The official State of Minnesota Veterans Day celebration, held at the Veteran Memorial Community Center in Inver Grove Heights on the 11th of November was attended by many Veterans from across the state and representing a wide varieties of conflicts.

One group in particular stood out as two older Marines walked into the Center wearing ice-blue jackets that read, "The Chosin Few." Being a Marine myself, knowing the history of the Marine Corps' battles; what happened in Korea, especially in the Chosin Reservoir, made this sight an awe-inspiring experience. I didn't want to immediately bombard them with conversation, so I held back while they helped themselves to the breakfast buffet and made their way to their seats.

The Battle of Chosin Reservoir was fought from Nov. 27 to Dec. 13, 1950. United States Army and Marine Corps forces were surrounded by around 67,000 Chinese troops, temperatures dropped as low as -35 below zero and the terrain was some of the roughest peaks and valleys Korea had to offer. Vastly outnumbered, this scene made for a great and terrible battle for U.S. forces, a campaign that came at the greatest cost of non-battle and battlefield casualties in the Korean War. Of the approximately 30,000 troops fighting for the U.S. an estimated 10,000 were killed, wounded, or faced non-battle casualties due to the freezing weather and climate.

These men had faced some of the most adverse battlefield conditions of any war and now wore their jackets and medals with pride. I was taking pictures for the event so I made sure to snap a few of these gentlemen and try to hear some stories of their service.

But my intentions backfired with a slip of the tongue; my gratitude and thanks for them and their contribution to history turned what I thought was praise and boyish admiration into a dismissal of these men and their already "Forgotten War" generation. What had happened was that I mentioned they were a part of history, a true statement, but to them they took it to mean they were history and no longer relevant. Back-peddling slightly, I wanted to make known that my statement was out of reverence and not disregard I tried to explain myself and what I truly meant: their grit and determination gave me hope during my time in the Corps and made me proud to be a Marine.

Slowly, our conversation revived and became a bonding one once again. The men's adulation for the Marines and for all of their fellow Veterans mirrored mine-the reason we were there. We were there to remember our brothers and sisters in arms; those that have fallen in peacetime and in war, and those who still gather to sing the songs and salute the flag on Veterans Day.

The Chosin Reservoir was an intense conflict with treacherous, often fatal, results. However, an end result that is more egregious is Veterans of the Korean War feeling forgotten and underappreciated by the country they served. Before leaving the table I made sure to apologize again and insisted that what they have done could not be forgotten.

There are many things to think about in the closing months of the year: Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Hanukkah and Christmas to name a few, but take a moment on the 13th of December and remember a specific Veteran, the Chosin Veteran: the survivors of the Chosin Reservoir who, like all Veterans, should not be forgotten.