KOREAN WAR IS TOPIC OF SYMPOSIUM

Utah State University‚s Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, local American Legion chapters and the Veterans Administration will sponsor a half-day symposium on the Korean War.

“Korea: America‚s Forgotten War” will be presented July 19 at the Eccles Conference Center Auditorium on campus. The session begins at 9 a.m. and the public is welcome. 

Professors Ross Peterson and Kenneth Stagg will present lectures on different aspects of the war, and a panel of veterans, including local residents and a variety of summer citizens, will discuss their experiences in the war.

The brief symposium is a reminder of the significance of events that involve America as a nation and the effects on individual lives, Peterson said.

The Korean War ended 50 years ago this summer, Peterson said. In recent years the Korean peninsula has received considerable notoriety because it is the last occupied World

War II region that is still divided, he continued.

“Ironically, the desire to unify Korea is what led to the bloody confrontation that became the Korean War,” Peterson said. “Both the South and North Koreans wanted to drive the other government out of power. The war is also significant because it was officially the first United

Nations police action, as well as a limited war because the full power of the belligerents was not used.”

The public is encouraged to attend and participate in the event, Peterson concluded.