Community Corner

Ankeny Man Memorializes Forgotten War

An Ankeny Vietnam veteran led an effort to build a Korean War Memorial at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Van Meter. The new monument will be celebrated Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the American Legion Post in Van Meter.

The Forgotten War will be remembered at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery for decades to come thanks to Ankeny resident Ron Langel.

Langel, 64, a former medic in Vietnam and also the American Legion Post commander in Dedham began raising funds for a Korean War Memorial in December after learning that the Veterans Cemetery near Van Meter didn't have one, according to a report in the Des Moines Register.

The new $10,000 memorial will be celebrated Saturday and is sure to draw Korean war veterans from across the state.

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“They are tired of being from that Forgotten War and they want to tell their stories,” Langel told the Register.

Unlike most war memorials, the Korean War Memorial in Van Meter has no end date.

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“Korea was not a declared war; it was a police action. And it’s never ended; we still have troops there at the demilitarized zone,” Langel told the Register.

The new monument will be celebrated Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the American Legion Post in Van Meter.


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