But he’s sure he’ll tell the story about the cow.

The Wiwon Buddies, he says, are the non-coms who were at a prison camp in a town named Wiwon.

But the name isn’t nearly as important as the guys who lived to talk — and even laugh — about those days they spent as prisoners of war and the friendships that have lasted nearly half a century.

“We meet every spring in Louisiana,” he says, “and after all this time, there aren’t many things we can agree on, but we agree on one thing. The cow fell out of the pasture.”

He’ll wait to let that sink in. Then he’ll explain.

From the prison camp the guys could see two cows — or maybe they were bulls. They were really too far away to tell. But cows or bulls, they grazed on a plain free of trees atop a high mountain.

“There was a cliff on the side of it,” he says. And the prisoners of war watched and waited. In prison, men looked for things to think about to pass the time — and keep their minds from longing for home. If one of those cows ever lost its footing ...

“One day,” he says, “one of the cows lost its footing and tumbled over the precipice, and that was that.”

And every year when they get together, they argue about it.

“We can’t agree on how many times he tumbled. We can’t agree on how high he bounced. But one thing we can agree on is: The cow fell out of the pasture.”

The Rangers were elite units with one company of 110 men assigned to each division for the commander to use for whatever hard operation he needed done. Tough duty. And if they got caught and became prisoners of war ...

“Humor,” he says, “was the only way we got through it.”

Monday’s event will open at 10 a.m. in the social hall of Building 6 with a Korean War history tour — a display of headlines, articles and pictures from the Salisbury Post, the Internet and local Korean War veterans. It wlll be open to the public until 3 p.m.

The display will also include collections of memorabilia of the war provided by Korean veterans Charles Blankenship and Gonzalee Misenheimer. They and members of the observance committee of Veterans Serving Veterans, who planned the event, will discuss the displays and answer questions, says Jim Carson, publicity chairman.

Women in South Korean dress from First Presbyterian Korean Church of Greensboro will present a Korean dance at 10:30, followed by a karate demonstration at 11 and a light lunch at no charge from 11:30 until 1 p.m. for Korean veterans and their families and, Carson says, “whoever is there.”

The program will begin at 1 p.m., with Ward as the featured speaker.

A sergeant first class with the 4th Ranger Company, he got to Korea in February 1951. He was captured on June 15, 1951, and was not released until September 1953, three months after an armistice had been signed.

After the war, he came home, started a foundry business in Greensboro, married and had three children. The family lived on High Rock Lake until about 10 years ago, when he moved to the Greensboro area.

Salisbury Mayor Susan Kluttz will officially proclaim the day the official commemoration of the 50th anniversary. Medical Center Director Timothy May will recognize Korean War veterans, wives and mothers.

Jessie Horne, the widow of Henry Charles Howard of Rowan County, who was killed in Korea on August 22, 1950, will receive a special plaque and flowers.

“Very little notice was given to the life or death of black servicemen in those years,” says Katy Veal, a member of the program committee. This presentation, she says, is for all “black veterans who were not given much recognition for paying the ultimate price for freedom.”

Also participating will be Bobby Lee, chairman of Veterans Serving Veterans, who will welcome the guests and be in charge of the program; the South Rowan Junior ROTC; the Rev. J.H. Chung of First Presbyterian Korean Church, who will give the invocation; and Eva Millsaps, who will sing.