On a recent trip to the supermarket, my son and I were greeted at the entrance by a uniformed gentleman.

Tug Wilson manned a table displaying information about the Korean War. Between the postcards, pamphlets and books, Wilson, a Korea Veteran himself, said he was too young to serve in the Second World War, but that didn’t stop him from trying. He was fourteen years old and two weeks away from being posted overseas when his age was discovered and he was sent home.

The war began when North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. Later that day, the United Nations requested North Korean forces to withdraw. When they declined, war was declared.

Initially, it appeared the war would be short lived. However, when China sided with North Korea, the war stretched into three years.

On July 12, 1950, three Canadian destroyers, HMCS Cayuga, HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Sioux departed for Korea. A Royal Canadian Air Force squadron was also deployed. The first ground troops were posted to the front lines in late February 1951.

The fighting ceased when the Korea Armistice Agreement was signed at Panmunjom on July 27, 1953.

Initially called the “Police Action”, it later became known as the “Korean Conflict”. In 1998, it officially became the “Korean War” in the USA, and now most Canadians also use this title.

In total, 26,791 Canadians served during the Korean War. Out of this number, 516 were killed and 1,042 were wounded. Between the cease-fire and the end of 1955, 7,000 more soldiers were posted to Korea as peacekeepers.

Several resources are available to locate information on family members who served. Among the many informative pages of the Korea Veterans Association of Canada Inc. website (http://www.kvacanada.com/) is the Casualty List. The list includes those who were killed in action, wounded, died of wounds, killed in accidents, injured in action, accidentally wounded, missing in action, dangerously ill, prisoner of war and returned from prisoner of war.   

Included in the official casualty list are . . .

HALIFAX: Private Edward Jack Hanspiker of Halifax who died from wounds on November 23, 1951 and Private Henry Elliott of Dartmouth who was killed in action on October 1, 1952.

LUNENBURG: Private Robert Alexander Grant of Bridgewater who was reported wounded in the official casualty list for November 8, 1951 and Private Eldridge Matthew Stewart of Shelburne who was reported October 30, 1952 as wounded in action.

SUSSEX: as wounded in action are three men from Sussex: Private James Cain, November 6, 1951; Trooper Murray Everett Morris, March 27, 1952; and Private Gordon Earle Lewis, June 4, 1952.

MONCTON: two men from Moncton: Private Franklin William Gallant, injured in action, November 30, 1951 and Private William Ross Forbes, wounded in action, March 27, 1952.

NEWFOUNDLAND: three men from Corner Brook: Private Willis Chesley Baker, wounded, March 10, 1951; Private John Joseph Pike, wounded in action, April 2, 1952; and Private Girard Gadon, wounded in action, January 6, 1953.

AMHERST: Private Carl Newton Brown of Pugwash, January 14, 1952 and Gunner John David Simpson of Amherst Point, February 21, 1952 who were both wounded in action. In the casualty list released October 21, 1952, Private George Raymond Canning of Parrsboro was accidentally wounded during training near Kure, Japan on the 17th.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND: Private Ralph Joseph Eldershaw of Morell, November 12, 1951, wounded in action; and Private Bennie Joseph Grady of Summerside, March 27, 1952, wounded in action; and Lance Corporal Joseph Daniel MacCormack of Launching, January 4, 1952, killed in action.

These men and the others who fell during the war are remembered in The Korean War Book of Remembrance in Ottawa. Names are also found on cenotaphs across the province.

In Yarmouth, NS, the Korea War Memorial contains the names of all Nova Scotians who lost their lives during the war.

Information on those who lost their lives is found on the Virtual War Memorial website (http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem).

Books on the war include “Patricias in the Korean War” by Vince Courtenay (2000) and “Canada and the Korean War” by Directorate of History and Heritage, DND (2002).