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Friday, November 11, 2022

Korea




This Korean War soldier is taking a break outside
his bunker during a lull in the shelling.

 

3 comments:

  1. Now that I have blogged about my maternal Grandfather in WW1, its time for my uncle George who served in Korea.
    George was my fathers oldest brother one of 7 brothers and 5 sisters,12 in all.!
    George was a loner and could be at times miserable with people.
    When he got drafted, their mother didn't like it and was worried sick , but at least she thought it would make him get along with others and help change his attitudes towards people. He was trained by the US Army to be a radioman.
    When he got to Korea he said it was boring because there was not much action. The only time he used his gun was pulling guard duty. He shot at some shrubs thinking it was the enemy, it turned out to be a forest critter.
    Finally action came when they had to evacuate from advancing North Korean and Chinese forces (and NO it was not 1 million Chinese like the Army tells you)
    They fled at the wheel of a colonels Army issue 1947 Hudson sedan, they had to abandon the car because of the bad roads and ran for their lives. Happy to say they all survived. Months later unlce George was on R&R in Tokyo, there he purchased gifts for the family and a well made model train for himself. (he was a railroad buff and went on to work as a dipatcher for the Union Pacific.)
    After his shopping spree he went to the movies. During the show, there was a newsreel. It showed the negotiations going on to end the war. A scene came up and showed the Chinese delegation arriving to the talks, in the same 1947 Hudson sedan they had abandoned ! (my uncle knew this from the distinct markings on the car) He laughed out loud ,much to the annoyance of the other theater goers. When uncle George came home, he was his same loner and sometimes miserable to people self. The Korean War he first thought it was all a waste, but in later years seeing the people of North Korea chafing under an insane regime and seeing South Korea blossom with freedom in spite of its own despotic governments, he ended up thinking it was worth it.
    As far as the Mac Arthur controversy, my uncle George felt civilians need to control the military, (all military governments collapse ie Argentina, Chile, Greece, Turkey) otherwise you would have a dictatorship and eventual chaos. As uncle George said civilians are NOT soldiers and cannot be told what to do.
    President Truman had given General MacArthur the benefit of a doubt many times, trying to reason with the general. Even generals have to follow orders as a matter of precedent and protocol. Soldiers have to, so should their superiors.
    Uncle George is now entombed at Riverside National Cemetary in California.
    He was at times hard to get along with, but we miss him and honor him.
    God Bless our Veterans, our War Dead and their families. rj in the ie

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    Replies
    1. Love the story of the '47 Hudson! MacArthur was a showboating piece of work who wasted lives liberating the Philippines when it would have been more strategically prudent to bypass them.

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  2. Same with the Battle of Monte Cassino, another place that should have been bypassed. The Italian Partisans bypassed Monte Cassino all the time and told the Allies to do the same, that eventually the Germans would run out of supplies and would surrender (ya aint gonna live without vittles and water).
    But the Allied generals wanted to be in the history books and so men died in vain.
    To this day the Partisans do not take part in celebrations commemorating Monte Cassino. rj/ie

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