I learned something about Korean conflict combat vets last weekend

[Pester]

Last weekend I was driving through town to drop off some mail. Its a small town with only 2 stop signs and parking on the street with a dually is not gonna work so I parked down the road that the feed store. As I am walking to drop off the mail I pass a tiny war memorial on the corner(probably 30'x30') were there are a couple of older guys sittin' there looking at the names of the locals that did not make it back. Perfect weather and they seemed happy to be there.

On the way back I said hello and struck up a conversation. Two and a half hours later I am getting texts that I was not at some place or another to open the gate for a truckload of steel pipe for fencing. So now the neighbor kid has the combo to the gate and I managed to stick around and listen to them for about another hour.

Both are in their 90's and shared a lot. One was in the artillery and the other carried a rifle. Good stories about what it was like back in the day. Hot, muggy, wet with bugs a lot of the time and wet with cold the other part. Cant keep equip clean. Hard to get parts. maybe not too much different than lots of other peoples experience.

The artillery gentleman talked about taking kerosene to clean off the cosmoline and it was so hot in the sun that they could not really touch the barrel. But clean it they did.

It struck me that these were some of the most quiet and most humble combat vets I have ever met. You know the kind....."I was just doing my job and I wanted to protect America. And I was really lucky that I made it back."

But you know what sort of killed me? Part of that conversation was along the lines of "no one ever thinks of or thanks a Korean vet."

Maybe I am guilty of that. I hope not. I kinda hope none of us are.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

I hear you. When I was in the hospital (Summer/Fall of '04) one of the 4 men in that room was a Korean Vet. Yes, a Canadian that fought in the Koren War.

His bed was right across from mine, and that was the first time I'd ever seen someone's liver fail. Completely. He had stories, for the short time he was there.

And other vets came to visit him, from the Legion.

 

[LuckyDuck]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with the OP. It isn't right but I suppose there's merit to Korea being labeled as the "forgotten war" and those vets never did receive the credit that other veterans did. The second part of unfortunate truths, can anyone name a single major movie within the past say 20-30 years focused on America's involvement in Korea? The only movie that comes to my mind is MASH and that's something like 50 years old at this point.

Sadly, I can't help but believe that it'll take something along the lines of the "Saving Private Ryan" equivalent from Hollywood for the typical Americans to regain any awareness of those service members. Kind of bizarre to me with having relatives that were part of the fighting and also when you factor in that to this day- we still guard the DMZ on the 38th Parallel so one would think our awareness as a nation would be higher but as Rodney Dangerfield said- "they can't get no respect".

The other travesty is, like the WWII veterans, the remaining Korea War folks still with us today are likely all into their 90's and they won't be around for much longer and their stories still haven't been told to even a fraction's worth of other conflicts.

I went off on a bit of a rant there but it really strikes me as yet another failure of educating our youth. And that by itself is a national shame.

-LD

 

[Grim's Reapers]

My Uncle Johnny was killed over there at the Chosin Reservoir and was MIA. I got curious and did some research finding out what unit he was in. Only three survived from his unit and I got the name of a guy from military records and called him in Lubbock, Texas hoping it was the same guy. Sure enough it was and he wound up being good friends with my uncle and dragged him down a hill after he was shot. They got overrun by Chinese blowing bugles and shit and had to leave the bodies. This guy lost both of his legs from getting shot and also frozen. He hid under a boat until a couple of Marines found him. He started an artificial limb business because he said the legs he got were for shit so he invented new ones and made a business out of it. LOL

I met with him in South Dakota at a Korean War survivor's reunion and he was able to show a guy from the Air Force that was assigned to locate the remains of all those guys the Chinese buried in mass graves in North Korea. My mom gave a DNA sample and they were able to identify his bones and even found his dog tags in there, one of which had a bullet hole through it. The odds of this were incredible, but they were able to finally fly him home and our family got closure after he was MIA for over 60 years.

 

[fanninland]

GR, good on you for taking the initiative regarding your uncle’s story. Really incredible and moving, appreciate you sharing it.

