Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial

Dedicated on September 28, 2001, the Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial is designated as the official Korean War veterans memorial for the State of Missouri. This memorial was erected to honor the more than 900 servicemen from Missouri who gave their lives in the Korean War. This memorial honors American Korean War Veterans as well as the two million Koreans who died in the course of the war.

Built in 2011, the Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial stands to honor the soldiers and their sacrifice for South Korea’s sovereignty, as well as a tribute to the Korean survivors. It was first idealized by Debra Shultz, Chair of the Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial, as a promise to her father who was a Korean War Veteran from Kansas City. Designed by the Tilt-Up Concrete Association, the memorial is a multi-piece installation in which visitors walk through the abstract, continuous ribbon of the concrete structures. The design is meant to encourage remembrance as the names of the Missouri soldiers who lost their lives in service are inscribed on stainless steel plaques throughout the memorial's interior. A bill proposed by the Missouri Legislature and sponsored by Senator Mike Cierpiot, was passed on May 13, 2020 that designated this memorial as the official, statewide monument for Missouri Veterans of the Korean War.

After years of wars and growing influence, Japan finally fully annexed Korea in 1910. What followed was decades of oppression, conscription, and forced labor enforced on the Korean people by the Empire of Japan. Japan’s eventual defeat at the end of WWII left the question of what to do with occupied Korea up to the victorious allies. At the time of the Japanese surrender, Soviet troops had already captured the north of Korea in a bloody ten day battle. Around this time, Americans and Soviets negotiated how to divide the occupation zones of Korea and the 38th parallel was chosen, cutting the peninsula almost exactly in half.

By the late 1940s, the south was governed by an American backed dictatorship and the north was governed by a Soviet and Chinese communist backed dictatorship. Both Korea’s asserted themselves as being the de jure rulers of the entire Korean peninsula and tensions quickly rose. At the same time, a north backed communist insurgency was increasingly active in the south. Former Chinese communist guerilla fighter and North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung viewed the south as weak in the wake of the insurgency and launched a full scale invasion of the south on 25 June, 1950. The North Korean army had been well supplied by their communist benefactors, and they quickly overwhelmed the under equipped and outnumbered South Korean army. 

President Truman fully believed that South Korea must be defended to prevent the spread of communism across Asia and the world. By early July, forward elements of the American expeditionary force had already arrived in Korea and began fighting on behalf of the south’s regime. The Americans were joined by a large contingent of soldiers from several UN nations. The war itself was officially seen by America and her allies as a UN policing mission to protect the sovereignty of South Korea. By September, the UN forces began launching large scale offensives and South Korea’s territory was quickly retaken. What followed was a retaliatory invasion of North Korea, stymied by a massive influx of Chinese soldiers and equipment. After the Chinese intervention, the war turned into a brutal war of attrition where the front line rarely moved far from the original 38th parallel.

By the time a ceasefire ended the war, the border was nearly along the same lines as in the beginning. The war called for over 1,500,000 Americans to serve at some point of the conflict. An armistice was finally signed in July 1953, but the lives of almost 37,000 Americans, 3,100 United Nations soldiers and 47,000 Republic of South Korean soldiers had lost their lives in the fighting, and over one million Korean civilians had been killed. Nearly one thousand of the American soldiers that lost their lives were Missourians, with more than 100 from the Kansas City area.

Never Forget the Forgotten War, MO Korean War Memorial. Accessed July 8th 2022. https://mokoreanwarmemorial.org/.

CIERPIOT FILES MISSOURI KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL LEGISLATION, Missouri Net. Accessed July 8th 2022. https://www.missourinet.com/2020/01/01/cierpiot-files-missouri-korean-war-memorial-legislation/.

Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial, KC Parks. Accessed July 8th 2022. https://kcparks.org/places/missouri-korean-war-memorial/.

The Soviet Invasion of Manchuria led to Japan’s Greatest Defeat, Wayfare History Network. Accessed July 8th 2022. https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-soviet-invasion-of-manchuria-led-to-japans-greatest-defeat/.

Gerber, Cameron. Veterans, lawmakers celebrate designation of Missouri Korean War memorial in Kansas City, The Missouri Times. October 28th 2021. Accessed July 11th 2022. https://themissouritimes.com/veterans-lawmakers-celebrate-designation-of-missouri-korean-war-memorial-in-kansas-city/.

"Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial / Tilt-Up Concrete Association" 15 Jan 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed 15 Jul 2022. <https://www.archdaily.com/199276/missouri-korean-war-veterans-memorial-tilt-up-concrete-association> ISSN 0719-8884.