Although we have always referred to the conflict in Korea as the Korean War, officially it has been something less; a Police Action; a Conflict...not a war. To the men and women who served in Korea, and to the families of people lost in Korea, it was unmistakably a War.

The U.S. Congress has finally corrected the misnomer. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (section 1067) includes a provision that changes references to the 'Korean Conflict' to references to the Korean War. The provision was sponsored by Senator Strom Thurman (R-SC), last year's chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, reportedly at the urging of Senator John Warner (R-VA), current chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator Warner is, himself, a Korean War veteran.