Joe Ivers of Mercer sat on his 125 S. Otter St. porch Friday soaking in a picture-perfect midsummer day, perhaps contemplating the good fortune of a life that has blessed him with six daughters and seven grandchildren.

The magnitude of that proposition, of Ivers, 72, relaxing in the cool shade of a hot July afternoon in the shadow of the Mercer County Courthouse, is quickly brought into focus as Ivers points to the horizon, his mind's eye taking him more than 50 years and a virtual lifetime away.

Ivers, like many Korean War veterans across the country, today is marking the 50th anniversary of the end of what some have called "The Forgotten War." That conflict officially ended July 27, 1953, and ceremonies are scheduled nationwide, including one locally at 4 p.m. at the Reynolds Veterans of Foreign Wars.

And while a half-century has passed, it takes only slight prompting to transport Ivers back to an unforgettable hill in Korea.