NEILLSVILLE – A decorated Korean War veteran and Rothschild resident will be honored in September for his service to the United States.
Elroy Roeder will be honored at 10 a.m. Sept. 19 at The Highground Veterans Memorial Park in Neillsville with a personalized stone placement commemorating his service in the Korean War.
Family, neighbors and friends raised more than $700 for the stone to honor Roeder, who will be 91 on Sept. 27.
Roeder served in the U.S. Army from March of 1951 to December of 1952, and was awarded the Good Conduct medal, as well as National Defense Service medal, Korean Service, with bronze stars, medal, Combat Infantry Badge, and U.N. Service Medal.
He was involved in the Battle of Bloody Ridge, a fierce ground combat battle that took place in August and September of 1951, and the ensuing Battle of Heartbreak Ridge, which claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides of the battle.
In 2014, Roeder participated in the Never Forgotten Honor Flight to visit Washington, D.C., to view memorials built in honor of our nation’s veterans.
The Highground is the nation’s premier Veteran’s Memorial Park. The Korean Tribute Stones are a polished black granite stone and placed vertically on the face of rice paddies on a walkway wall. Like the rice paddies, the walkway wall has a limited space available, with only 170 stones possible. A registry has been established for Korean Honor Stone Honorees and their families to preserve the stories of these veterans of the Forgotten War.
