Many do not realize that, in addition to her service during the tail end of WWII, the S.S. Lane Victory along with other WWII era merchant ships also saw extensive service during the Korean Conflict transporting ammunition, supplies, and other war goods between the United States, Japan, Korea and other ports in the Pacific. While many of these voyages could have been considered routine for any merchant ship of that era, one set of events put the S.S. Lane Victory and her crew directly in harms way.

During the fall of 1950, it appeared that the North Korean forces were on the verge of defeat until the Chinese entered the conflict by surprise on November 1, 1950. The massed formations of Chinese infantry came as a shock to the allied forces. The course of events during November and December led to the rapid southward retreat of the allied forces with thousands of Korean refugees following. On December 8, 1950 MacArthur gave the order to evacuate through the port of Hungnam. Described as a "reverse amphibious operation" or "Korea's Dunkirk", the evacuation set off the largest sea lift operation since the Okinawa campaign in 1945. Under continuous naval gunfire and air support, over the course of 2 weeks, more than 100,000 military personnel, 91,000 Korean refugees, 17,000 vehicles, and 350,000 tons of cargo were evacuated. For the S.S. Lane Victory's part, 7,000 refugees, 3,800 military personnel, 1,100 vehicles, and 5 tons of supplies were rescued from the ports of Wonson and Hungnam.

The festival will feature Korean martial arts and dancing exhibitions, Honor Guard performances, lectures about the Hungnam and Wonson evacuations, remembrances and memoirs of evacuees and veterans and ethnic food vendors. During the festival, the S.S. Lane Victory will be open for guided or self-guided tours.