Forces With History #217--Distant Wars
and an invitation
If you’re within shouting distance of the Lower Mainland/South Surrey, please come and help me celebrate my new novel THE FORGOTTEN: A Novel of the Korean War on October 12th, 2024, at 2 pm.
The event will be at the Turnbull Gallery located in the South Surrey Recreation and Arts Centre, 14601 20th Avenue, Surrey.
If you can attend, please let me know.
I’m very much hoping you can make it, and that I’ll see you there! * * *
It’s difficult getting Canada’s Korean War into focus, and I’m sure most Canadians today know very little about it. One way to think about it is to consider the number of personnel involved.
In round numbers 600,000 Canadians served in the armed forces during World War I. World War II saw 1,000,000 Canadians in uniform.
Against those staggering numbers the Korean War involved just under 27,000 service personnel. The war, which lasted from 1950-53, resulted in the deaths of 516 Canadians.
Those numbers are somewhat analogous to those of the more recent Afghan war, where 40,000 served and 158 were killed.
One thing the Korean War and the Afghanistan fight have in common is that there was very little interruption to the lives of most Canadians. If you didn’t know a member of the Forces it was hard to stay interested, and life went on. In addition the Korean War is of course more removed from living memories in terms of time, and it came shortly after WW II, against which it pales in comparison.
Canadians deserve to know our history, so it's important to tell our stories, including those involving Korea. Stories about our armed conflicts, but even more importantly, stories about our fellow Canadians who served. They’re important parts of our inheritance and our culture.
I hope you enjoy my latest book, a story set in the Korean War.