With the looming threat of Korea in our current daily national news, an opportunity to re-visit the past.
The television series “M*A*S*H,” 
was set in a field hospital in South Korea. The series ran from 1972 until 1983, and its final episode was the most-watched in television history.
A veteran describes this duty as 95% waiting with the remaining 5% being of sheer terror. The weather conditions could not have been worse with extreme temperatures as low as 18 below, causing many to lose fingers and toes, hands and feet. The soldier in this group on the end closest to the viewer is the commander and depicts a soldier from real life who is alive today.
The figures represent a platoon on patrol, drawn from each branch of the armed forces; fourteen of the figures are from the U.S. Army, three are from the Marine Corps, one is a Navy Corpsman, and one is an Air Force Forward Air Observer. They are dressed in full combat gear, dispersed among strips of granite and juniper bushes which represent the rugged terrain of Korea.[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War_Veterans_Memorial
The soldier with the radio always knew that he was the number one target being the one holding the communication connection.
The objective was to reflect the 38th parallel separating North from South Korea and 38 months of war with 38 stainless steel soldiers. With 38 figures being too many and too costly, the black granite wall reflects the 19 multiplying them to 38.
