This last weekend, October let us know there are some rainy, windy and cold days still around. We were lucky to finish the corn a couple of days before all that nasty weather hit us. However, it looks like there might be some very nice days and a few light showers around for the rest of the month. I don’t think after this last dry summer that there isn’t anyone who wasn’t glad to see a soaking rain.

Last Sunday was a rainy gloomy day but it wasn’t so inside the Gallagher-Bluedorn Auditorium. It was the program to honor Korean War Veterans with a Peace Medal. The theme was that the Korean War was not a Forgotten War. Before we were seated inside the auditorium there was a lot of history and posters showing were various battles took place and who was where in that country. I heard one veteran say, “Oh, that was where I was!” There were 327 veterans that were selected for this honor. They were for all branches of the armed services – Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy. There were some there who wore their uniforms, we still have Virgil’s, but I doubt he would have worn it. He did wear his cap that had his 25th division on it and there were a couple of men who came up and said they also were in that, but there was none from the Wolfhound regiment. There was an Air Force man who had a complete uniform down to his shoes.

The Korean War is often referred to as the Forgotten War for various reasons, but I think it was because it was so soon after World War II. It certainly wasn’t forgotten last Sunday afternoon. By comparison it was a short war 1950 to 1953, but one of the bloodiest. Over 3 million died in this war; 778,00 were United Nations casualties. The United States had 54,000 dead and 103,000 wounded and over 2,500 prisoners of war and missing. How can those statistics be forgotten.

The program was a celebration of 2 nations. The Korean war was fought against communism and the Korean Consulate, Jin-hyun Lee and Si-Geun Kim, a PMX president, couldn’t thank the veterans enough for making Korea what it is today. Both of these men weren’t even born when the Korean war was, but they revere history and are now one of the most successful countries in the world. The Koreans had made a video called Thank You, America showing much of the war and it showed Seoul as a mass of rubble and now one of the most modern cities in the world.

When it came time for the presentations of the medals each veteran went up when his name was called and the ambassador placed the medal around his neck and presented him with a certificate and a case of smaller pins to wear on their suits, or caps. When it was Virgil’s time to go up, the man beside me and his grandson decided they were going to leave. He was kind of crippled and he ended up falling in my lap and by the time his grandson and I got him up and going, Virgil was coming back to our seats and I got a picture then. However from the balcony came claps and the yell, “That’s the way to go, Grandpa.” I didn’t even know they were there, but they got the pictures I didn’t get. All I know Grandpa was quite proud they were there and isn’t that why wars are fought, for the future generations?

I promised you some more pumpkin recipes and one of my favorite treats is pumpkin pie, but last year I changed my recipe and went to the one using sweetened condensed milk.

EAGLE BRAND PUMPKIN PIE

1(15 ounce) can pumpkin

1(14 ounce) can Eagle

brand sweetened

condensed milk

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon ground

cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground

ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground

nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.

REDUCE oven temperatures to 350 degrees and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

“No war-should be forgotten.”