Vice President Mike Pence formally welcomed home the remains of American military this week who died in the Korean war in a solemn occasion Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.
“Some have called the Korean War the ‘forgotten war.’ But today, we prove these heroes were never forgotten. Today, our boys are coming home,” Pence said, before paying tribute to his father, Lieutenant Ed Pence, who was a Korean War veteran.
Military pallbearers carry the believed to be remains of U.S. service members collected in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea during Repatriation ceremony after arriving to Hickman Air Force Base, Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 1 2018. RONEN ZILBERMAN/AFP/Getty Images
“Sixty-five years ago last week, the armistice was signed to bring the Korean War to its close,” he said. “From the moment the guns fell silent, American soldiers returned home, some to their families and futures, and some to their eternal rest. But more than 8,000 Americans did not come home at all.”
US soldiers salute during a repatriation ceremony for the remains of US soldiers who were killed in the Korean War and collected in North Korea, at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek on August 1, 2018. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images
Pence also spoke of how President Trump secured the return of the soldiers remains:
On June 12, President Trump traveled to a historic summit in Singapore with Kim Jong-Un of North Korea. As our President entered into negotiations with North Korea, he also had our fallen on his heart. As he secured a commitment for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, our President also secured a promise from Chairman Kim to return the remains of all fallen U.S. service-members lost in North Korea.
“I know that President Trump is grateful that Chairman Kim has kept his word, and we see today as tangible progress in our efforts to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula,” said Pence.
US General Vincent Brooks, commander of the United Nations Command, US Forces Korea and Combined Forces Command, speaks during a repatriation ceremony for the remains of US soldiers who were killed in the Korean War and collected in North Korea, at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek on August 1, 2018. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images
The active era of the Korean War took place between 1950-1953, five years after the end of World War II. The war is still technically in vigor, but hostilities ended following the signing of what was meant to be a temporary armistice in 1953. Neither side has yet to surrender in the war or offer a treaty to end the war. Pence said that the war had been a battle between “the forces of freedom and the forces of communism.”
Flag draped transfer cases with the remains of American soldiers repatriated from North Korea are seen during a repatriation ceremony after arriving to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 1, 2018. RONEN ZILBERMAN/AFP/Getty Images
United States Vice President Mike Pence (L) pay respects, as Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Phil Davidson (C) and deputy director of the DPAA, rear admiral Jon C. Kreitz, salute as a military honor guard carries the remains of American soldiers repatriated from North Korea during a repatriation ceremony after arriving to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 1, 2018. RONEN ZILBERMAN/AFP/Getty Images
Military pallbearers carry the believed to be remains of U.S. service members collected in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea during Repatriation ceremony after arriving to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 1 2018. RONEN ZILBERMAN/AFP/Getty Images
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