As living memories of the Korean War fade, its consequences become clearer

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/30/ [login to see] /korean-war-armistice-anniversary
Seventy years ago, the Korean War ended with a cease-fire, not a victory or a peace deal, and veterans marked the occasion Thursday at the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C., with some even joining activists pushing for a formal end to the war.

But as most Korean War vets are well into their 90s, they still struggle with America's perceptions of what has been called "the Forgotten War."

"We don't call it the Forgotten War, we call it the forgotten victory," said retired U.S. Marine Col. Warren Wiedhahn. "We saved South Korea from becoming a communist country."

Wiedhahn said it might not have been clear at the time, but it sure is now. South Korea is democratic and among the world's leading economies, while the North is an impoverished, brutal dictatorship. Wiedhahn just wishes the United Nations force, led by the U.S., had held on to more of the Korean peninsula before the cease-fire. At a certain point they had driven North Korean forces all the way to the Chinese border before being pushed south again.