 

[Eostech]

Korean war has absolutely brutal, there are accounts of entire companies of US soldiers being wiped out from the start of the conflict to the very end, 3rd Battalion of 8th Cav was almost completely and unnecessarily destroyed.

American command under MacArthur was appalling bad and it played to the commies strengths. Not that the commies had it all their own way and US forces under Ridgway inflicted massive casualties on the Chinese in turn.

The second part of unfortunate truths, can anyone name a single major movie within the past say 20-30 years focused on America's involvement in Korea? The only movie that comes to my mind is MASH and that's something like 50 years old at this point.

Eh MASH is about the Vietnam war, it just pretended to be about Korea because film makers weren't so blatant back then.

 

[Grim's Reapers]

Korean war has absolutely brutal, there are accounts of entire companies of US soldiers being wiped out from the start of the conflict to the very end

Yeah my Uncle's company got decimated when the Chinese poured across the Yalu River by the tens of thousands. Only three survived. A ton of Marines died on one side of the Chosin Reservoir and the Army got absolutely destroyed on the opposite side. A complete bloodbath. The old guy that was with my Uncle when he got killed told me he still hears those damned bugles when the Chinese would charge in waves, get cut down, then come again.

 

[ForgeValley]

Yeah my Uncle's company got decimated when the Chinese poured across the Yalu River by the tens of thousands. Only three survived. A ton of Marines died on one side of the Chosin Reservoir and the Army got absolutely destroyed on the opposite side. A complete bloodbath. The old guy that was with my Uncle when he got killed told me he still hears those damned bugles when the Chinese would charge in waves, get cut down, then come again.

Few know of the US Army story on the east side of the reservoir. We often read about the Marines there, but as you say an entire Regimental Combat Team was almost entirely wiped out. Many of the survivors made it back to our lines by walking across the frozen reservoir.

A great read on that story is East of Chosin by Roy Appleman.

 

[Eostech]

Few know of the US Army story on the east side of the reservoir. We often read about the Marines there, but as you say an entire Regimental Combat Team was almost entirely wiped out. Many of the survivors made it back to our lines by walking across the frozen reservoir.

Because unlike the Marines, they couldn't drag their feet when Almond ordered them out to the middle of no where with no support. Command was intent on spreading units out like finger waiting to get chopped off.

Yeah my Uncle's company got decimated when the Chinese poured across the Yalu River by the tens of thousands. Only three survived. A ton of Marines died on one side of the Chosin Reservoir and the Army got absolutely destroyed on the opposite side. A complete bloodbath. The old guy that was with my Uncle when he got killed told me he still hears those damned bugles when the Chinese would charge in waves, get cut down, then come again.

Saddest thing is that the Chinese destroyed 3rd battalion of 8th Cav and 2 (IIRC) ROK divisions nearly three weeks before at Unsan. There was plenty warning, which was ignored. A lot of people died due to incompetence.

 

[Rich4]

Not sure if it’s considered “Major” but Netflix had “Devotion” about Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner, wasn’t too bad

 

[fpgt72]

The korean war is still "going". It is not over yet.

If anything should tell you how useless the UN is, it is the Korean war, we don't have to get into the other stupid shit they screwed up after that, it should have been disbanded at the "end".

You can thank yet another democrat for the world we live in now. Truman gave us both the communist chinese and the north koreans. That is a gift that has likely cost the life of billions of people. Harry from that standpoint is the worst pres in history.

 

[triumph001]

Jocko recently did a podcast that focused on a little known book about the Korean war. “Waiting for the Blessed Light of Dawn", by Ted Hofsiss. I listened to it on podbean on a long drive last month. Harrowing to listen too, it tells one story of that conflict. It opened my eyes about what these men endured.

 

[fpgt72]

For books I would give this one a read.

It is too hazy in my memory to give a good review, I need to hit it again. I just can't remember them like I once could.

 

[lonegunman762x51]

My uncle was in WWII and was eaten by cannibals. No shit, he was home with mom until after D-Day and then him and his four brothers decided to join the war effort so they became pilots and he went to the South Pacific to fight the Japs. On May 4th of 1944 his plane crashed in the ocean and he drowned, but was tossed into the jungle and eaten by cannibals, true story bro.

