December 17, 2022

Wreaths

Korea is cold.

The Korean War was unbearably cold.

And of the 36,516 Americans who took their last breath in the Korean War many of them took their last breath in frigid, unforgiving air. The cold wind of violence.

We honor and remember them all.

Today, National Wreaths Across America Day, when Christmas wreaths are placed on the graves of the fallen at 3,400 locations, we will give one name: Lawrence Austin Bailey, of Chicago.

Bailey was a private in the Marines and he spent his last Christmas in Korea. He was killed in action two days after that last Christmas, December 27, 1952. Nearly 70 years ago.

He was 21.

He is buried in Burr Oak Cemetery, in Alsip, Illinois. Hopefully, he has a wreath on his grave today. Certainly, he is not alone.

None of the heroes of war, the casualties of war, the children of war, those who fought in Korea, those who were born in Korea and could not escape, all those claimed by war…we reach out to you. --TK