Korean War
The Korean War was a proxy war between the communist North Korea and their Chinese/Soviet allies and South Korea and its western allies. The major fighting of the war lasted only 3 years, from 1950 to 1953 when an armistice was signed. Technically, the war has not ended and from time to time, minor skirmishes break out, typically with North Korea being the aggressor.
Speech Relevance
The Korean War is mentioned in regards to phone excise tax, in 'Encroaching Control':
The fodder upon which our government is fed and grown beyond the consent of the governed is the tax system which has only one real consistency and that is that any levy once imposed is never removed. During the Korean War, an excise tax was put on phones. We were told the government didn't need it for revenue, but it was put on to curtail our use of the telephone because of the war emergency. Now the war is long gone, but the tax lingers on. We suggest it be removed and government says we can't, we need the revenue.
Later, in 'A Time For Choosing', Reagan tells a story about Barry Goldwater:
An ex-GI told me how he met him. It was the week before Christmas during the Korean War, and he was at the Los Angelos airport trying to get a ride home to Arizona for Christmas, and he said that there were a lot of servicemen there and no seats available on the planes. Then a voice came over the loudspeaker and said, "Any men in uniform wanting a ride to Arizona, go to runway such-and-such," and they went down there, and there was this fellow named Barry Goldwater sitting in his plane. Every day in the weeks before Christmas, all day long, he would load up the plane, fly to Arizona, fly them to their homes, then fly back over to get another load.
