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Vets Prepare To Honor Hero

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By STEPHEN HAMMILL, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2007

CITRUS PARK - On Sept. 15, 1950, at the Battle of Inchon, 24-year-old Marine Lt. Baldomero Lopez led his men over a sea wall near Seoul, South Korea.

Minutes later, he died in the ultimate moment of self-sacrifice.

Fifty-seven years later, the Tampa native and Medal of Honor winner will receive a monument honoring him at Ed Radice Park.

The Lopez memorial dedication is set for 11 a.m. Sunday, Veterans Day. The ceremony will feature performances by the Hillsborough High School band, the Keystone Community Church choir and a presentation by a joint forces color guard.

Representatives from MacDill Air Force Base, including Brig. Gen. David Garza and Korean Gen. Young-Yoon will attend, along with some of Lopez' fellow Hillsborough High School graduates from the Class of 1943.

About 15 of Lopez's family members are expected.

Lopez was made famous in a photograph showing him scaling a wall during the Battle of Inchon. He smothered a grenade with his body moments after the photo was taken.

A 4-by-8-foot granite plaque will be installed at Ed Radice Park, 14844 Ed Radice Drive, off South Mobley Road, and will feature a biography of Lopez, a copy of the famous photograph and a rock from the wall - shipped from Incheon (the modernized spelling of the city) - with a letter of appreciation from its current mayor, Ahn Sang-Soo.

"We've got people coming from all over for this," said Murdoch Ford, former president of the Korean War Veterans Association and its current activities coordinator.

"It's a big day," he said. "There are only two Korean War vets from the state to receive the Medal of Honor, and he was one of them."

Sam Hayes, treasurer of the veterans group, said the organizers are finding it difficult enticing local politicians to attend.

"We tried to get county commissioner Jim Norman to come," Hayes said, "but he's busy. A lot of folks are on vacation, it seems."

Ford, who is expecting 250 to 300 visitors, said, "We made it an open invitation" to politicians. "If you want to come, you're welcome. The mayor knows about it. But we didn't go to each person individually."

Ford added, "We have a large Korean community here. Many of them want to come and show their appreciation."

Kimi Springsteen, Asian-American affairs liaison for Hillsborough County, will speak at the ceremony. Springsteen was an Incheon resident during the Korean War.

The event strives "not only to unveil a monument to Lopez but also to celebrate the veterans of all wars," Ford said.

The $13,000 monument has been paid for through a fundraising campaign by the veterans association, but the drive for donations continues, Hayes said. He said the extra money will be used to install similar memorials to Lopez next year at Hillsborough High School and at Baldomero Lopez Elementary School in Seffner.

Reporter Stephen Hammill can be reached at (813) 865-1523 or at shammill@tampatrib.com.

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