Remembered Prisoners of a Forgotten War, by Lewis Carlson

Remembered Prisoners of a Forgotten War: An Oral History of Korean War POWs, by Lewis H. Carlson
St. Martin's Press, 2002
255 pages plus Biographical Sketches, Notes, Bibliography and Index. 8 pages of b&w photos
Library: 951.904 CAR

Description
The Korean War POW remains the most maligned victim of all American wars. For nearly half a century, the media, general public and even scholars have described hundreds of these prisoners as "brainwashed" victims who uncharacteristically caved in to their Communist captors or, even worse, as turncoats who betrayed their fellow soldiers. In either case, these boys apparently lacked the "right stuff" required of our brave sons.

Here, at long last, is a chance to hear the true story of these courageous men in their own words-a story that, until now, has largely gone untold. Dr. Carlson debunks many of the popular myths of Korean War POWs in this devastating oral history that's as compelling and moving as it is informative.

From the Tiger Death March to the paranoia here at home, Korean War POWs suffered injustices on a scale few can comprehend. More than 40% of the 7,140 Americans taken prisoner died in captivity, and as the haunting tales of the survivors unfold, it becomes clear that the goal of these men was simply to survive under the most terrible conditions.

Each survivor's story is a unique and personal experience, from missionary teacher Larry Zeller's imprisonment in the death cells of Pyongyang and his first encounter with the infamous killer known as the Tiger, to Rubin Townsend's daring escape from a death march by jumping off a bridge in a blinding snowstorm. From capture to forced marches, isolation, permanent camps and torture, Remembered Prisoners of a Forgotten War is one of the most fascinating and disturbing books on the Korean War in years, and a brutally honest account of the Korean War POWs experience, in the survivor's own words.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
1. Three Prisoners of War
2. "Let them March til they Die" - the Tiger Death March and Beyond
3. The Sunch'on Tunnel Massacre
4. Death Valley and the Temporary Camps
5. Life in the Permanent Camps
6. Injuries, Disease, and Medical Care
7. Escape: Myth and Reality
8. Interrogation, Propaganda, Indoctrination and "Brainwashing"
9. Progressives, Reactionaries, and the Twenty-one Who Chose to Stay
10. Freedom and Recrimination
11. Legacy
Postscript
Biographical sketches
Notes
Selected bibliography
Index

Korean War Memorial in St. Peters to be rededicated

Suburban Journals: Korean War Memorial in St. Peters to be rededicated

Missouri -- The Korean War Memorial at the northwest corner of Willott and Jungermann roads in St. Peters will be rededicated at 10 a.m. April 30. Recognition will also be given to newly installed memorial stone markers.

The Korean War monument honors veterans who served in this war. The Korean War Veterans' Association of St. Charles County, Chapter 6, paid for the monument. The St. Peters Veterans Memorial Commission recently added memorial stones marking important battles in the Korean War.

Australia: Gillard pays tribute to Korean War diggers

ABC News: Gillard pays tribute to Korean War diggers
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she hopes her presence in Korea has put a spotlight on the sacrifices made by Australian soldiers during the Korean War.

Ms Gillard joined about 300 people at Korea's national memorial in Seoul for an Anzac Day dawn service today.

She says Australians should remember the 100,000 Australian soldiers who have died in war, as well as their loved ones.

"We remember every family who mourns the loss of a loved one. We remember the ordinary Australians who we asked to do extraordinary things," she said.

"One thing I've wanted to achieve is to put a spotlight on the heroism and dedication of the Australians who served [in the Korean War] " she added.

Ms Gillard said today was a day of reflection for all Australians.

"Around the world, Australians are commemorating Anzac Day, a day that has become central to our identity as a nation, a day when we remember the Australian fallen, a day when we reflect on the price of war, a day when we reflect on our national identity," she said.

Ms Gillard also used her Anzac Day address to pay tribute to the most recent winner of the Victoria Cross, Corporal Benjamin Roberts-Smith.

The SAS corporal was awarded the VC earlier this year for acts of valour and gallantry in Afghanistan.

Ms Gillard said he represented the Anzac spirit.

"Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith singlehandedly assaulted two Taliban machine gun positions to enable his mates to continue their operation," she said.

"A typically reluctant hero and a humble man, Ben was prepared to give his life for his country. This was an extraordinary thing."

Ms Gillard shared breakfast with veterans who travelled to Korea for the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Kapyong, which saw Australian and Canadian troops holding off a Chinese division north-east of Seoul.

Vietnam War VC winner Keith Payne was among the veterans who visited the Kapyong battlefield over the weekend.

New South Wales veteran Bill Hall served in the battle and has been back to the country five times.

Mr Hall says the battle saved Seoul from falling to Chinese and North Korean forces and he is disappointed schoolchildren in Australia do not know anything about it.

