This Korean War Veterans' Monument in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, is made from polished black marble and light gray granite. All of the marker’s faces are completely flat and the edges are square, with the exception of a small pillar off to the side who’s edges and top were left more roughly finished.
The main portion of the cenotaph is made from three parts: a gray, rectangular granite base and two vertical adjoining monoliths. The marker on the left is highly polished black marble with a gray granite addition in the shape of a tombstone. The gray granite marker on the right side is about 25 per cent shorter than its counterpart. The third element is also gray granite and laid in the ground just in front of the others.
The granite tablet affixed on the face of the black stone lists names of service members killed during the Korean conflict:
UNKNOWN (text surrounded by a wreath of leaves)
PFC. GILBERT A. ARCHAMBEAULT
PVT. JOSEPH R. AREL
PFC. SAMUEL A. BRANCH
SGT. HARRY R. BEAN
CPL. DONALD R. CASTONGUAY
PVT. DONALD F. CORRIVEAU
SGT. GARRY COYNE
SGT. THOAMS W. DALTON
PVT. WALTER D. DUSABLON
PFC. NORMAND GAUTREAU
PVT. RALPH GREEN
PVT. ELLWOOD HAYNES
SGT. OWEN T. HILL
PFC. ROBERT E. HINEY
PVT. LAWRENCE A. LEFRANCOIS
PVT. RENE R. MONTIGNY
CPL. EUGENE K. MOORE
PFC. GERRARD G. MILLETTE
PFC. CALVIN C. NEWELL
PFC. THOMAS J. POULIN
CAPT. HARRY SPEIGHT
SGT. JAMES P. SHUNNEY
SGT. HARRY J. TIPPING
SGT. ARTHUR E. THIBEAULT
PFC. DANIEL A. TURGEON
PFC. ELPHEGE VADENAIS
The back side of this part is engraved near the top with a large rendering of the Korean Service Medal, featuring the words “KOREAN SERVICE” encircling a Korean Buddhist temple gateway, or
iljumin. Below the service award are the war dates 1950 - 1953 followed by three names of the memorial’s committee members - two co-chairs and the concept originator. All these engravings are filled in with metallic gold finish.
KOREAN WAR is engraved vertically and filled in with black on the outside edges of right hand portion. A silhouette of the Korean peninsula made from the black marble is attached centrally. The division of Korea by a Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and a buffer, the demilitarized zone (DMZ), along with NORTH and SOUTH text, are engraved and gilded. The 38th Parallel which initially divided the country near the end of World War II is indicated on the granite portion, engraved and colored black.
The obverse is engraved in three sections with many names: Committee Members, Committee Honorees, and the posts and chapters of the United Veterans Council of Woonsocket.
Along the front face of the base are engraved:
KILLED: 54,246 - WOUNDED: 103,284 - MISSING: 8,177
“FREEDOM IS NOT FREE”
The back side of the base lists the mason and stone contractors.
The ground tablet embedded in front reads:
KOREAN WAR VETERANS’ MONUMENT
ERECTED JULY 25, 2004
HONORABLE MAYOR SUSAN D. MENARD
DIRECTOR OF HUMAN SERVICES OWEN T. BEBEAU
COUNCIL PRESIDENT LEO T. FONTAINE
COUNCIL VICE-PRESIDENT SUZANNE J. VADENAIS
COUNCIL MEMBERS
EUGENE A. CLOUTIER - BRIAN R. BLAIS - SUZANNE E. POULIOT
NORMAND J. LALIBERTE JR. - WILLIAM D. SCHNECK JR.
COMMITTEE PLANNERS
CO-CHAIRMAN JOSEPH L.B. NADEAU
CONCEPT ORIGINATOR ROBERT J. DUCHARME
CO-CHAIRMAN MSGT. DENISE R. SPINK
To the southeast there is a secondary gray granite pillar about three feet tall, a foot wide, and six inches thick. The street side is engraved KOREAN MIA-POW along the top. A metal wreath hook is just below. The back side is inscribed with the word “GOLD” bordered by five-pointed star and “MOTHERS” vertically below.
Sources:
National Geographic
Korean Service Medal