After the end of World War II, Asia's Korea Peninsula was divided into two countries at the 38th Parallel. The peninsula, under Japanese control for 35 years, saw a Soviet-backed government in the north, and to the south, an American-backed government. In June 1950, North Korean Communist forces, eventually backed by both China and the Soviet Union, invaded South Korea. A long and bloody war ensued, with South Korea supported by the United States and representative United Nation troops.
Often referred to as a police action, The Forgotten War, and The Unknown War, the Korean Conflict never received an official declaration of war by the U.S. Congress. In July 1953, a new U.S.S.R. regime negotiated a truce, leaving the peninsula divided into two separate countries.
Battleship Memorial Park, located in Mobile Bay, not only honors the brave men who served aboard USS Alabama, the park's centerpiece, but also presents Vietnam and Korean War memorials. This Veterans Day salute includes Alabama's Korean War Memorial. Here an assembly of flags represent some of the United Nations forces that included troops from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States.
Armistice Day initially celebrated the end of World War I on November 11, 1918. In 1938 the 83rd U.S. Congress amended the word Armistice and inserted the word Veterans, honoring American veterans of all wars.