LYNN — Basil Manias recalls the Korean War as a tough war with brutal weather.
Manias, 88, served in the Korean War for a year as part of the 3rd infantry division of the U.S. Army.
He was a tank commander with the 64th Medium Tank Battalion and recalls Korea as the worst place someone could serve — the summers were excruciating and the winter was terrible, with very cold weather.
Manias, who served with the Lynn Police Department for 38 years, said it was important for him to attend the annual Korean War Veterans Day Ceremony at City Hall on Monday morning.
The day marked the 68th anniversary of the beginning of the war, when communist armies from the North stormed across the 38th parallel, according to a proclamation read by Mayor Thomas M. McGee, which proclaimed June 25, 2018 as Korean War Veterans Day in the city of Lynn.
Next month will mark the 65th anniversary of the end of the war.
“It’s important because I lost a couple of good friends of mine over there,” Manias said. “A couple of my friends got killed and another got wounded … It was a tough, dirty little war. That country wasn’t a place to fight a war.”
Manias said when he and others who served in the Korean War came home, they went about their business, took their uniforms off and went back to work.
Michael Sweeney, Lynn veterans services director, said the Korean War is often referred to as the forgotten war, but it was important to make sure it’s not forgotten in the city of Lynn.
Sweeney said when service members returned from Korea, they weren’t really greeted. It was almost like apathy, with the veterans coming home and going back to work.
In contrast, those returning from serving in World War II were greeted as heroes with ticker tape parades. People weren’t angry when Korean War veterans returned, but they were forgotten when they came home, Sweeney said.
About 10 Korean War veterans attended the City Hall ceremony, where the names of the fallen on the city’s Korean War memorial were read.
Sweeney said reading the names at the ceremony was the idea of James DePhilippo, a Korean War veteran and past commander of the Polish Legion of American Veterans Post 56, who died last month. DePhilippo was a common fixture at every event honoring veterans in the city for more than 30 years.
“The way you truly honor someone’s service is by remembering the fallen,” Sweeney said. “We say the names. We make sure we say your service is not forgotten.”
Sweeney said by honoring those who served so long ago, it’s also a way to honor people who serve today by telling them their sacrifice will not be forgotten.
McGee said it was important to come together and honor those who served, fought and died in the Korean War.
According to the mayoral proclamation, nearly 1.8 million members of the armed forces of the United States fought, pushing back invading armies, and serving under the most trying of conditions.
“Lynn is proud of the sacrifices made by those from our city who served with bravery and distinction in the Korean War, most especially the men whose names are listed on the Lynn Korean War Veterans Memorial,” reads the proclamation.
