In God We Trust
We want to tell you about the latest happenings for the Korean War Educator. Over the last several months Lynnita has researched and added dozens of military airplane crash fatalities on our Airplane Crashes pages. We need our readers' help on this, so if you have a computer and some spare time, we encourage you to visit the Airplane Crashes index and click on "Incomplete Listings Challenge." Maybe you can find what we can't. Meanwhile, history department volunteers are working in conjunction with Booth Library at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois, to continue the important work of documenting the memoirs of Korean War veterans collected over the years by Lynnita. In addition, the KWE's webmaster is working with AI to migrate the remainder of our existing Korean War memoirs from the old site to the new one. Every single day our efforts to recognize and honor Korean War veterans continue on with determination.
Patrick Didas tells us that he has written a new book about the Korean War. He sent the following information about it: "Echoes from Hamlin: Letters From the Forgotten War, is a true story told through the preserved letters exchanged by the author’s wife’s uncle, Perry Mercer, Jr. and his family during his eight months at war. The book serves as a personal tribute, arriving as the family marks the 75th anniversary of Perry’s passing in 1951. The project began when author Patrick Didas’ wife, Dawn, was provided a box containing the 100 original letters. What started as a simple effort to digitally preserve family history soon evolved into a narrative that Patrick felt compelled to share. The book follows 20-year-old Perry’s journey, tracing his path from an eager recruit to the front lines. Readers are treated to the early, lighter days of Perry’s service—trading jokes with fellow Marines in boot camp and exploring the sights of Hollywood while on liberty. At the time, the young Marine clung to the hope that a peaceful resolution to the conflict was still possible. However, as the months in the "Forgotten War" dragged on, the tone of the letters shifted. The narrative captures the raw emotion of the era, from his mother Julia’s growing worry to Perry’s own struggle to remain optimistic. In a haunting letter written to a former high school teacher the day before his death, Perry’s optimism finally wavers as he describes the World War I-style tactics he witnessed. The book strikes a particularly somber chord when referencing Perry’s 1949 Brockport High School yearbook. The foreword of that volume spoke of a "peaceful world"—an ideal many held dear in the years following World War II. Tragically, that peace would be shattered for the Mercer family just twenty-nine months after Perry's graduation. Packed with dozens of family images, Echoes from Hamlin invites the community to sit at the Mercer family table, experiencing their pride, their mounting anxiety, and ultimately, their grief. Echoes from Hamlin: Letters From the Forgotten War is available now online at Amazon by searching the author’s name (Patrick Didas)."