Rose parade float to honor vets of Korea

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO

It’s been almost 60 years since James McEachin returned home with a bullet still lodged in his chest, finding an America indifferent toward the troops who fought in Korea. Now he will get the homecoming parade he had expected.

The Defense Department for the first time will put a float in Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses — one of the most watched parades — to commemorate the veterans from a conflict that still casts a shadow over the world.

The $247,000 flower-covered float will be a replica of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The Pentagon’s debut comes ahead of events marking the 60th anniversary of the July 1953 armistice that halted the bloodshed but did not declare peace.

Col. David Clark said the Pentagon decided to seize the opportunity to sponsor one of the 42 floats in the 124-year-old New Year’s Day parade to raise awareness about what has been called “The Forgotten War.”

More than 36,000 U.S. service members were killed in the conflict, and millions overall.