During a ceremony at Omaha's Memorial Park Wednesday afternoon the Korea-Vietnam Peace Memorial was dedicated and unveiled.
“Remember that South Korea today is free because 37,000 Americans died to protect that freedom or gave them that freedom,” Congressman Don Bacon said.
James Keith was one of the original artists of the memorial. Keith said it was built in the 1970’s and was getting old, but now he said hopefully with the upgrades, the memorial will last longer.
“It deteriorated badly and thanks to an anonymous donor we were able to rebuild so this could very easily last for centuries,” Keith says. People who served in different branches were all recognized at the dedication service.
“Each name engraved on this memorial will tell the story of one person’s strength called to duty and commitment to our country,” Mayor Jean Stothert said. Keith said it took about nine months to make the changes to the Korea-Vietnam Peace memorial.
He said he is proud of how things turned out and hopes the memorial will be cherished. "I'm very pleased with this, it's absolutely beautiful,” Keith said.
The cities parks department not only made changes to the memorial, but also restored the WWII Colonnade.