The Senate approved a bipartisan resolution (S.Res.602) formally recognizing the 60th anniversary of the Korean War and designating 2012-13 as the “Year of the Korean War Veteran.” “Nearly two million Americans fought in the Korean War, and more than 120,000 of them were killed or wounded in action,” said Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), one of the resolution’s co-sponsors, in a statement on Nov. 27, the same day that the Senate passed the measure. “I have deep respect for all those who left behind their families and friends to protect a distant country from the spread of communism,” added Udall. Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) introduced the resolution, which Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.) also co-sponsored. Udall said the resolution had the support of the Pentagon’s 60th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee that Congress established in 2011 to properly honor and remember the Americans who fought in the conflict.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.