The Thirty-Eighth Parallel
Near Crestone, Colorado
There is a line of latitude that divides North Korea from South Korea, drawn at the thirty-eighth parallel. By pure coincidence, that same line runs straight through southern Colorado, near here. A state senator named Lewis Entz, who served during the Korean War, realized that the famous border passed directly through his own San Luis Valley.
So he set out to mark it. Today, signs along the highways here salute the thirty-eighth parallel and the Americans who fought for it, and sections of state highway have been named the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway. The whole effort grew out of a simple feeling that the men who served in Korea were never properly recognized for what they endured.
Half a world from the demilitarized zone, this quiet Colorado valley honors them by standing on the very same line.
