B.C. veterans commemorate 67 years since Korean War armistice

On July 27, 1955the Korean Armistice Agreement was implemented, bringing the fighting during the Korean War to an end.

From 1950 to 1953, more than 26,000 Canadians fought alongside South Koreaand another 7,000 served in peacekeeping dutiesfollowing the armistice.

In all, 516soldiers never returned home.

On Monday,Korean War veterans, dignitaries and representatives of the Korean War Commemorative Alliance gathered at the Ambassador of Peace War memorial in Central Park, Burnaby to lay a wreath and pay their respects.

"If we didn't go over there to fight that war that was started, it could eventually come here to our country," saidBill Newton, a veteranwho was sent overseas as part of the Canadian army's medical corpsin April 1952.

He dispatched ambulances to bring casualties to field hospitals and also served on the front line for about a month during the war.

"We would be slaves to foreign dictators.That's the same with all past wars," he said. "We have to be strong enough and responsible enough to fight for the freedom that we have or we lose it."

B.C. Premier John Horgan acknowledged the day in a statement on Monday.

"For more than three years, the 'land of the morning calm' was shattered by the sights, sounds and horrors of war on the Korean peninsula," he said.

"Canadians served under the flag of the United Nations in the air, at sea and on land before transitioning to a peacekeeping role.

"We reflect on the sacrifices of those who served in one of the deadliest conflicts in our country's history. We reflect on the military and civilian lives cut short, families separated and the pain of those who returned home with scars, both visible and invisible."