Village of Hilton residents and officials recently gathered to honor James Mullen, a Korean War veteran who served in the U.S. Army from 1947 to 1952. Due to health reasons, Mullen is unable to visit the National Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C. through the Honor Flight Network. When village officials learned of this, they decided to honor him and his family with a touching ceremony at the Hilton Community Center.
“From 1950 through 1953, 1,789,000 Americans served in the Korean War,” said Shannon Zabelny, vice mayor. “We are here today to honor and thank one of those Americans.”
Todd Baxter, executive director of programs and services at the Veterans Outreach Center, spoke about the importance of showing young people that our veterans should not be forgotten. “If we don’t continue to honor our service men and women, we won’t have any more volunteers,” he said.
Mayor Joe Lee presented Mullen with a plaque. Mullen’s wife, Saralynne, son, Glenn and his wife, Jana, along with his brother, Kenneth, nephew, Kyle, and great nephew Tyler, were also in attendance.
Mullen explained that he was on the island of Okinawa doing clean up after World War II when the Korean War broke out. “I’m very proud that they honored me today,” he said.
