Page 5 - DISPATCH APRIL 2022 MAGAZINE

legion.ol.g/dispatch
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NATloNALADJUTANT'SMESSAG[
ShareyourKoreanWarstory

AmericanLegionveterans,families,postscansubmitmemories,imagesandvoicesofawartllatshouldneverberegarded

as'`forgotten,"

By Daniel S. Wheeler

Frank P. Calderon was a life member of American Legion Post Once submissions are prepared and approved for publication,
653 in Los Angeles. Born July 29, 1930, in Canton, Ohio, they win be posted on the site, which offers easy social media
Calderon was drafted into the U.S. Army in April 1951 during sharing. From those, selected pieces will be highlighted in the
the Korean conflict. He was assigned to artillery in the lst weekly American Legion e-newsletters, as well.
Armored Division (Old Ironsides) at Fort Hood, Texas. His The aim of this project is to strengthen historical memory,
division was deployed to Germany on the USS Geiger as support while veterans of the Korean War -361,749 of whom have been
to the allied troops against the Soviets. He was one of nine crew American Legion members in the last decade - are available to
members who fired the 37 mm cannons and 50 caliber machine share firsthand accounts.
guns. He was honorably discharged for his services in late March
1953. Calderon passed away in February 2020.
Calderon's daugter, Erica, submitted to Legiontown the story
of her father's Korean War service as part of The American
Legion's new Our Korean War story submissions.
Nearly I.8 million Americans served in the Korean War
combat theater. The Department of Defense puts the number of
in-theater U.S. deaths at 36,754, with another 17,672 having lost
their lives outside the combat zones. The number who went
missing or were captured, with no remains stands at 8,075.
The American Legion Media & Communications Commis-
sion is once again calling on American Legion Family members
to share their Korean War stories. Similar to a collection of more
than 120 stories and photos called "Our WWII Story» which was
published on legion.org between 2019 and 2021, "Our Korean
War Story" will serialize such topics as:
I Personal accounts from Korean War veterans - Legionnaires,
family members, post namesakes and others connected to the
organization
I Local post efforts to support the troops during the Korean
War and to remember the sacrifices of the war afterward
I Community activities that honor Korean War veterans
I Stories and photos of unique equipment, artifacts and other
memorabilia from the war
These materials can be submitted using the /eg/.on.org/
/eg/.ontown web platform under the category "Our Korean War
Story.„

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