Peoria historian works to honor soldier killed in Korean War

PJStar.com: Peoria historian works to honor soldier killed in Korean War
PEORIA — Local historian and researcher Norm Kelly doesn't know what prompted him to look for the name of Luther Zimmerman on the Korean War memorial last year.

He had written about Zimmerman, an 18-year-old private first class who was killed in action Aug. 15, 1950, for a book, but the name faded over time.

"No idea what made me decide to check on him. Maybe I read (my book) again, I don't know, but when I was Downtown, I looked him up, and I'll be damned, he wasn't on the plaque (in the Peoria County Courthouse)," Kelly said. "He was the first man to die in the Korean War from Peoria County."

Kelly's efforts will result in Zimmerman's name being etched into the black granite memorial which is on the ground level of the courthouse near the Circuit Clerk's office. His name will join those of 51 others who lost their lives in the three-year war that wasn't called a war for years.

Official records put Zimmerman's home in Knox County, but Kelly found he lived in Peoria for a couple of years with his mother, Blanche Utsinger, in the 900 block of Hurlbert Street. While there, he attended school at McKinley Elementary School and Roosevelt Junior High School before moving to Abington and then to Avon.

Peoria County Auditor Carol VanWinkle said it's important to honor Zimmerman, even 61 years after his death.

"Regardless of how long he lived here, he fit the criteria. I think that we have to remember and honor them regardless of whether they lived one year or their entire life here in Peoria County," she said.

Zimmerman enlisted on Nov. 19, 1949, his 18th birthday, and was assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Regimental Combat Team, which was sent to the Korean Peninsula in the summer of 1950. The 5th RCT first saw action in the battle of the Pusan Perimeter, which came about six weeks after the war started in earnest.

U.N. forces had suffered losses throughout the early weeks of the war and were driven back to the port city of Pusan, located in the southeastern tip of the peninsula. The 5th RCT and other U.N. troops managed to hold off the North Koreans during the month-old battle but in the process, more than 4,000 soldiers and Marines were killed.

Little information on Zimmerman's death can be determined, other than he was killed in action near the city of Chindong-ni, which lies near Pusan. He is buried at Wiley Cemetery in Fulton County.

Kelly, who himself was a Korean War-era vet, says he doesn't feel deep emotion yet because, as he put it, "his name isn't up on the plaque yet. Once it is there, then I will feel it."

VanWinkle said it cost about $250 to etch Zimmerman's name into the granite. She said she hopes the work will be finished by Memorial Day and plans on mentioning Zimmerman at some point during the county's ceremony that day.