They were put up in the name of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation to pay tribute to a mostly forgotten war that claimed millions of dead and a nation divided. The funds to fund the project was given from the federal government in South Korea. Similar to other monuments along the mall, these slabs will be maintained by the National Park Service. The erroneous list of names was provided from the Defense Department. It is unclear if anyone have looked it up.

More on U.S. Armed Forces

The foundation did not respond. The park service shifted blame on it to the Defense Department. It was the Defense Department declined to make decision makers available for discussion. In response to queries by The New York Times, it acknowledged there were a few errors in the list, and said in a statement, that the process of compiling an complete listing proved "challenging."

"We encourage all family members or concerned citizens to notify the Department of any names that were omitted, misspelled, or included in error," the statement reads and added that the department will work together with park officials to implement any needed changes or corrections, but they did not provide details on ways to get the stone repaired.

The brothers claimed they couldn't think of any other options than to tear away the slabs and beginning over.

This isn't the first time that the department has erred in calculating casualty numbers from the war in Korea where three years of acrimonious fighting culminated with a cease-fire and armistice was signed in 1953. In the years that followed the official number of American killed in the war was 54,246, an amount that was that was published in books on history or in speeches, and recorded into stone after memorials were unveiled. Korean War memorial was unveiled. However, in 2000 it was revealed that the Pentagon confirmed that the number was inclusive of all soldiers who had been killed in any location, for any reason during the wartime years however the real number of deaths in war was 36,516.

Prior to the beginning of carving the wall of names The Barker brothers regularly advised planners, military officials and later even officials from the White House about problems with the list, according to records. However, the process slowed down.

"No one bothered to check it before they set it in stone," said Edward Barker Jr., who is known as Ted.

War memorials which honor thousands of people were scarce. Obelisks and archways built to commemorate generals and anonymous victories dominated for centuries. While plaques with local names of fallen soldiers are a common small-town site since the Civil War, national war memorials were not based on comprehensive lists of the dead.

In the last few decades however, engraved lists have become practically expected as the society became more focused on the individual. The major memorials, like those of those who died in the Vietnam War and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks concentrate on listing the masses of victims named by name.
http://www.dream11today.com/a-korean-war-wall-of-remembrance-set-hundreds-of-errors-in-stone/