From the Jan. 28, 2016, Chicago Tribune by Matt McCall.
In 1952, Lou Kueltzo, was a 17-year-old high school graduate from Forest Park and joined the military. By Christmas he was a Navy petty officer third class freezing on the deck of a destroyer off Korea.
Whenever a pilot would plunge into the water near his ship, the USS Hazelwood, he was part of a group who would race to his aid in a rescue boat. Once after saving one pilot, he was asked what kind of ice cream they liked. The next week, the Navy sent two 25-gallon steel tubs of strawberry and chocolate ice cream to the ship. It was a huge hit with the sailors.
After eight months, the war ended with an armistice, and Kueltzo went home expecting a big welcome from the public, but he and the others were greeted with silence. With all those deaths, he said it was like the war never happened. At the end of World War II, it was all celebration, but not this time. Said Mr. Kueltzo, now living in Aurora: "There was nothing. That's why it is called the forgotten war."
Honor Flight Chicago, the nonprofit that flies World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., for a free whrlwind daytrip to the national war memorials to honor their service, announced Wednesday that it would open 2016 flights to Korean War veterans in April.
--Cooter
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