The Oregon Korean War Memorial is a war memorial located in Wilsonville, Oregon,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Completed in 2000, it honors the

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

soldiers and the Korean people from the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. The memorial is located within a city park and features a -long granite wall that includes the names of those Oregonians who died or were listed as missing from the war.

History

Fund raising for the memorial in Oregon began in 1996, forty-three years after the Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War.Tims, Dana. "Hyundai contributes to war memorial fund", ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', January 24, 2000. Designs for the memorial were approved on October 14, 1996, by the city of Wilsonville as part of its

Town Center Park Town Center Park is a small municipal park in Wilsonville, Oregon, Wilsonville, Oregon, United States. Located in the middle of Wilsonville's town center, the park cost $4.5 million to complete. The park includes the Oregon Korean War Memorial, a ...

. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 8, 1998, for the project that included a visitors' center for the city at the park and memorial.Tims, Dana. "New memorial writes Korean War epilogue", ''

'', May 8, 1998. The visitors' center was paid for partly by

Clackamas County Clackamas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the Native ...

. Plans called for a tree-lined plaza that honored the 287 soldiers from Oregon that died in the war that lasted from 1950 to 1953, as well as honor the almost one million Koreans who died. Much of the memorial was paid for by fundraising and private donations, with the Oregon Korean War Veterans Association raising $50,000 by the time construction began. The original design was a smaller version of Seoul's East Gate.

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

Semiconductor America donated US$100,000 to the project in January 2000, while other funds for the $450,000 memorial were raised from local companies and residents, including nearly $70,000 from Korean-Americans. A total of $110,000 was raised by donations of individuals, while

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

donated $50,000.Leeson, Fred. "Forgotten no more hundreds turn out in Wilsonville to mark the opening of Oregon's Korean War Memorial, a tribute many say is long overdue", ''

'', October 1, 2000. On September 30, 2000, the Oregon Korean War Memorial was officially dedicated in a ceremony attended by a Korean dignitary and Oregon politicians such as state supreme court justice

George Van Hoomissen George Albert Van Hoomissen (born March 7, 1930) is an American attorney in the state of Oregon. He previously served as the 87th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and previously served as a judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals. The Portland, ...

and state senator

John Lim John Lim (born December 23, 1935) is a South Korean-born American politician from the state of Oregon. He has served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly and was the Oregon State Senate Majority Leader in 1995. He has unsuccessfully ...

. Sixty thousand Oregonians fought in the Korean War, with 287 killed.Wojahn, Brent and Michael Lloyd. "Tourism", ''

'', April 27, 2006. In 2002, vandalism at the memorial led to the installation of security cameras. In June 2006, a fifteen-foot extension was added to the granite wall to thank the Korean community for their support in building the monument."Local News - Clackamas County; East Metro", ''

'', July 6, 2006. Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung visited the memorial in April 2008.Rollins, Michael
“Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung visits the Oregon Korean War Memorial”
''

'', April 16, 2008. Retrieved on May 12, 2008.

Details

The memorial includes a -long path built of concrete that curves the length of the memorial at the park. This path is lined by two rows of

cherry tree A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

s, and passes a red granite wall. The focus of the memorial, the wall includes the names of the 298 Oregonians killed or listed as missing in action from the war. Made of Carnelian granite, the wall was originally long, with added in 2006. In front of the wall is a -wide brick terrace that spans the entire length of the wall.Korean War Memorials: State of Oregon.
Korean War Veteran's Association. Retrieved on May 12, 2008. Bricks in this plaza area are imbedded with the names of those who donated to the memorial. Other features include the flags of the U.S., South Korea, Oregon, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, and POW/MIA; a water fountain, and bronze plaques engraved with key dates and events of the war. The flags are flown on tall flagpoles. In addition to the memorial, the park includes a visitors' center built at a cost of $1.5 million.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Spectacularoregon.com: Korean War MemorialWilsonville: Town Center Park
2000 establishments in Oregon 2000 sculptures Buildings and structures in Wilsonville, Oregon Granite sculptures in Oregon Korean War memorials and cemeteries

Military monuments and memorials in the United States Parks in Clackamas County, Oregon United States in the Korean War Vandalized works of art in Oregon

History

Details

See also

References

External links