War veterans honored at a ceremony hosted by Weber County commissioners and held at the Weber Center in Ogden on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. Commissioners Jim Harvey, Gage Froerer and Scott Jenkins are with the 13 veterans in the photo.
OGDEN — Wes Schvaneveldt has slowed some since he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
But his fire for the military and military service hasn’t faded. “It was an honor and a privilege to serve this great country. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I love this great country we live in,” said Schvaneveldt, now 93.
Darrel Palmer, 86 and also a Korean War veteran, is similarly passionate. “I’d like to be able to serve this country again, but I’ll never do it. I’m too old,” he said.
They’re older now and may not get around as quickly as they once did. But a million or so Korean War veterans are still alive and kicking across the United States, and with their numbers diminishing, with Veterans Day on Friday, Weber County commissioners held a ceremony to honor those from Weber County who served in the conflict.
“The time’s clicking,” said Commissioner Scott Jenkins, and officials wanted to honor them sooner rather than later, while they’re still around. In 2018, county commissioners honored the World War II veterans from Weber County who were still alive, many in their 90s, and Jenkins noted that perhaps half of them have since died.
Terry Schow, retired director of the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs and still active in veterans matters, was on hand at Tuesday’s ceremony, held during the commissioner’s meeting.
“It’s nice to give these Korean War guys a little recognition,” he said. “This is probably the only thank you many of these guys have had.”
The Korean War, Schow said, is known as the “forgotten war,” sandwiched between World War II and the Vietnam War, and those who served in the conflict sometimes don’t get the recognition other veterans get.
“We so much recognize World War II guys, and Korean War guys — not so much,” he said. “We wish we could do more.”
With the help of Schow and others who work with veterans, county officials reached out to the Korean War veterans in Weber County who they could identify. They invited around 27 to Tuesday’s event, though not all made it, and later in the day traveled to the George E. Wahlen Veterans Home in Ogden to honor eight Korean War veterans living at that facility.
“This has not been an easy task, locating all you fellows. We tried and did our best,” Jenkins said at Tuesday’s meeting.
They invited those on hand to be recognized at the meeting — 13 came forward — and presented them with a memento of thanks.
“Appreciative, I really enjoyed it,” Schvaneveldt, a 1st lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, said after Tuesday’s ceremony. “It’s nice to see there are still some of us living.”
Schvaneveldt, who lives in the Uintah Highlands, helped with supplying troops during the Korean War and recalled the nervousness of serving in a war zone. “In the combat zone, you didn’t put your pajamas on when you went to bed,” he said, because you might have to get up at a moment’s notice.
Palmer served in a radar unit with the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War, tasked with protecting U.S. aircraft from enemy fire. “We tried to keep the enemy off our planes’ butts,” he said.
The recognition on Tuesday, he said, was unexpected. “It was a real surprise,” he said.
According to U.S. Department of Veterans Affair data from 2020, there were 1.1 million living veterans of the Korean War, down from 4 million in 2000. The number is expected to fall to 100,000 in 2030 and fade to zero by 2040. The median age of Korean War veterans as of 2020 was 88.
Various activities are scheduled to mark Veterans Day, which falls on Friday. The city of Farr West is hosting a flag-raising ceremony on Friday at 11 a.m. at Smith Family Park at 2500 W. 4000 North.
The city of Layton, the Northern Utah Vietnam Veterans of America and the Fleet Reserve Association are hosting the annual Veterans Parade in Layton on Saturday. It will start at 11:11 a.m. at the corner of Colonial Avenue and Wasatch Drive. A ceremony will follow at the Vietnam Memorial Wall Replica at Layton Commons Park, 508 Constitution Circle.
Also on Saturday, the Major Brent Taylor Foundation will hold its second annual Leadership Legacy Fundraising Gala at the Ogden Eccles Conference Center, starting at 6 p.m. Proceeds help support foundation programs and activities throughout the next year.