"It is history like Kokoda and Gallipoli and places like that, but they are forgetting about Korea. It is an embarrassing situation because they've let it go so long," he said.

Australia's Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie, also made the journey to the site of the battle in rugged terrain north-east of Seoul.

"What hard men they were," he said.

"It is really rugged terrain and the whole of the peninsula is very mountainous and rugged.

"They didn't have a lot of the helicopter and vehicle support that we had, so they were hard men and that's the thing that's probably come through to me more than anything else. You know, this is one of the special times in my career."

War Amps releases new Korean War documentary

BCLocal News: War Amps releases new Korean War documentary

To the editor;

April marks the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Kapyong – one of the most significant battles fought by the Canadians in the Korean War.

As a member of The War Amps Operation Legacy, a group of committed young people who are dedicated to preserving Canada’s military heritage, I would like to highlight this anniversary.

On April 24-25, 1951, the 2nd Battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry engaged in the Battle of Kapyong. From their stand on Hill 677, the Patricia’s managed to hold their positions and re-open the supply route despite tremendous odds and bitter fighting.

The Canadian action at Kapyong stopped the Chinese advance in this sector of the front for the rest of the war and earned the battalion the US Presidential Citation for valour.

Canada sent 26,791 soldiers to battle in Korea. More than 1,200 were seriously wounded and another 516 never came home.

After the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953, the Canadians returned home amid little fanfare. There were no bands playing, and no parades.

In fact, the Korean War had very little impact on Canadians, except, of course, those who fought in it or who lost loved ones.

To mark this anniversary, The War Amps has re-released its documentary Korea: Canada’s Forgotten War to regular and specialty TV channels. Part of The War Amps Military Heritage Series, it is also available at a cost-recovery price of $12 by calling 1-800 -250-3030 or visiting waramps.ca.

Quotes: General Douglas MacArthur

"It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it."

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 – April 5, 1964) was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines Campaign. Arthur MacArthur, Jr., and Douglas MacArthur were the first father and son to each be awarded the medal. He was one of only five men ever to rise to the rank of general of the army in the U.S. Army, and the only man ever to become a field marshal in the Philippine Army.

MacArthur was recalled to active duty in 1941 as commander of U.S. Army Forces Far East. A series of disasters followed, starting with the destruction of his air force on December 8, 1941, and the invasion of the Philippines by the Japanese. MacArthur's forces were soon compelled to withdraw to Bataan, where they held out until May 1942. In March 1942, MacArthur, his family and his staff left Corregidor Island in PT boats, and escaped to Australia, where MacArthur became Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area.

For his defense of the Philippines, MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor. After more than two years of fighting in the Pacific, he fulfilled a promise to return to the Philippines. He officially accepted Japan's surrender on September 2, 1945, and oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951. As the effective ruler of Japan, he oversaw sweeping economic, political and social changes. He led the United Nations Command in the Korean War from 1950 to 1951, where he called for use of nuclear bombs. On April 11, 1951, MacArthur was removed from command by President Harry S. Truman. He later became Chairman of the Board of Remington Rand.

____________
"Will to Win,"
The Military Quotation Book: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory and Defeat, edited by James Charlton, 2002.

Korean War vets group to disband

UPI.com: Korean War vets group to disband
NEW ORLEANS, April 21 (UPI) -- A group of aging Korean War veterans at an annual meeting in New Orleans said they decided it would be their last gathering, voting to disband the organization.

The gathering of 79 men of the 2nd Infantry Division of the Korean War Veterans Alliance, all in their 70s and 80s, voted overwhelmingly to disband on July 31, The Times-Picayune reported Thursday.

The members' average age is 83 and most are dealing with either their own health problems or those of family members, alliance president Chuck Hankins of Harrisburg, Ill., said.

Because of that, he said, "it's becoming difficult, if not impossible, to predict how many people we can have at an annual meeting."

"We'd rather phase out as a going operation in good shape rather than fall apart," he said.

At a meeting Tuesday, only four members voted to keep the 20-year-old organization alive, Hankins, 79, said.

"Everybody wanted to continue the organization," he said, "but nobody was available or felt like they were available. The bucket ran dry."

At its peak, the 2nd Infantry group had about 3,000 members, said former president Ralph Hockley of Houston, but it has dwindled to about 2,000.

Attrition is common among veterans organizations, said David Evans, deputy director of the Defense Department's Office of Public Liaison, who works with such groups.

"This organization is one of many," he said. "As time goes on, more and more of these veterans are just fading away."

Decades later, Korean War POW receives medals

Advocate Press: Decades later, Korean War POW receives medals
Flora, Ill. — Korean War Army veteran Dale E. Jones of Xenia was honored for his service this Wednesday when U.S. Representative John Shimkus, R–Collinsville, presented him with medals that he was not awarded while actively in the service.

