Veterans Day brings out hundreds of Korean veterans to pay respect in NY, NJ

November 12, 2015
Korean veterans participate in the 96th New York City Veterans Day Parade Wednesday. (Lee Kyung-ha/Korea Times)

Korean veterans participate in the 96th New York City Veterans Day Parade Wednesday. (Lee Kyung-ha/Korea Times)

Veterans Day brought out hundreds of Korean veterans and those wishing to pay respects to the New York City parade and a Korean War memorial in New Jersey Wednesday.

The 96th New York City Veterans Day Parade, which saw about 30,000 veterans marching down Manhattan, included an estimated 250 Korean veterans from a handful of local organizations.

New York Consul General Kim Ki-hwan offered his gratitude to veterans through a message on the importance of their service in U.S.-Korea relations.

Korean War veterans celebrated Veterans Day at Jersey City's Korean War Memorial Wednesday. (Choi Hee-eun/Korea Times)

Korean War veterans celebrated Veterans Day at Jersey City’s Korean War Memorial Wednesday. (Choi Hee-eun/Korea Times)

In Jersey City, a group of veterans came together at the Korean War Memorial, which was installed in 2002 but completed in July with the help of Gyeonggi and Uijeongbu Provinces in South Korea.

Ahn Byung-yong, Uijeongbu mayor, credited Korea’s economic development to the soldiers who fought during the War.

Jerry Pacillo, who served as a medic in the Korean War as a 19-year-old, said he still remembers watching his comrades fall during battle, and the unbearable cold of the winter.

To see the completion of a memorial commemorating his fallen comrades, and to see a Veterans Day event here, fills him with emotion, he said.