Korean War Vets.

No, they are not.  The artist who engraved the pictures of the support troops from a collection of ananymous photographs selected by the Pentagon thought one looked familiar. He showed it to his mother.  She said, "that's dad."  

Hi Runner,

This is about a memorial web site I did for a pilot (from Alabama and Mississippi) in my squadron. We were in Korea in 1956/57 and he was killed on March 11, 1957.   About ten years ago I came across a Korean War Project web site message posted on our 311th Fighter-Bomber Squadron chat room.   His widow, who never remarried, was upset because, even though he is buried at Arlington, the Korean War Memorial group would not put his name on that memorial. 

On September 11, 2003, a friend sent me an e-mail which contained a URL link to the Korea War Project web site.  This is a web site run independent of any government organization, by two brothers who want to honor and serve those who served in our "war that was not a war." 

It was about 3:00 AM and I was ready for bed.  But, I went to the web site out of curiosity.  I found my Air Force organization, the 311th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, and began to browse through the Message Page.  Just as I was about to stop for the night, a name jumped out at me -- 1/LT. ROBERT A. FORD, JR. KIA.

This is the message I found:

MESSAGE NUMBER: 4627 -- EMAIL POSTED: 1999-11-09 00:00:00

FIRST NAME: Elizabeth (Libby) LAST NAME: Ford

COMMENTS: 1/Lt. Robert A. Ford, Jr. was killed in Korea on March 11, 1957 after being extended over in Korea longer than he was supposed to serve, due to the fact that he had been accepted to attend the University of Illinois to get his Masters Degree.  They didn't know what to do with him before school started, so they held him over there longer than he should have been there; consequently he was killed because of a faulty plane he was flying.

This message was posted on September 11, 1999 and I found it on September 11, 2003 - exactly four years to the day after it was posted - and two years to the day after another famous September 11th.  

The next morning I called Libby Ford, who lived in Virginia, and we began a friendship which led to me doing a memorial web site for Bob Ford.   I called her to tell her that, of the six pilots we lost that year -- the one that stayed in my mind was Bob Ford.  I can still recall exactly where I was and what I was doing when a crew chief came to tell us that Bob had died in a crash.  Just like the Kennedy assassination - I could recall every detail of that day when Bob was killed. 

1/Lt Robert A. Ford Memorial Web Site:
http://www.BOB-FORD-MEMORIAL.com

Libby Ford died on Christmas day 2009 and is buried beside Bob at Arlington.  But, I have remained close friends with his family; his brother lives in Huntsville.

Runner, since you posted about the Korean War vets, I just wanted to share this with you.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

BOB FORD'S PLANE,  NUMBER 748, IS CLOSEST TO THE CAMERA