“My father served in Korea, but he didn’t have to stay as long as you did,” said Shimkus to Jones, a former Prisoner of War (POW).

“I’ve done numerous of these,” said Shimkus, who added that while the public was always receptive to a soldier receiving medals years or decades after their discharge, “I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never seen a turnout like this. You do the community proud.”

The turnout was impressive, with easily over 100 people crowding into the conference room at Xenia’s firehouse for the event.

“We just want to make sure that the folks who have earned these get them,” said Shimkus.

Shimkus also commented on the different medals Jones received. The Prisoner of War Medal is the one that Shimkus pinned onto Jones’ chest as part of the ceremony.

The other medals Jones received were given to him on a display placard and included the Army of Occupation Medal with Japan Clasp, The National Defense Service Medal, The Korean Service Medal with three Bronze Service Stars, The Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, the United Nations Service Medal and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.

The last medal Jones received was the Combat Infantryman Badge. “As an Infantryman myself,” said Shimkus, “When you get the C.I.B., as it’s called that means that you have been in conflict, you have been under fire. A lot of people serve, but not all of them serve under combat conditions and that’s an indication that you did that.”

Shimkus then put the placard down and pinned the POW Medal onto Jones’ chest and followed by shaking his hand. After this, the American Legion Color Guard called the room to attention and then allowed them to sit again.

Shimkus then offered the microphone to Jones, who made a motion that his lips were sealed, but decided to speak anyway and briefly thank the crowd.

“I want to thank everybody for coming here,” said Jones. “I never knew I had so many friends...anyway, thank you all for coming.”

After Jones finished the crowd applauded, which quickly became a standing applause in Jones’ honor.

“Obviously we have to make sure Dale gets the awards due him,” said Shimkus, “But there’s some young children here...there’s media here...by telling the sacrifice of those who have gone before, our future service people, this prepares them for the challenges that they may have to someday face.”

After 61 years, Korean War vet's remains returned

Miami Herald: After 61 years, Korean War vet's remains returned
PORT ORANGE, Fla. -- Some 61 years after Army Sgt. 1st Class James Caldwell went missing in action during the Korean War, his children finally have answers.

Caldwell's partial remains, which were given to the United States by the North Korean government in the 1990s, will arrive in Port Orange for burial next week. Johnston Caldwell found out in December that his father's remains had been identified.

The soldier's regiment fell under attack at the Battle of Camel's Head in 1950. He had been listed among nearly 8,000 soldiers unaccounted for during the Korean War.

Caldwell will be buried Wednesday near his wife, Helen, in a Daytona Beach cemetery.

Caldwell's children, Johnston Caldwell and Kimm Dybowski were toddlers when he was reported missing in action.

Connellsville woman's service spanned World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars

PittsburghLive.com: Connellsville woman's service spanned World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars

Virginia Eberharter's Connellsville home is a unique blend of shipshape neatness and the exotic. Her military background accounts for both.

Dedication to rules and regulations can be seen in her carefully arranged furniture and sparkling clean kitchen. The presence of medals and framed certificates of merit echo it. A vast array of foreign objects are a reminder that this is a woman who has seen the world. There are Japanese chairs in the living room, and framed paintings from Italy and other countries adorn the walls. In her family room, there are colorful oriental lamps and a curio cabinet full of dolls from throughout Europe and the Far East. And the photograph albums! There are stacks of them, each filled to bursting with fascinating glimpses of far-flung places.

Conversing with Virginia -- "Ginny" to her friends -- it's easy to imagine her as Nursing Commander Eberharter, the rank she attained while serving as a nurse for the Navy. Her service spanned World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.

At 88, Ginny's gait has slowed (she suffers from a back problem), but her mind is as bright as it was when she put on her first Navy nurse uniform after graduating from Memorial Nursing School in Cumberland, Md. Her brown eyes sparkle when she talks about her career.

Such as how she donned her white dress uniform on VJ (Victory in Japan) Day, Aug. 14, 1945, and rushed to New York City's Times Square. There, she joined thousands of civilians and military personnel in celebrating the end of World War II. "People tried to grab our hats and even our buttons," she recalls. "Everyone wanted a military souvenir."

She relates how inspiring it was to work with top surgeons at top Naval hospitals, witnessing first-hand the cutting-edge medical procedures of the time, such as plastic surgery at St. Albans Naval Hospital in Long Island, N.Y.

A simple wish ...

Her career began with a simple wish. Ginny, a country girl from Mill Run, Fayette County, grew up wanting to help people. She was born in 1923 and lost her father at age 5 when he perished in the 1928 Mather Mine explosion in Greene County. Almost 200 men lost their lives that day, including several from Mill Run and other Fayette County communities.