Later he went to USC and became an All-American football player, paving the way for me to become the first person in my family to go to college. I had five deferments and dodged the draft for the entire Vietnam war myself, but somebody has to serve.

 

[Pester]

I guess life looks different if you are lucky enough to make it into your 90's like these guys or maybe they were always the quiet "get it done" sort of guys. Regardless, they weren't whining about things....just commenting.

Some of their comments really struck him with me. WWII vets were part of the "greatest generation", Vietnam vets were yanked around and treated badly during the war but now I cant hardly walk somewhere when you dont see a vietnam vet hat. Its good that, at least in the areas I tend to be, most vets are appreciated. Especially the combat vets.

It just is a bit odd that the Korean conflict combat vets are just sort of ignored.

And to all the folks that recommended books.....thanks. I will have to grab some of those.

 

[MadDuner]

My Dad was a Korean war vet.
He drove an ambulance.
He got shot twice.
As a youngster, I was fascinated about war, and the military - and would ask him lots of questions.
But he didn't ever want to talk about it.
Ever.
If you pressed him - he'd respond that it was gruesome, and ugly - then be mad at you for asking.
I quit asking.

 

[nagantguy]

My step- grandfather; him in my grandmother married late in life . He was a Korean vet . Air Force - went through one of the first flight schools that was all Jets .
Got to Korea and immediately wanted to become an ace ; he found out that higher ranks / more flight time guys were waiting on their own jets - said slow your role boot basically.
To speed up his flight time and get him closer to flying he volunteered to test new ejection seats - in WW2 wooden glider type craft towed and then released by planes at certain altitudes and speeds.

I always said he needed a wheelbarrow to carry his balls cause they must have been HUGE

 

[Mudburner]

I was in the US Army and went to Korea in 1985 - 1988. I married a Korean woman who (today, 29 April 2024 would be 61 years old).

In my presence, she NEVER FAILED to thank any US veteran who said he served in Korea, NEVER. She ALWAYS thanked veterans who served in Korea, either during the Korean War or after. She was born in 1963, and said communism... was absolute shit.

 

[akmike47]

My grandpa did some crazy shit over there, he doesn’t really talk about it much. He’s the last of his guys he commanded.

 

[jrassy]

My dad was a Korean combat vet, 24th infantry division already stationed as an occupation force in Japan. His division was flown over as cannon fodder to stop the invasion. His job was forward observer for artillery. As he was on a patrol, traveling to get staged. The squad was caught in an L shaped ambush. my dad was the only survivor. It was his birthday. he just turned 21.
He never celebrated his birthday, as a kid I didn’t understand but it was my normal so I just accepted it.
He was shot once in the Femur, and once across the teeth. He had grenade shrapnel in his back and legs that came to the surface for his entire life.
It wasn’t until I was out of boot camp from The Marines that we had a good conversation about the war. He said the masses of enemy coming forward with the bugles blaring and the immense amount of red and green tracers flashing across the ground and ricocheted up into the sky was surreal.
Later in his life, there was a 24th Infantry Division reunion, he was to ill to attend, he asked if I’d go and say hi to a couple guys. I did, and i got to meet guys he went to boot camp with, the guy that saved his life finding him with a Weak pulse and getting him him into a medivac helicopter, a Marine helicopter, and I got to meet the Marine pilot at that reunion.
Talk about surreal.

 

[PusherX11]

This is my granddad. Robert George, 2nd Marines Division. Guadalcanal at 17, Korean War, Vietnam War. Retired after 30 years in the Corps as a Gunny. I was fascinated with every war he was in and asked about them. All I ever got was war is bad son. I never put it together until after he passed why he slept in a separate room and drank a bottle of scotch a day. Too many forgton veterans and hero’s.

 

[Uhlan]

Because unlike the Marines, they couldn't drag their feet when Almond ordered them out to the middle of no where with no support. Command was intent on spreading units out like finger waiting to get chopped off.


