REMEMBERING THE 'FORGOTTEN WAR'

Fifty years ago today, in a narrow valley north of the Korean town of Opari, U.S. forces withdrew after enemy troops ambushed them on three sides with mortar, automatic-weapons and small-arms fire.

When one of the soldiers left behind for dead was seen trying to crawl to safety, U.S. Army medic Richard Wilson ignored all pleas and returned to the previous position armed only with morphine, bandages and a Red Cross armband. The two men's bodies were found days later lying beside each other.

The following year, Gen. Omar Bradley presented Wilson's widow with the nation's highest homage for bravery in war, the Congressional Medal of Honor.

At 11:30 this morning, Wilson and the other 19 men from the region killed in the Korean War will be honored in a memorial service at Freedom Corner in Capaha Park. The names of all 20 men will be read.

An American Legion honor guard followed by a car containing Wilson's family will lead today's Southeast Missouri State University Homecoming Parade. However, his 91-year-old mother, Alice Wilson, may not be able to be in the parade or attend the ceremony due to illness.

The memorial service originally was planned to honor Wilson alone, but Alice Wilson insisted that everyone who died in the war from the Southeast Missouri area should be recognized.

"She said that Richard has been so honored ... and we feel very grateful for that," said his brother, Ron Wilson. "She said any man who fought and died in a war should be honored."

All Korean War veterans are invited to the service.

'The forgotten war'

The Korean War often is referred to as "the forgotten war" because it was the first America did not win. More observances are planned over the next two years.

One of seven children, Richard Wilson grew up on the south side of Cape Girardeau. The family was short on money, so he took a part-time job getting up at 3 a.m. to help out on a milk truck before he went to school.

He was a Boy Scout and at 15 became a Golden Gloves boxer, fighting in the welterweight division. He loved football best, though, and was an all-district guard on the Central High School football team his junior year.

Then a carnival came to town with a boxer. Richard fought him and won $10 for lasting three rounds. At first he refused the money, but friends convinced him his family could use it.

When Lou Muegge, the legendary Central football coach, found out Richard had taken money for boxing, he wouldn't let him play football. Richard quit school and joined the Army at 17.

He was assigned to the medical corps at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, then to paratrooper training at Fort Benning, Ga., before being stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky. He played on the base football team.

Home on leave from the Army, Richard met a dark-haired high school girl named Bonnie Fowler. They'd see each other on leaves. They would play croquet in the backyard or go with another couple to a park near the Mississippi River to roast wieners. They fell in love.

In a letter to a paratrooper publication years later, Alice Wilson wrote of hearing the morning of June 26, 1950, that the Communists had attacked South Korea. "A cold chill ran over me. I was in my bedroom turning down the sheets preparing to go to bed. I walked to the door and looked out. The katydids and June-bugs were singing, the moon shining, but a sad and troubled feeling had settled over me."

Three days before he shipped out for Korea in August 1950, Richard and Bonnie were married by a justice of the peace in a county near the base in Kentucky. Because Bonnie was not yet of legal age, the justice of the peace had to phone Bonnie's mother to get her permission. Richard trained during the day, and at night they honeymooned at a tourist cabin.

From Korea Richard wrote his mother, "I know I'll come back, I have a whole bunch of little Wilsons to raise yet."

In her letter years later, Alice Wilson recalled the day she was notified of Richard's death. "Your son killed in action," the telegram read. "Never before had I known such anguish," she wrote. "I thought I couldn't stand it."

In the citation read when the Congressional Medal of Honor was presented, she learned for the first time of Richard's bravery. "... Tears of consolation and peace flowed down my cheeks," Alice wrote.

Bonnie re-married two years after Richard was killed.

Last Fourth of July

Ron Wilson will participate in today's ceremony. A longtime photojournalist for KFVS-12, and a Vietnam-era Marine, he was only 7 when his brother was killed.

He recalls his brother had the family's first car, a little green Mercury. And he remembers his brother's last Fourth of July home, Richard taking him outside to light firecrackers and getting in trouble with their mother for it.

Ron remembers being taken out of class and put into a big car the day the telegram came. "Other than that, they tried to protect me from what was going on," he said.

John "Doc" Yallaly, who managed the Cape Girardeau American Legion baseball team for many years, was a friend of Wilson's in high school and also a Golden Gloves boxer. "He was a real tough boy. You couldn't hardly hurt the dude," Yallaly said. "But other than when he crawled through that ring, he was as mild and gentle as can be."

Yallaly remembers learning of his death. "It was even more shocking than death is now. I mean, why? It was something you never dreamed of at such a young age."

Yallaly will speak at today's memorial service.

"Above and Beyond," a painting of Wilson treating the wounded soldier, was commissioned this year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the war. It hangs at the U.S. Army Medical Department Museum at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Wilson has been honored in many other ways. His is one of three names attached to the Cape Girardeau VFW post. Also named for him are the Army Reserve Training Center in Marion, Ill., the Medical Dispensary and Clinic at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., an Army gymnasium in Sappo, Japan, the main base theater at Fort Campbell, Ky., the barracks and medic training classrooms at Fort Sam Houston, and the Wilson Elementary School in Fort Benning, Ga.

The children there sing a school song that remembers the hero the school is named for.

Korean War dead

Twenty men from the region died during the Korean War. Those who died in the service during the war were Jean L. Giroir Jr., Donald R. Johnston, Harold C. Scholl, Ralph Laden Sparks and Lionel W. Willa.

Those reported missing in action and later declared dead were Buddy Joe Bonney, John L. Hunter, Lawrence E. Loos and Archie P. Trantham

Those killed in action were William Brockmire, Donald E. Franklin, Bobbie Foster, Arthur W. Helderman, John A. Lynch, Billy Eugene McManus, Billy J. Monroe, James K. Schwach, Clarence A. Siemers, Richard Wilson and William E. Woods.