(Antoinette Lee is a former Decatur resident, the wife of the late Dr. H.S. Lee. The following story, written by Paul Wyche, was originally published on wwwjournalgazette.net on Nov. 11 and in print in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette on Nov. 13. The photo was taken by Stan Sussina.)
By PAUL WYCHE
Antoinette Lee doesn’t like to tell the story, but this day, Veterans Day, she couldn’t keep it to herself.
As a little girl, growing up in Seoul, South Korea, in 1950, Lee’s world was upended by invading North Korean forces bent on bringing the country under communist rule.
She watched as her father, usually a lighthearted man, became serious, even sullen.
“I was young and didn’t understand everything that was happening,” she said, speaking before a crowd of more than 150 gathered outside Saturday for the Fort Wayne Korean War Monument dedication at Veterans National Memorial Shrine & Museum on O’Day Road.
Lee said that one evening in particular illustrated just how dangerous her family’s situation was.
“There was pounding at the door,” Lee said In an instant, her father, an attorney, leapt to his feet and hid away in an attic crawlspace just before soldiers burst into their home.
“In our country, we remove our shoes when inside someone’s house but they kept their boots on,” Lee said.
In the end, her father wasn’t discovered, but Lee often wonders what would have happened had she been questioned.
“I knew where he was,” Lee said.
The survivor would eventually leave Seoul, complete graduate work at Indiana University, marry and work as a counselor for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
She told the veterans and their families in attendance on this sunny Saturday that her family – many families – owe the troops a debt of gratitude.
The United Nations, with the United States as the main participant, fought on the side of the South Koreans, while the People’s Republic of China with help from Russia came to North Korea’s aid.
Fighting ended in July 1953 with Korea still divided into two hostile nations.
The Fort Wayne Korean War Monument pays homage to local veterans’ contributions with a dozen, 7-foot-tall statues, each depicting area servicemen.
Officials said nine of the 12 veterans memorialized are still living.
Lea Powers, conceptual designer of the monument, said officials spent more than a year working with a Nebraska fabricator and others to bring the outdoor exhibit to fruition. The figures’ faces are based on photographs provided to a sculptor.
“We’re going to have little spotlights at night shining on them,” Powers said. “We’re hoping the schools can come for field trips. Many people still don’t know we’re even out here.”
The statues stand in battle formations, and local vets helped model for the graven images to help ensure authenticity, Powers added.
Fred Spade, 78, of Fort Wayne said he visits the Veterans National Memorial Shrine & Museum two to three times a week.
“Since my wife passed a couple of years ago, this helps,” he said. “I was just a kid when the Korean War was going on, but I know guys who fought. This is for them.”
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