"We had just moved to Mather. It was closer to the coal mine. A lot of Fayette County families moved there," she said. "Local jobs were scarce." It would get even worse during the Great Depression of the 1930s. "Those were hard, hard times."

An only child, Ginny was raised by her mother. After her father died, they moved back home. Ginny graduated from Connellsville High School in 1941. She entered nursing school in the fall and remembers "like yesterday" when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, catapulting the United States into World War II.

When she graduated in 1945 -- the last year of the war -- the need for nurses was overwhelming. A Naval nurse had talked to Ginny's class at nursing school and she liked what she heard. Soon, Ginny was in uniform as Ensign Eberharter and waiting for a train at Connellsville's B&O Station (which was torn down in the early 1980s), the same station through which more than 500,000 soldiers and sailors traveled to World War II.

Ginny's first assignment was at St. Albans Naval Hospita,l where she saw war's horrors up close and personal. Its specialty was treating burn victims. "We nursed mostly sailors and Marines from the South Pacific. So many of them were terribly burned," she said. "We would put those with second- and third-degree burns in special wire cradles that protected their burned places."

The St. Albans surgeons would use skin grafts to re-form sailors' ears that were damaged or destroyed, as well as other procedures to repair damaged flesh. "Until then, I had never seen plastic surgery performed."

She got a crash course in Naval regulations. "The Marines would make us march in formation. When they called the cadences, we had to keep in step. If we didn't, boy, did they get mad at us!"

That Navy lingo

In addition to walking the walk, she learned Navy lingo in a hurry. A book was a log. The floor was the deck. Scuttlebutt meant water fountain. And 2000 was 8 p.m.

The Navy corpsmen she worked with talked her into drinking her first coffee to stay awake during nightshift. She fondly remembers the corpsmen who were trained in medical procedures to assist the nurses and physicians. "They were just 18-year-old kids whose moms had waited on them hand and foot. We gave them so much responsibility that they grew up in a hurry."

She also remembers when penicillin was discovered. "It was a miracle drug. It saved countless lives."

After World War II, Ginny attended the University of Pennsylvania on the GI Bill and received a Bachelor of Science degree in public health in 1949. She stayed on to work at the university's hospital, where some of the nation's earliest heart catheterizations were performed. In 1950, her grandmother fell ill and she went home to Mill Run to help her mom care for her.

"I needed a job, so I became assistant pediatric supervisor at West Penn Hospital (in Pittsburgh)," she recalled. She was there in 1951 when she was called out of the Reserve and sent to Camp LeJeune, N.C., to take care of sailors and Marines involved in the Korean War. In 1952, the Navy shipped her to Bermuda, where she worked at the Navy dispensary. "It was beautiful there, but I had to go home again that year to care for my grandmother, whose health had worsened."

Settling on another civilian job, she was at Kauffman's Settlement House in Pittsburgh's Hill District, a facility that helped immigrant Jews assimilate into American society, when she decided to make the Navy her career. She re-enlisted in April 1955.

It would open her working life's most memorable chapter.

She was nursing at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Va., when she was sent to Taipei, Taiwan, a banana-shaped island 90 miles off the coast of mainland China. In 1949, the Chinese Communists had forced Chinese Nationalists onto Taiwan, which also is called Formosa, or "beautiful island."

Ginny arrived there in September 1957 to serve with the Military Assistance Advisory Group. In 1955, the United States and Nationalist China (Taiwan) had signed the Mutual Defense Treaty in which the United States pledged to defend Taiwan against communism. "Our task was to teach the Nationalist Chinese how to care for medical equipment and carry out hospital procedures," Ginny explained, a task that was often daunting.

She said the Chinese would listen to the Americans when taught, but would start doing things their own way when left on their own. "We actually had to treat some doctors for ulcers because they were so frustrated with teaching the Chinese."

During her year at Taipei, Ginny heard the rumble of communist bombs being dropped on a nearby island. A couple of times it was a "very close call," she said.

On to Japan

Her tour of duty also included a stint as nursing supervisor at the U.S. Naval Hospital of Yokosuko, Japan, not far from Tokyo. It was there that she collected some of her most beautiful possessions. "They had the loveliest things -- pearls, silks, brocades and Noritake china. They were inexpensive, too. We broke ourselves saving money!"

She saw none of the devastation of World War II as she was not stationed near Hiroshima or Nagasaki, which were leveled by U.S. atomic bombs in August 1945. She recalls Japan as something akin to heaven on Earth. Her most vivid memory is of the pink cherry blossoms -- the same kind that were donated by Japan and bloom in Washington, D.C., each spring. "They were absolutely gorgeous."

