The Republic of Korea bestows special honor on Idaho veterans
Gene Migneault goes by the flight name 'Magoo.'
'I told my family that when they bury me, they'd better put 'Magoo' on my headstone, or else no one's going to know who is buried there,' Migneault said.
The diminutive, sharp-as-a-tack, 91-year-old is a retired Air Force master sergeant who flew 50 night missions as a tail gunner aboard a B-29 high-altitude bomber during the Korean War.
Migneault, decked out in an olive drab flight suit, received the Ambassador for Peace medal from the Republic of Korea on Thursday night in a touching ceremony at the Idaho State Veterans Home in Boise.
'I'm here today not only to commemorate your service, but to offer our deepest gratitude on behalf of the Korean people and the Korean government,' said Seo Eunji, consul general of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in Seattle. 'Korea will always remember you and your sacrifice in securing our freedom.'
Migneault flew in 200 missions over his 22-year career in the Air Force, including 150 missions as a refueling technician in Vietnam.
He grew up in a small town in Massachusetts, and as a teenager, he was making 10 cents an hour on a turkey farm. He told me he tried joining the Marines when he was 16 years old by using a typewriter to change a number on his driver's license. But his father caught him and agreed to let him join the military when he turned 17, which is what he did.
He graduated from gunnery school when he was still 17 and agreed to be a tail gunner because no one else wanted to.
We talk a lot about the Greatest Generation and have rushed these past 20 years or so to honor World War II veterans, and we've made great strides in atoning for our national sin of spitting on Vietnam War veterans.
The Korean War veterans get even less attention, so much so that the conflict is often called the 'forgotten war.'
'But the truth is, it's not forgotten,' Mark Tschampl, chief administrator for the Idaho Division of Veteran Services, said at Thursday's ceremony. 'It's not forgotten because our allies, the Republic of South Korea, have never forgotten the wonderful deeds that some of you here in America did to help them in their greatest time of need.'
Also honored at Thursday's ceremony was Keith Holloway, who was in the Coast Guard during the Korean War and whose son, Rick Holloway, the administrator of the Boise Veterans Home, accepted the medal on his behalf.
Two other Idaho veterans were honored Thursday night but were not present:
Joseph J. Katancik, who served in the Army Air Corps and the Air Force in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Donald Lee McDowell, who served in the Navy aboard the third USS Los Angeles, a heavy cruiser.
Thursday's ceremony also included a musical performance by We-Woori (woori in Korean means 'us' or 'together'), the community service youth group of the Idaho Korean Association.
'To our veterans: Because of your courage and selflessness over 70 years ago, the lives of millions of Koreans, including our parents, our grandparents and now us were forever changed,' said Jaden Kwak, 16, a student at Renaissance High School in Meridian. 'You helped lay the foundation for the peace and opportunities we are blessed with today. As Korean American youth, we understand that our ability to grow up in freedom and to stand here performing tonight is possible because of the path you helped create.'
It was a moving speech.
And a wonderful way to keep the Korean War from being 'forgotten.'
'I'd do it again in a minute,' Migneault told me before Thursday's ceremony. 'I'm just proud that I was a part of history.'
Scott McIntosh is the opinion editor of the Idaho Statesman. You can email him at smcintosh@idahostatesman.com or call him at 208-377-6202. Sign up for the free weekly email newsletter The Idaho Way .
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