Saddest thing is that the Chinese destroyed 3rd battalion of 8th Cav and 2 (IIRC) ROK divisions nearly three weeks before at Unsan. There was plenty warning, which was ignored. A lot of people died due to incompetence.

...or intentionally? Averill Harriman was instrumental via his Bank, Brown Brothers Harimann, in creating and funding the Bolsheviks, The National Socialists, Mao, the Kim's and Ho.... but that is all coincidence... just like his Bank, Brown Bothers Harriman and it's President, Prescott Bush being convicted of being the Knosey Bank of WW2 under the Trading with the Enemies Act... yet Prescott somehow as a good Bonesman becomming a US Senator after the War and his son the Head of the CIA and POTUS as well as his Grandson. ALL of the US gear for the Invasion of Japan was supposed to be turned over to the KMT to stop the Communists but they never got anything until Congress under McCarthy got involved and then they started getting field pieces with no breech blocks or cannon ammo they didn't have any guns for and rifles missing firing pins. "Crocodile" Harriman f'd up things all the time with his revolving door in and out of the State Department and the fact that his family had monopolized the US Railways and transportation grids(Hamburg-American Steamship lines and requiring all their German employees to be members of the Knosey Party and hiring the Knoseys to provide all their Human Relations and Manpower needs for all their German Companies starting about 1919-1920 until we got in WW2). Wonder WHY Stalin was teaching Luftwaffe pilots how to fly in the USSR in the mid 20's and Stalin couldn't believe Barbarossa in the beginning? They worked for the same Paymasters and Shotcallers... Meanwhile after the IJN in China goes out of its way in 1944-45 to suicide itself against all the top tier KMT forces for some inexplainable reason while ingnoring Mao.... the post War KMT starts having problems as all of their top tier NCO's, SNCO and Field grade officers who cant be bought or bribed get assasinated by coincidence after being ID'd by or interacting with OSS and US Military Trainers. Some Rat up the Food Chain had a different FOCUS... and the evaluations were being given to MAO and the PLA.... (just like Ho was being given 20 years of ammo and war materials in the last 2 years of the war to help de-Gaulicize Indo-China and Giaps first cannon shot at Dien Bien Phu was a LUCKY bullseye.... and US AIR assisting the French never saw anything ahead of time there.... still WONDER why DeGaulle turned against NATO and the US when he found out about the treachery? ) Generallissimo gets made a deal he cant refuse and gets to rule an Island..... and then keeps 100's of thousands of PLA troops garrisoned along the Straits of Taiwan to resist his raids and threats of coming back to the Mainland... until the the State Department Declares that the USN is going to make sure the Straits become a "No Go Zone" for anyone... to "protect" Taiwan... allowing Mao to pull all those troops of his coast and send them to Korea.... The US Military KNEW... but the Shotcallers WANTED a WAR.... the 1st War that was NOT declared by Congress and was "Run by Consensus" under the auspices of the NWO.... aka the UN. Find a copy of Webster Tarpley's unauthorized biography of George Bush to find out who funded and controlled the Knoseys and who won WW2.... Forrestal didn't jump... he was pushed.

 

[Uhlan]

The korean war is still "going". It is not over yet.

If anything should tell you how useless the UN is, it is the Korean war, we don't have to get into the other stupid shit they screwed up after that, it should have been disbanded at the "end".

You can thank yet another democrat for the world we live in now. Truman gave us both the communist chinese and the north koreans. That is a gift that has likely cost the life of billions of people. Harry from that standpoint is the worst pres in history.

The best way to have a Boogeyman Enemy is to CREATE a boogeyman enemy and control him... everytime you need some excitement or need to push an AGENDA to tighten your serf's belts or chains.... you create an incident.... http://www.discoveringislam.org/Khomeini_british_agent.htm

Khomeini was an agent for the West

 

[pmclaine]

View attachment 8407769
This is my granddad. Robert George, 2nd Marines Division. Guadalcanal at 17, Korean War, Vietnam War. Retired after 30 years in the Corps as a Gunny. I was fascinated with every war he was in and asked about them. All I ever got was war is bad son. I never put it together until after he passed why he slept in a separate room and drank a bottle of scotch a day. Too many forgton veterans and hero’s.