Ginny spent two tours of duty in Charleston, S.C., one from 1959 to 1963; the other from 1967 to 1969, as the Vietnam War raged in Southeast Asia. She remembers Charleston as a genteel Southern city. She saw Fort Sumter, where the Civil War started in 1861, and visited Boone Hall Plantation, which served as Ashley Wilkes' Twelve Oaks plantation in the 1939 film "Gone With the Wind."

But along with fond memories linger darker ones of caring for Vietnam veterans when they returned home. There weren't many burn victims at the hospital there. "There were communicable illnesses and a lot of psychiatric problems. Those poor boys really had a hard time of it."

She said the Vietnam vets were just as polite to the nurses as those from the earlier wars. "Sick boys are sick boys. They need to be comforted and taken care of."

In between her Charleston tours of duty, she served again at Portsmouth, where she attained her highest rank of commander, a noteworthy achievement. Today, naval nurses' ranks go all the way to admiral, but not in the early 1960s.

From Portsmouth, she was shipped to Naples, Italy, serving as chief nurse at the U. S. Naval Hospital there. During that time, a new hospital was built and dedicated. Because the North American Treaty Organization was in Naples, the hospital cared for all branches of the military.

Ginny learned to enjoy Italian foods such as pizza and sampled fine wines. She visited many cities, including Rome, Florence, and Paris -- and managed side trips to several other countries including Spain and France, where she toured Paris.

Unique cultures compared

Asked how Italy compares to Japan, she said both are beautiful in their own, unique ways. While her strongest memory of Japan is the pink cherry blossoms, her most vivid recollection of Italy is of its being overpopulated in Naples with tiny Fiats zipping around the narrow streets. "When I think of Italy, I think of tall buildings on high cliffs."

There are similarities as well. "Both are mountainous. Italy has Mt. Vesuvius; Japan has Mt. Fuji."

Far East people are more reserved than their European counterparts, she added. "The Japanese held in their emotions. The opposite was true of Italians."

While Buddhist shrines dotted the Japanese countryside, Naples had a very strong Catholic presence. "The priests were wonderful to work with."

Ginny's final military post was at the U. S. Naval Hospital in Annapolis, Md., where she worked until she retired in 1972 -- taking all her memories with her. She was no longer in the Navy, but that didn't mean she was finished nursing veterans. As a civilian, she continued working at the VA Hospital in Martinsburg, W.Va. "There's nothing more satisfying than taking care of someone who is ill and helping them become healthy again," she declared.

Home called her back to Southwestern Pennsylvania in 1986, when she purchased her Connellsville house. She has kept busy since retirement, which she said accounts for her youthful disposition. She is active in her church and its prayer chain and corresponds regularly with the many friends she made around the world.

Her military expertise has come in handy; she gave her oral history (and collected an oral history from another older Navy nurse) for "In and Out of Harm's Way," a book compiled by Capt. Doris M. Sterner for the Naval Nurse Corps' 100th anniversary in 2008.

Membership in the national Navy Nurse Corps Association has taken Ginny from coast to coast. She attends its reunions, which are held in a different U.S. city each year. Although she can no longer fly for long distances, when the event is close enough, her devoted neighbor Chip Rowan (another Mill Run native) drives her there. "I couldn't do it without him."

"I've always welcomed change," Ginny said. "I love all cultures."

Looking back on her life, she said it often seems like yesterday that she arrived in Taiwan back in 1957, on philosopher Confucius' birthday. A proverb by that ancient scribe is one of her favorite sayings and is perhaps essential to why she remains vibrant at 88: "Wise is the man and bound to grow who knows he knows a thing or so, but who is not afraid to show the many things he doesn't know."

How apt.

Editor's Note: Some background for this article was taken from "County Chronicles Volume IV" by Ceane O'Hanlon-Lincoln and corroborated by retired Cmdr. Virginia Eberharter.

The Drum Major grabbed my bugle and blew every call in the British Army... except ‘Retreat’

The Sun.co.uk: The Drum Major grabbed my bugle and blew every call in the British Army... except ‘Retreat’
SIXTY years ago this week 866 brave British soldiers held out for three days against the 27,000-strong Chinese 63rd Army at the Battle of Imjin River during the Korean War.

It was one of warfare's most heroic stands, yet today the war - let alone the battle - rarely features in school history lessons.

Here, veterans of the attack, from the 1st Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment, recall their amazing fight against the odds.
THE sun was just setting on the Imjin River on the night of April 22, 1951, when the first shadowy soldiers waded into the water, the spearhead of a massive Chinese invasion force.

On a hill overlooking the river ford, a patrol of just 16 men from the 1st Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment, witnessed the start of the onslaught to come.

Korea, previously ruled by Japan, had been divided in half in 1945 but five years later, with post-war tensions growing between East and West, the peninsula suddenly provided the battle ground for the Cold War to turn white hot.

