The Korean War began when the Communist North Korean army crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded South Korea. In June 1950, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution recommending that U.N. members assist South Korea in repelling the invasion. The United States government responded quickly. President Truman authorized ships and airplanes to protect the evacuation of American dependants in Korea and the use of American air and naval forces to support the Republic of Korea. He approved sending two Army divisions from Japan to Korea and a naval blockade of North Korea. One and one half million Americans served in Korea, including 129,000 from Massachusetts. Veterans from Cape Cod and the Islands are honored here, and white bricks in the pathway immortalize those who were killed in action or died while missing. A statue of a combat infantryman of the 35th Regiment is derived from an original photograph taken by 35th Division combat photographer Don Duquette near Suwon, North Korea, in 1951, and the sculpture is by Robert Shure.