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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

Korean War vets’ day: July 27

OLYMPIA -- The Legislature has approved setting aside July 27 as Korean War Veterans' Armistice Day.

Today the Senate voted 48-0 on HB 2138, a bill which earlier passed the House 95-0.

Why July 27? That's the day in 1953 the armistice was signed after about three years of war on the Korean Peninsula. A demarcation line was drawn, a demilitarized zone set up. And that's pretty much the way things have stood for the last 58 1/2 years.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane, makes the day a "specially recognized day". That's not a holiday but a day set aside for a special legislative "shout out", like Juneteenth, Pearl Harbor Day or Marcus Whitman Day. It's also a day when the POW/MIA flag is to be displayed along with the U.S. and state flags. (Although on many government buildings, the black and white POW/MIA flag flies every day, just below the Stars and Stripes.)

For veterans of one of our "forgotten wars", it seems the least the state can do, especially as we approach the 60th anniversary of the armistice.



The Spokesman-Review's political team keeps a critical eye on local, state and national politics.