When Communist North Korean troops, equipped by the Soviet Union, invaded across the 38th Parallel divide in June 1950, the United Nations, including Britain, sent forces to protect the democratic South.

The UN counter-offensive brought China into the war on the side of the North and in early 1951 the Chinese and North Korean armies launched a huge spring offensive, with 270,000 men and the stated aim of retaking Seoul and "wiping out" US, British and Turkish forces defending South Korea.

At the strategically crucial Imjin River, little more than 4,000 men of the British 29th Infantry Brigade, thinly spread along a 12-mile front, stood between three divisions of the Chinese army and the road to Seoul.



Target ... the Imjin River in Korea
National serviceman Private Ben Whitchurch's anti-tank company of the 1st "Glosters" had arrived in Korea in November 1950.

Now, after five months of minor skirmishes, he had driven Lieutenant Guy Temple and half his platoon, with three Bren guns, a two-inch mortar and as much ammunition as they could carry, to the hill above the Imjin crossing.



Call to arms ... painting of Drum Major Buss bugling at Imjin River
Ben, now 79, from Bristol, said: "The next thing, there was a bang on the side of my troop carrier and I thought, 'Oh, they want me to go back for them,' but this guy says, 'Don't bother. Listen to that,' and it was the start of the battle.

"Within hours we knew it would be a major offensive, when you saw how many of them there were."

Regular Army Drummer Tony Eagles was one of the members of Defence HQ platoon, dropped off by Ben at the listening post, who first saw the Chinese advance.

Tony, now 82, from Gloucester, said: "We watched them coming. Corporal George Cook was on the telephone to the adjutant Tony Farrar-Hockley to tell him what was happening and Farrar-Hockley said, 'Don't let them cross. Wait until they get halfway and then let them have it.'

"So that's what we did, and a few of them went floating down the river. We did not feel it was a major threat, but apparently Farrar-Hockley did."

For two hours the patrol kept the advancing Chinese at bay with small arms fire, then withdrew to the battalion HQ. The British division was soon being overrun by the overwhelming numbers of enemy troops.

After a brave fight by the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, the Royal Ulster Rifles and a Belgian battalion, the huge Chinese force threatened to break the UN defensive line and the Glosters were left alone to slow the enemy attack.



When the Cold War got hot ... Chinese troops being taken prisoner during the Korean War
By the afternoon of April 23 the Chinese had fought round the flanks and surrounded the Glosters, who regrouped on Hill 235 - later to become known as Gloster Hill.

For two days they fought desperately, and by the night of April 24 they were being attacked from all sides.

Private Morris "Brassy" Coombes was in the thick of the fighting with C Company. Morris, now 79, from the Isle of Wight, said: "What ammunition we had left was reserved for the machine-gunners and I was designated as a stretcher-bearer to get some of the wounded - and there were many."



Heroes ... (left-right) Tony Eagles, Albert Fulgoni and Ben Whitchurch
Ben Whitchurch said: "Our Vickers machine guns were water-cooled and through the fierce fighting the water ran out. My sergeant was running round among us with a bucket, telling us to pee in it because they needed water, but you just couldn't pee. We were fighting for survival."

Tony Eagles recalled a bid to keep up morale: "Drum Major Philip Buss came for my bugle. I would gladly have played myself but Farrar-Hockley insisted. He stood up and blew every call in the British Army except Retreat."



National Serviceman Private Roy Mills found himself besieged with his comrades from A Company on Castle Hill and then Gloster Hill.


Roy, now 79, from the Forest of Dean, Gloucs, said: "The worst thing on Gloster Hill was when the American Sabre jets came in, machine-gunning and dropping napalm. You could see the bomb drop and then all you could see was cinders and just burnt bodies where the napalm had dropped."

Tom Clough, a Royal Artillery gunner, now 80, recalled: "We were firing and firing. The barrels were red hot but the Chinese seemed to be coming from a bottomless pit."

By dawn on April 25, with the rest of the UN infantry line retreating to defensive positions north of Seoul, the order was given to Glosters officers to make for the British lines as best they could.

Albert Fulgoni, 82, from Warminster, Wilts, was a private with D Company. He said: "When we were given the order 'Every man for himself,' we went up the back of the hill and headed north.

"We hit a few valleys and went for about two hours but then the Chinese cottoned on where we were and 41 managed to get through, but not me. I got pinned down and that was it."



Remembrance ... (left-right) Tom Clough, Morris Coombes and Roy Mills
The 29th Brigade had suffered 1,091 casualties - a quarter of their strength - with 620 from the Glosters, including 59 killed in action.

