We didn't quit then

And the UN forces (mainly American as in Afstan) faced hundreds of thousands of Chicoms and North Koreans; Canada sent a brigade, larger than our troop deployment in Afstan, from a population well less than half that of Canada today. The brigade became part of the 1st Commonwealth Division.

The Korean War is often considered the forgotten war because it was sandwiched between World War II and the Vietnam War.

There have been continuing efforts to keep the Korean War in Canadians' thoughts. Veteran Affairs Canada chose the Korean War to be the subject of Veterans Week in 2003.

Some veterans pointed out parallels between the Korean War and today's "war on terror" when it comes to Canada's military involvement.

Les Peate, 78, of Ottawa noted the United Nations asked Canada to help in Korea, much like NATO asked for Canada's assistance in Afghanistan [which is also a UN Security Council authorized mission - MC].

'IT'S WAR'

In both cases, Canada was called on "to stand up to the bad guys," he said.

Peate scoffed at past ideas to call the battle in Korea a "conflict" rather than a war.

"When you're shooting at people and they're shooting at you, it's war," he said.

There were 516 Canadian soldiers killed during the Korean War [emphasis added], which is seen as the country's arrival to the global peacekeeping stage [yo, reporter, what planet are you on?].