CONGRESMAN JOHN LUIGI MICA (R-7th) WAS A NO-SHOW AT YESTERDAY'S ST. AUGUSTINE VETERANS EVENT (BUT FAYE ARMITAGE WAS THERE)

Variety show at Flagler to honor Korean War veterans


PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 11/03/09

During the bloody Korean War, American and United Nations forces battled below-freezing temperatures, impassable mountain terrain, icy swollen rivers and hundreds of thousands of Communist Chinese and North Korean troops launching fanatic human wave attacks.

A 1953 armistice ended the fighting, but America mourned its 36,516 dead, 92,134 wounded, 8,176 missing in action and 7,245 prisoners of war, and a weary nation soon dropped Korea from its national consciousness.

Now, however, St. Augustine producer Michael Rothfeld and the St. Johns County Veterans Council want Americans to "unforget" Korea and to honor those who fought there.

Rothfeld, a retired high school history teacher, said, "I was in college during the (Vietnam) war, married with a child. (But) I've always had an interest in what our veterans did for this country. I wanted to preserve their memory."

He and the council will present a patriotic variety show at 3 p.m. Sunday at Flagler College Auditorium.

It is titled "Korea: Forgotten War, Remembered Heroes" and will feature the personal stories of five local Korean War veterans, and entertain with patriotic music, skits by the Coquina Players, a service salute, comedy, dancing by the Coquina Dancers, and singing by Tim Rippey.

The show is free and open to the public.

U.S. Rep. John Mica, R, Winter Park, will remark on "The Importance of Veterans Day," and retired master sergeant and Veterans Council chair Ray Quinn (U.S. Army, Ret.), will serve as master of ceremonies.

At the end of the show, a short film directed by Dr. Nadia Ramoutar called "Korea: Forgotten War, Remembered Heroes," the same as the show, will be screened.

Ramoutar is media arts and documentary director for Art Institute of Jacksonville and she worked with Professor Steve Voguit of Flagler College, a documentary historian, on the film.

In the documentary, as well as at the show, five local veterans, soldiers Richard Bassett, Jack Wentz and George Gaspard, and U.S. Marines Bob Bey and James Vanairsdale, relate their experiences and remembrances of Korea.

Dr. Henry Moreland, a University of North Florida professor, commander of the Korean War Veterans Association, Jacksonville, will present Ms. Susie Birdsong, who was a child in Korea during the Korean War.

Rothfeld said that in 2007 he filled Flagler Auditorium with a similar show he produced.

"The purpose of this (show) is to remind people that the average person on the street could be someone who served our country in Korea and that we should remember that service," Rothfeld said. "That was what motivated me."

If You Go

Show and film: "Korea: Forgotten War, Remembered Heroes"

Cost: Free

Time: 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8

Place: Flagler Auditorium

Parking: A free shuttle to and from the downtown parking garage will be provided by Old Town Trolley Tours.

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