That 2nd Mar Div Guadalcanal Patch screams salty.

 

[Grim's Reapers]

Those guys were something else. I had two Uncles that crewed B-17's in WWII. One was a Pilot in Europe, the other a Waist Gunner based in Africa, bombing Italy. Both of them would talk about it if you asked, but they had to be prodded. The Uncle that was the Pilot based in England was actually born in Germany and immigrated to the US when he was 12. Two of his missions, he had to bomb the city he was born and lived in until he came here. I asked him what that was like, bombing his home town, and all he said was "That evil son of a bitch needed to be stopped and I did my part to the best of my ability". No remorse.

Both of those Uncle's had very successful businesses and families when they returned. They truly were "The Greatest Generation". Never whined about shit. The bomber pilot uncle would constantly fire off letters to his Congressman. At the time, I thought it was funny, but when I look back at it, it was deadly serious to him seeing the Country he fought for slowly deteriorate and he did what he could by writing letters after he already did his part. He also got shot down over the English Channel but was rescued. 6 of his crew didn't make it.

 

[MO Fugga]

Should have nuked all those commie motherfuckers before they could develop their own.

 

[pmclaine]

Those guys were something else. I had two Uncles that crewed B-17's in WWII. One was a Pilot in Europe, the other a Waist Gunner based in Africa, bombing Italy. Both of them would talk about it if you asked, but they had to be prodded. The Uncle that was the Pilot based in England was actually born in Germany and immigrated to the US when he was 12. Two of his missions, he had to bomb the city he was born and lived in until he came here. I asked him what that was like, bombing his home town, and all he said was "That evil son of a bitch needed to be stopped and I did my part to the best of my ability". No remorse.

Both of those Uncle's had very successful businesses and families when they returned. They truly were "The Greatest Generation". Never whined about shit. The bomber pilot uncle would constantly fire off letters to his Congressman. At the time, I thought it was funny, but when I look back at it, it was deadly serious to him seeing the Country he fought for slowly deteriorate and he did what he could by writing letters after he already did his part. He also got shot down over the English Channel but was rescued. 6 of his crew didn't make it.

Those dudes took their Constitution to heart.

Listen to Eugene Sledge speak to modern events (Clinton era) about 5 minutes in and at the end of his talk.




Also speaking with Sledge was Paul Fussell very similiar in his distrust of government.

 

[Ronws]

None of my relatives or friends served in Korea. My step-grandfather was in the Army, kind of between Korea and Vietnam. He was a radio communications tech, fixing radios in planes, tanks, and automobiles. Not bad for a guy who grew up on a ranch in Montana.

My first step-father was in the Navy, a second class boiler tech aboard the USS Ogden. On his previous ship that I cannot remember the name of, he served one deployment overseas in the sea of Japan but in support of Vietnam.

Second step-father was in the USMC and was going for Force Recon but got injured bad enough to be medically discharged.

Third and last step-father had been a Master Flight Sgt in the Air Force but did not talk about his experiences.

A boyfriend mother had at one time was shot down in Vietnam and was attacked and then rescued. He had a scar from a bayonette. He also had PTSD. One time, we did not see him for six weeks. He had an episode and wound up in a hospital somewhere.

Another boyfriend my mother had was formerly a fighter pilot in the Navy.

He also flew for his employer, where they both worked. He had a heart attack in mid-flight and the plane crashed, killing him, his boss, and the boss's daughter.

My brother tried to enlist in the Navy in 1984 but he had falling arches and they would not accept him, even with a waiver from his podiatrist that with the fiberglass inserts in his shoes, he could do the same thing as anyone else.

I had asthma into my late teens and was an immediate medical disqualification, so it was not worth wasting a recruiter's time. Otherwise, I would have served, probably Army.

I did keep my Selective Service info updated until I was 26, which was a lifetime ago.