"Freedom Is Not Free" ~inscription on Korean War Memorial

M*A*S*H*

Did you know that this popular TV series theme song is titled "Suicide is Painless" and was composed by a 14-year old? His name was Mike Altman and he was the son of Robert Altman who directed the film version of M*A*S*H* which follows 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. I'd forgotten that this film and television series took part during the Korean Conflict. After reading about and recalling this I kept thinking of this song while I visited the Korean War Memorial today.
It sort of amazed me how eerily quiet this memorial was, it sort of reflected the memorial itself.

The symbolizism behind this and so many of the memorials amazes me.

This memorial was designed by Frank Gaylord and depicts 19 servicemen on patrol. 14 of the figures are from the US Army, 3 from the Marines, 1 from the Navy and 1 from the Air Force. They are dressed in full combat gear and interspersed among strips of granite and juniper bushes, meant to represent the rugged Korean terrain. The reflecting wall, created by Louis Nelson, has images sandblasted into it. When looking at it from the opposite side of the statues it appears that there are 38 soldiers, representing the 38th parallel, the division between the US occupied south Korea and the Soviet occupied north Korea. (Info from this site and this site.)