“War came calling again too quickly for many veterans of World War II who were sent to Korea in the early1950s. Still many went, many died and many came back with no clear sense of victory, or notion of why they had been sent to fight again in the first place. But that didn’t seem to matter so much in those days, some Oak Harbor Korean War vets said recently. What mattered then was that when you were called – you went.On April 14 and 15, the Tri-Cities will host the Washington State Commemoration for the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War. Washington will be the first state in the nation to kick off the three years of commemorative events throughout the country.Except for a once-popular TV series, recognition of Korean war veterans on such a large scale has been a long time coming.At war againOn June 30, 1950, less than five years after World War II ended, President Harry Truman approved the use of ground forces and air strikes against Korea. America was involved in another war, though it was called a police action at the time.This time, however, the U.S. wasn’t out to avenge a murderous, sneak-attack on its naval forces, but to stop the spread of communism. More than 90,000 Communist North Korean troops had stormed across the 38th parallel on June 25, 1950, and invaded democratic South Korea. Fearing the spread of Russian-backed, Communist China’s dominion, the U.S. interceded. By the time the North Koreans were pushed back and a cease- fire was signed three years later on July 27,1953, some 33,629 Americans had been killed in the police action now known as the Korean War.The bombardier at homeChuck Fagan had just started a new job as the manager of Oak Harbor’s first supermarket, Ken’s Grocery, when he got the call. It was 1952. During World Ward II, Fagan had been a bombardier with the Army Air Corps and flown dozens of bombing missions over Germany.Now he was newly married and settling in.Everything was falling into place, Fagan said last Thursday. And bingo, the government wanted me.Fagan was recalled in September 1952 and sent to Okinoiwa to serve as an Air Force bombardier in B-29s with the 413th Bombing Group.In 19 months, he flew 29 bombing missions, often through solid sheets of flak and enemy searchlights he said were, So bright you could read by them in the plane.Typically, missions lasted between 12 and 14 hours and involved blowing up bridges spanning the Yalu River, up by the 38th parallel.Fagan wrote his new wife Mary every day. He got home twice for a total of two weeks. His friends were shot down.The frustrating thing, Fagan said, is that there wasn’t the same sense of mission or urgency among his squadron mates as there had been in World War II.It wasn’t a war, it was a police action, Fagan said. But Fagan also stressed that any hardship he endured paled in comparison what U.S. Marine and Army ground forces went through in Korea.A lot of people will never know what those ground-pounders went through, Fagan said. And I’ll always admire them greatly.The cook at seaLloyd McNett was a newlywed when Korea called.McNett, a Navy cook, had survived the bombing of Pearl Harbor while stationed in Hawaii at Mary’s Point, served in tin cans throughout World War II, and was stationed in San Francisco on the destroyer USS Buck, DD-761. In late September of 1950, he married his Wenatchee sweetheart, Muriel.We had a wonderful, one-week honeymoon and got back Oct. 1, 1950, McNett said. The next morning, McNett and the Buck left for Korea. McNett said his experiences in Korea – participating in shelling the mainland with the battleship New Jersey – Was mainly a story of boredom, long months at sea and bitter cold.But on Nov. 11, 1950, all that changed when the Buck lost its bow.We’d left the picket line to refuel from an oiler off the Korean Coast, McNett said. We were coming back, it was night and we running without lights going about 20 knots-plus when we hit the U.S. destroyer John Tommelson broadside, just forward of the fire room. The collision opened a hole big enough to drive a truck through. It was a miracle there was no loss of life on the Buck, McNett said. The bow – up to the forward gun turrets – fell off. The crew stopped the flooding and got the ship back to Sasebo, Japan. Then to Bremerton, Wash., where a new, prefabricated bow was waiting.After the Buck steamed out of Bremerton, it headed back for the Korean coast.From then on, McNett said, the screws didn’t stop turning until they got back to the states nine months after the collision in July, 1951. In the meantime, there was no liberty, no R and R.McNett said to understand the Korean War, it’s necessary to understand the times.Back then, the whole free world was in state of fear of communism, McNett said. We always believed the communist’s aim was world domination.McNett, who stayed in the Navy after Korea and retired in the early 60s, knows that World War II was a more popular war but feels Korea was necessary.I think it was a good thing to defend those people, McNett said of the South Koreans. At least we accomplished more than in Vietnam.Fagan, who got out of the military after Korea feels the same way about World War II, but not Korea.At least we accomplished something in World War II. The Korean War was not a war, it was a police action and we never learned our lesson, we went right on to Vietnam.In fact, the seeds for Vietnam were sown during the Korean War. The Korean War armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. Three months earlier on May 8, then-president Dwight Eisenhower had announced that the U.S. had given France $60 million to help fight the Indochina War. Currently the U.S. has about 37,000 troops stationed in South Korea and maintains economic sanctions against North Korea.”