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(Explosions)
BOB WALLMAN: It was just one battle after another.
And we was always on the move.
You kind of slept with one eye open and one eye shut.
That's the way it was.
NARRATOR: It's been 60 years
since Bob Wallman dodged bullets and bombs
as a soldier fighting in the Korean War.
That's not enough time to erase the memories.
WALLMAN: We had barbed wire strung up.
They would come in waves.
And the first two waves
wouldn't even been carrying any weapons.
They'd just throw themselves on the barbed wire.
And the other ones would just run up right over
the top of them and they'd just keep coming.
And our machine guns and automatic weapons
would just knock 'em down.
Keep knocking 'em down and they'd just keep coming.
NARRATOR: Wallman left for Korea in the summer of 1951.
He would be one of more than a million and a half Americans
who served during the three-year war.
On this night, in an Omaha hotel ballroom,
Wallman joins 134 other Nebraska Korean War veterans,
for an overdue 'Thank You.'
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NARRATOR: And this banquet was only the beginning
of their 24-hour journey.
Early the next morning, these men, most in their 80s...
"Find a seat."
"Here we go!"
...boarded buses and later a plane
for our nation's capitol.
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"Thank you so much for your service guys."
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VOICE OF PILOT: "Just under two hours to Washington, D.C.
Sit back and relax and enjoy the flight. Welcome aboard."
NARRATOR: They visited many memorials,
but the one they're most anxious to see
was dedicated in 1995 to them -
the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
BILL WILLIAMS: They never thought they would have
the opportunity to see it.
So they know this is the - this is the last go-round.
This is their one opportunity to have this day
and I think it's gonna be very powerful for them.
NARRATOR: Bill Williams and his wife Evonne
organized this Korean War honor flight -
just as they have seven times before
for Nebraska World War II veterans.
So far, they've raised more than a million dollars
to get the flights off the ground.
WILLIAMS: They're all the little brothers
of the World War II veterans and
they've never received the attention that they deserve.
It's known as "The Forgotten War."
They won't be forgotten by Nebraskans on this deal.
NARRATOR: As the veterans arrived they first see the wall
of the Korean War Memorial.
it consists of 24-hundred etched images of the war
taken directly from photographs.
Then there are the 7 foot tall, stainless steel soldiers,
19 in all, trudging through a Korean field.
CLARK REED: They are a good representation of the soldiers
that's been on the front line for a long time.
Cause their eyes are straight forward.
They don't seem to be aware of any other surroundings
as they come down the road.
It's - they really get wore out from war.
NARRATOR: Having served together in Korea as medics,
twins Roger and Rod Aden know all about that look.
They've seen it many times
while caring for wounded and dying soldiers.
ROD ADEN: They had limbs missing, hands, arms, legs.
And they were patched up,
but they needed a lot more work done to them.
And it was just things like that that sticks
in your mind more than anything.
ROGER ADEN: I'm going to be thinking about all them
poor guys that lost their lives.
And what they could be like and what they have missed,
you know, all these years.
So it's kind of hard to think about that, yeah.
NARRATOR: During their visit,
the veterans also tour other memorials.
They look at names etched into
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial,
stand at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial,
and take photos beneath the Nebraska pillar
of the World War II Memorial.
(Heel click of honor guard)
NARRATOR: And stand silently
during the changing of the guard at the tomb
of the unknown soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
Before their day ended,
they found themselves back at their memorial.
WALLMAN: I never have regretted it.
I've always been respected for it.
And I still don't regret it.
In fact, I'd do it again if I had to.
If it meant protecting my family.
(Explosions)
NARRATOR: Bob Wallman had just turned 20
when an enemy mortar attack, changed his life forever.
WALLMAN: We must have got not quite halfway
up the hill when we got hit.
I had my right leg blowed off and hit pretty heavy
in the left arm and when I come down,
the left arm was up over my shoulder.
And shrapnel had broke it here, broke it there,
broke it here and one piece of shrapnel went all the way up
come out underneath my arm.
NARRATOR: Wallman nearly two years in military hospitals,
recovering from his wounds
He was awarded two Purple Hearts.
Six decades later,
the honor of seeing his memorial is not lost on him.
WALLMAN: It means a whole lot to me.
It's something I can go with my friends
and see something that we accomplished.
Maybe some people don't think that, but we do.
"Thank you for your service guys."
NARRATOR: The Korean War is called
"The Forgotten War."
But this is one day and one night
these veterans will always remember.
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WILLIAMS: They they will bask in the glow of it all
and it's something they'll think about
every day for the rest of their lives.
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