ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Martin McDonough was one of five Korean War veterans in attendance at Lynn City Hall Friday, where Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy proclaimed the day as Korean War Veterans Day.
BY BRIDGET TURCOTTE
LYNN — The city proclaimed July 29 Korean War Veteran Day during a service held at City Hall.
“The so-called forgotten war is not forgotten in the city of Lynn,” said Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy.
Veterans who served in the Korean War and other conflicts reflected on their experiences and recognized each other for their service. The Lynn Department of Veterans Services and the Lynn Veterans Council sponsored the annual Korean War Memorial Ceremony.
“In 1953 I was 18 years old,” said Martin McDonough, a Marine Corps veteran. “I was captain of the Lynn Vocational football team. Before the year was over, I was in rice paddies in Korea.”
McDonough found himself at the “bridge of no return,” which was used for prisoner exchanges at the end of the war. Prisoners could choose to remain in the country of their captivity or cross the bridge to their home country, but could not change their mind.
McDonough is humble when it comes to talking about his experience, but takes it upon himself to plant Marine Corps flags on the lawn of City Hall.
“I was a part of it,” he said. “It’s a small way to remember it.”
George King said he spent 20 years in the Army and was in one of the first groups to land in Korea.
“I did my job,” he said.
He added that the ceremony was nice but he was disappointed by the small number of Korean War veterans present. He said he counted about five.
“They try,” he said. “I give them an A for effort.”
Michael Sweeney, director of the department, read the names of Lynn heroes killed during the Korean War, which are also listed on a monument outside the building. He then led the three dozen attendees in a moment of silence in their memory.
“The number of people in this room is a testament to how the city of Lynn treats its veterans,” he said. “Those of you who served in the Korean War deserve special recognition. It was one of our most brutal wars. When we talk about these stories, we have to remember that not everyone came home.”
Sweeney hopes to arrange for transportation for the many other Korean War veterans living in the area, to make it more accessible for them to attend next year, he said.
“I never miss this ceremony,” said Mitchell Ramonas, a Purple Heart recipient who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. “I come to pay tribute to the veterans of the Korean War.”
On March 23, 1944, his plane was shot down and he was held as a prisoner of war in Germany for 14 months.
“I weighed 99 pounds when I left,” he said. “I had lost 50 pounds.”
It wasn’t until June 1945 that he arrived in New York and took a bus back to Lynn by himself to finally see his family.
“It took them six months to find out if I was dead or not,” Ramonas said.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.