This article first appeared in the Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Apr. 6, 1971. It is republished unedited in its original form.

General Maloy joins in

OSAN AB, Korea – More than 700 American military men of all races and ranks marched in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Sunday, climaxing a weekend tribute here to the slain civil rights leader.

Maj. Gen. Robert Maloy, USAFK commander, wearing a neck brace to relieve painful recurring war injuries, marched for a while with the group along the two-mile route.

Mrs. Maloy joined her husband in the walk.

The march beginning at 3 p.m. in front of the Osan AB theater, wound through the streets of this base, picking up people as it continued toward the front gate, where a brief memorial service was held.

Black soldiers, leaders of the four bi-racial groups which organized the march, carried large pictures of the assassinated Nobel Peace Prize winner in front of the marchers.

The march was in silence and there were no disturbances to mar the ceremonies marking the third anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination.

Earlier seminars and meetings had been held among the airmen themselves and their commanders. People from as far south as Taegu [Daegu], 100 miles away, were bused in by the command for the weekend.

At the memorial service, Chaplain (Col.) Richard Carr, top Air Force chaplain in Korea, called the march “an unprecedented event.” He said that blacks and whites had shown they could live together at Osan and that this alone was a tribute to Dr. King and his ideas.

“We have the beginning of a dialog here,” he said, “in one of the most unlikely places in our society, at a military installation.”

Only one year ago, Osan was rocked by rioting between black and whites. Carr commented briefly on this, saying that the progress made at Osan was “an example to everyone, everywhere.”

Before turning the microphone over to Sgt. Robert Hood, a local black leader, Carr characterized Dr. King as “a man of power … a man of compassion … a man who was committed to the ideas greater than himself … a great man … a great black man … a great human being.”

Hood, president of the Brotherhood Association of Servicemen at Osan, said the march was a start and that everyone must now “get together” to keep Dr. King’s ideas alive.

The march and the weekend were organized entirely by the airmen themselves and the command here gave them a virtual free hand to detail plans for the tribute.

After the weekend ended and people began boarding buses to return to their bases, S. Sgt. Frank Waller, the man who coordinated most of the plans, said the day had been beautiful.

“There was some real active brotherhood and some real good vibes here over the weekend,” he said.