Veterans of the Korean War, their friends and families were featured guests at Thursday's ceremony at The Summit at Plantsville. The event, organized by Barbara Blau, of The Summit, was held purposefully on July 28, Korean War Armistice Day.

Col. Carl Venditto spoke about how the Korean War is a lost piece of history, one that is not known by some, especially youths, he said pointing to two teenage boys in the audience. "They've heard of Pearl Harbor and of 9-11, but this is a significant day in history 58 years ago," he said. "It's a forgotten period."

He said the three-year war was referred to as the "Korean Conflict" but if you ask any serviceman who was there, it was definitely a war. An estimated 2.5 million civilians and more than 1 million soldiers on both sides of the conflict died, he said.

A half-dozen veterans and widows gave remarks as well, some speaking through tears about their or their loved one's experiences. Venditto said his cousin was one of the men who did not come home; he died 10 days before the war was over.

See complete story in the July 29 issue of The Southington Citizen and a photo gallery is also posted on this site.