But the war was not over for the brave men of the "Glorious" Glosters, 522 of whom became prisoners and endured a 300-mile march to the Yellow River prison camp, then more than two years in hellish captivity, during which a further 34 died.

The fighting finally stopped with an armistice in July 1953 and Korea remains divided to this day.

Gloster Hill is a monument to the bravery of 866 British troops, and today the Duke of Gloucester will open a new exhibition commemorating the Battle of Imjin River at the Soldiers Of Gloucestershire Museum in Gloucester.

Korean War veterans remember Battle of Imjin River

BBC News Gloucestershire: Korean War veterans remember Battle of Imjin River
Veterans of the Gloucestershire Regiment are to return to Korea to mark the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Imjin River.

About 400 "Glorious Glosters" held out against 10,000 Chinese troops for three nights during the battle in April 1951.

It remains the bloodiest battle fought by British Forces since World War II.

Returning veterans will take part in a remembrance ceremony at the Gloster Valley Memorial at Solma-ri in South Korea on 23 April.

The battle, fought between 22 and 25 April 1951, was a pivotal moment in the Korean War.

About 4,000 troops of the British 29th Brigade, including about 700 from 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, faced more than 27,000 men of the Chinese 63rd Army.

'Fix bayonets'
About 400 Glosters fought a last stand on Hill 235, which was later renamed Gloster Hill.

The stand-off on Gloster Hill allowed time for UN forces to regroup and block the Chinese advance on the capital Seoul.

Hundreds of Glosters were taken prisoner and spent more than two years in POW camps Royston Mills, of the Glosters' A Company, fought on Gloster Hill and on nearby Castle Hill.

"These Chinese came over the top [of a hill]," he recalled.

"They [our officers] told us to go up and clear it. The officer said 'fix bayonets'.

"As we went in [a colleague] Spud Murphy opened up with a Bren gun. We went in to the bunker and as we went in the Chinese ran down the other side."

Tom Clough is one of the veterans of the Battle of Imjin River who will return to South Korea for the remembrance ceremony.

He served as a gunner with the Royal Artillery which was attached to the Glosters.

'Terrible weapon'
He said he witnessed the dropping of napalm on the enemy lines.

"That's something that always stands out in my mind, the Chinese getting hammered by napalm because it's a terrible weapon," he said.

Click to play

Peter and Dan Snow explain the Battle of Imjin River. (Clip from BBC's 20th Century Battlefields: 1951 Korea)
"The screams that came from those Chinese still ring in my ears to this day."

Despite their stand, the Glosters eventually ran out of ammunition and, being surrounded, had no choice but make a break for it, to try to get back to friendly lines.

They had started the Battle of Imjin River with 700 men but few avoided death or imprisonment.

Fifty-nine were killed and nearly 600 were taken prisoner. Thirty-four died in captivity.

Prisoners remained in POW camps for more than two years until after the armistice was declared in July 1953.

'All good blokes'
Although a ceasefire was agreed the two sides have never signed a peace treaty meaning North Korea and South Korea are officially still at war.

For their heroic stand during the Battle of the Imjin River, the Glosters were given the Presidential Unit Citation - the highest American award for extraordinary heroism and collective gallantry in battle.

Two Victoria crosses were also awarded for acts of heroism in the battle. The Korean War was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War but 60 years on it is largely ignored.

Eight veterans from the Gloucestershire Regiment will join other British and United Nations Korean War veterans to attend the ceremony at Solma-ri to remember those who were killed.

Bugler Tony Eagles said: "We are the lucky ones. We came away from it. We're still alive sixty years on.

"What I want to remember is the chaps that didn't come back with us. They were all good blokes, every one of them."

Commonwealth Korean War heroes to arrive in Seoul

KoreaTimes: Commonwealth Korean War heroes to arrive in Seoul
By Lee Tae-hoon

Former soldiers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand who fought under the flag of the United Nations to defend democracy against Pyongyang’s invasion during the 1950-53 Korean War will arrive in Seoul this week, an official of the Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said Monday.

“Some 150 Korean War veterans, their families and ranking military officials from the four commonwealth countries will participate in events marking the 60th anniversary of the Imjin and Gapyeong battles,” the official said.

The four allies of South Korea dispatched some 95,000 troops during the Korean War.

Of them, 1,700 lost their lives in battle and about 5,000 suffered injuries.

The war veterans will visit the truce village of Panmunjeom and the National Cemetery on Thursday. On Friday they will pay tribute at the U.N. Memorial Park in Busan, where 885 British, 281 Australian, 378 Canadian and 34 New Zealand war heroes are laid to rest.

The following day they will participate in the 60th anniversary ceremony of the Imjin Battle in Paju, in which top military officials of the four U.N. members and Korea will also attend.

About 3,700 non-U.S. allied troops were killed.

