WASHINGTON — Millions of people every year pass the Korean War Veterans War Memorial, and most never know it was unfinished. Since its dedication in 1995, the memorial has a had a key piece missing: The names of the fallen soldiers.
“It was always envisioned that they would have a wall of remembrance about it,” Executive Director Jim Fisher explained.
Fisher said a lack of funding led to the wall being left off the original memorial. But over the last several years, donations poured in from a world away.
“The Republic of Korea, the people and government, have paid a huge amount of money for this, and we are will be forever grateful for it,” Fisher said.
This year, the names of over 36,000 U.S. servicemembers who were either killed or missing in action have been etched into a wall that surrounds the Pool of Remembrance.
Names that resonate with people like Jeff Cribben from San Diego, California.
“My dad and my uncle both joined the Marine Corps. together at 17 years old,” he said looking at the wall. “Then soon found themselves in Korea near the 38th parallel."
The Cribben brothers were identical twins. Walter was the name of Jeff’s father and James was the name of his uncle.
“If they were ever given an order that they didn't like they would flip a coin, and then switch shirts,” Jeff laughed. “So the loser had to go do whatever it was that they needed to go do.”
In March of 1953, one of those switches had fateful consequences. Swapping duties sent James directly into combat.
“The last time my dad ever saw his identical twin was heading out to the outpost,” Jeff said as emotions flooded him.
James Joseph Cribben was never seen again.
The Cribben story is one of the thousands of stories that have been told silently around the memorial since 1995. Until this week, the memorial never had names to go with those stories.
Tuesday, the families of Korean War soldiers got the first chance to see their family members names etched in stone. Among the names on the wall, Jeff found his uncle. A simple gesture that offered his family a small amount of closure.
“It's always just such an honor to be here,” he said. “Now to go see his name on one of these memorials, it's overwhelming.”
But it’s not just U.S. servicemembers that adorn the wall. The new Wall of Remembrance also lists the names of than more than 8,000 Korean troops that died alongside them.
“This is the first memorial United States that has foreign soldiers that have fought side by side with the Americans listed,” Fisher said.
The executive director of the Korean War Veterans Memorial said if it wasn’t for the funding from the Republic of Korea, he isn’t sure the new wall would have ever happened. According to him, the donations never amounted to enough to cover the cost.