Local veteran travels to Capitol Hill to commemorate the Korean War

Ormond Beach Observer
Neighbors

The Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce's Ivey Rodriguez's took a trip to the nation's capital with her family last week, to commemorate her father's time in the Korean War.

BY THE OBSERVER STAFF

Ivey Rodriguez, of the Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce, took a trip to Washington D.C. last week with her father, as special guests of the United States Department of Defense, to commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the Korean War.

Rodriguez’s father, Luciano Arce, 80 years old, served in the Army from 1951 to 1953, as part of its 65^th Infantry, Third Division, Company B. He is a Palm Coast resident.

During their trip, Arce, Rodriguez and the rest of their family watched an evening parade, listened to the United States Marine Band, met top-ranking military officials and were VIP guests to the “Heroes Remembered” signing of the Korean War Armistice, at the Korean War Memorial, where President Barack Obama spoke.

“There are no words to describe the waves of pride and emotion we felt as we watched my father be honored along with his brothers in arms,” Rodriguez said. “My father rarely speaks of his time in Korea because he suffered witnessing so many losses. However, my father very proudly has said, ‘A soldier becomes a soldier to serve his country. He doesn’t serve for the money or prestige; he serves because he is willing to sacrifice his own future to protect the future of the country he loves.’ ”