Albany Korean War Memorial service: Albany veteran Ken Morrison to play special role at service

One of the few remaining veterans of the Korean War in WA will be part of the procession into St John’s Anglican Church for a Korean War memorial service in Albany on Sunday. The service will commemorate 70 years since the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, which brought an unofficial end to a three-year-long conflict between the Korean peninsula’s north and south. Ken Morrison, who will turn 92 at the start of August, served in the Australian Army as part of the Australia Field Cash Office during the peace-keeping mission which extended beyond 1953. Mr Morrison’s record indicates he was deployed to Japan in early 1954 and then deployed to Korea a little over a year later after making a request to do so. “I thought that we were there to support Korea, why shouldn’t I go and have a look,” he said. “So I saw my boss and he said ‘yeah you can go over’ so that’s what I did. “I enjoyed it too, although I had a few bits of fun — once the (communists) came across the borderline and we had everything there ready to burn, then the next minute there were American tanks and artillery and helicopters.” He said he initially joined the citizen military forces as a driver at the age of 18 in 1949 because he had wanted to drive a jeep before then enlisting in the army four years later. After deployment in Japan and Korea, he spent time in Perth, Puckapunyal, Malaya and Canberra. It was during a stint stationed in Perth that a “mob of army ladies” walked into the Swan Army barracks sergeant’s mess where Mr Morrison was on duty as a barman. He said the mob included a lady called Margaret who “caught my eye” and later became his wife. The couple moved to Albany recently after buying one of RAAFA Amity Village Albany units, but it has been something of a homecoming for Mr Morrison who spent his years prior to reaching school age living in Albany. Nowadays he looks over his medals and slouch hat with a great sense of pride saying “if I had my life again, I’d do it all the same” and that he “loved the army”. “The medals mean a lot to me, even though I had to look up some of them to remind myself what they were,” he said. “The first one is the Australian fire service medal, then the rest are general service medals. “There is a couple of Korean ones, and Malaya, and long service and good behaviour — in other words, that one is for undiscovered crimes.” Among the medals is one kept separately in its own box. The Ambassador for Peace Medal was presented by the Republic of Korea to all those part of the UN peacekeeping operations on the peninsula. Mr Morrison simply said “I’m glad I did it”. “Sometimes I think the medals and recognition are a bit more than I deserve,” he said. Following Sunday’s service in Albany, which Mr Morrison said he was looking forward to because “I love being involved and love St John’s church”, he will also travel to Perth for the official unveiling of a Korean War memorial in King’s Park on July 27.