section dedicated to Korean War vets|[7/09/05]

A former Vicksburg resident is being credited with organizing the effort that led to Friday’s dedication of a section of U.S. 80 to Korean War veterans.

Korea veteran William Clark of Pearl began the nationwide campaign to get the entire U.S. 80, from California to Georgia, named in honor of all who served during the 1950-1953 war, said the author of the law designating the Mississippi part of the highway, Rep. Ray Rogers, R-Pearl.

Rogers was among state officials who spoke at Friday’s ceremony, to an audience of about 50 people beside the new blue sign near AmSouth Bank, 4140 E. Clay St. Rogers and Clark live near the highway in Pearl, and Rogers said they are longtime friends and neighbors.

Rogers said Clark had to gather resolutions of support from the governing boards of each of the state’s 82 counties and 297 municipalities before the task could be accomplished for Mississippi.

“I’m going to hit the road tomorrow,” Rogers quoted Clark as saying once he learned that requirement. Rogers added that within about six months Clark had obtained the necessary local support from around the state.

Clark’s effort led to the passage of a bill that became law this year, the placement of signs on U.S. 80 and ceremonies Friday here and in Meridian.

Clark told the crowd he had attended a similar ceremony three weeks ago in Alabama and that he had either obtained or was working to obtain similar designations from the other six states along the highway’s route at its longest, from San Diego, Calif., to Tybee Island, Ga., beginning in 1932.

The highway was decommissioned in favor of interstates in California beginning in 1973 and its western terminus was moved east over the next 20 years. Today, it ends in Dallas but its historic route remains designated as such.

In Mississippi the route of U.S. 80 is combined with that of Interstate 20 for stretches. Other signs were to be placed along U.S. 80, where its route is separate from the interstate. The Mississippi stretch of Interstate 20 has been separately designated in honor of the U.S. Army’s Dixie Division.

Clark said he grew up in Vicksburg, attending an elementary school on Clay Street and was a sergeant with the 2nd Reconnaissance Company of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division in Korea in 1952.

The Korean War was part of the Cold War to prevent the spread of Soviet Union-backed communism in Southeast Asia following World War II. The United States and its allies became involved when North Korea invaded South Korea, crossing a United Nations-set boundary.

A national Korean War Veterans Memorial southwest of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 1995. Information on it says 54,246 Americans died as a result of the war.

Charles Scott of Vicksburg, who was a 22-year-old Army corporal with a field-artillery unit in Korea in 1951, was among about 20 veterans who attended the ceremony. He recalled a narrow escape during a maneuver called “Operation Mousetrap” against the enemy North Koreans.

“We were set up in a valley,” Scott said of him and his unit, adding that the object was for the artillery to draw the North Koreans into the valley, where they were to be attacked by U.S. Marines.

“The North Koreans came too quick and we almost didn’t get out,” said Scott, adding that the U.S. artillery guns were redirected to aim directly at the North Koreans and that some other members of his unit fought their enemies hand-to-hand.

Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall and District Engineer Walter Lyons were among state and veterans officials who made brief remarks.

Lyons said an uncle of his was a paratrooper in Korea and lost one leg in the war.

“It gives me great pleasure to come here today and honor my namesake, Walter G. Lyons,” Lyons said of his uncle.