OUR COVER

The official flag of the Korean War Veterans Association is shown on our cover of this issue at Arlington Cemetery on July 27, 1988, in front of the Amphitheater and Tomb of the Unknowns on the occasion of the dedication of the KWVA bench during the association’s annual reunion.

The KWVA bench, carved from Korean granite, and presented by “No Greater Love,” is located along a walkway just north of the Amphitheater, a short distance from the spot where the above was taken. KWVA members visiting Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknowns should locate their bench, pause, rest their weary bones, sit for a spell in restful meditation and contemplate the significance of the bench. If coaching is needed on that point, one need but to read the bronze plaque at the bench for assistance.

Our flag is understood to have been designed by KWVA founding father Bill Norris and is being held by member West Worsham on the right and, your newsletter staff believes, the late and founding member Kenneth Borchardt, of Fairfax County, Virginia, on the left. In the Left background can be seen the mast of the United States Battleship Maine that was blown up in the Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898, an event which led to the beginning of hostilities that resulted in the Spanish-American War.

Just to the right of the walkway is located the graves of the astronauts who died in midair seconds after the launching of their missile at Cape Kennedy in the late 1980s. About 50 feet to the left of the flag is located the grave site of the famed Audie Murphy, the most decorated trooper of World War II, a struggle in which many Korean War vets also served.

(Click HERE to view a scan of the actual Graybeards description from which this was typed.)