The United States and 20 other coalition forces came to the Korean Peninsula under the U.N. flag to fight alongside South Korean troops against the North Korean military backed by communist China.

About 138,000 South Korean soldiers lost their lives during the war, while nearly 25,000 are listed as missing in action.

‘The Korean War is forgotten in Russia’

The Korea Herald: ‘The Korean War is forgotten in Russia’
Former Soviet veteran astonished that modern South Korea recalls conflict


In a Seoul coffee shop, his jacket jangling with medals, the 79-year-old man grew animated as he recalled the war of his youth. Like many other veterans of the conflict, he was astonished by modern South Korea, but also saddened that the 1950-53 Korean War is virtually unknown back home.

This veteran was not, however, a member of the American-led United Nations Command, which fought for South Korea in the Korean War. Capt. Vladimir Pavlovich Arsenkin, of the Soviet Red Army, fought for ― and in ― North Korea.

Born outside Moscow in 1931, Arsenkin, at age 13, lied about his age to join partisans fighting the Nazi invaders of the old Soviet Union. He was caught by militia and sent home. But after the war, when he had reached legal age, he joined the army. Dispatched to an anti-aircraft division in the Ukraine, he became a radar specialist with the rank of sergeant. Then came movement orders.

“I was like every soldier: They wake you up, put you on a train, and the train goes somewhere!” said Arsenkin, a fit-looking pensioner with a military bearing. “We were being sent nobody knew where.”

The wagons the soldiers were accommodated in had no windows; hay was used for bedding.

“The train ran every night, very fast, the wagons were shaking like hell,” he said. “In the daytime, we stopped in lay-bys. All the stations were empty.”

The trip continued for weeks in total secrecy. Rumors spread; questions were asked but not answered. The train halted at the Russo-Chinese border. The men were ordered to remove all Soviet insignias and don, instead, Chinese uniforms.

“This was secret war!” he said, recalling that though Chinese “volunteers” were openly fighting for Kim Il-sung’s North Korea, Soviet presence was never admitted.

The journey, he said, ended in Dandong, a Chinese city on the border with North Korea. The bomb-damaged Yalu bridge evidenced the proximity of the war.

Russian Korean War veteran Vladimir Arsenkin pictured in southern Seoul early this year. (Photo by Konstantin Krylov)

“Soviet soldiers in Chinese uniforms welcomed us; they were leaving, we were coming,” Arsenkin said. “They told us everything.”

It was January 1953 when Arsenkin’s AA division of the Soviet 644d Air Corps crossed the Yalu River. Its mission: To defend the communist fighter bases in North Korea and Manchuria. The boy who had wanted to join the partisans would have his war.

The North Korean border town of Sinuiju was a blackened ruin.

“U.S. napalm had burned down the thatched homes and caused horrible fires,” he said. “We were very indignant, but the North Koreans easily rebuilt their straw homes.”

From bunkers and trenches, the Soviet 35- and 85-millimeter guns aimed skyward, awaiting the U.S. B-29 Superfortress bombers and their F-87 Saber interceptor escorts. Advance warning was received of incoming formations.

“When they announced how many B-29s were coming with nine tons of bombs for us, it was not very pleasant,” he said.

When the attackers were 60-70 kilometers away, the radars of Arsenkin’s battery locked on. Key information, such as height, weather conditions, aircraft types, was fed into a gunnery control device. Then came the command, “Open fire!”

“It was as if the sky was on fire, like burning stars,”

Arsenkin said of the flak curtain. “It was horrible, but no U.S. plane went through that flak.”

Only once did Arsenkin experience the awesome power of U.S. bombs: He was in his radar bunker when a bomb detonated outside.

“A 20-ton gun control device in the station jumped in the air,” he said. “The blast was huge.”

Arsenkin said he was briefly unconscious, but recovered and managed to fix the machine with a new transistor. Firing resumed.

Life in North Korea was grim. At high speeds, local pilots being trained by the Soviets passed out in their cockpits due to malnutrition. Like U.N. soldiers, the Red Army troops gave out a good portion of their rations to local children.

Following the July 1953 armistice, the Soviet troops withdrew as secretly as they had deployed. Back home, being unable to discuss the war inculcated a range of stresses.

“Our Korea service did not go on our military records,” said Arsenkin, who subsequently worked in the defense industry. “We were sad, bitter; we only talked about it at home ― kitchen talk.”

In 1991, Boris Yeltsin’s electoral success spelled the end of the Soviet Union. In the new era, the role of Russian troops ― jet pilots, advisers and air defense soldiers ― was belatedly acknowledged.

“For 40 years, we had no veteran benefits,” Arsenkin said. “But now our status is equal to World War II veterans.”

In Seoul to speak at a Universal Peace Foundation conference, where he expressed his dream of building a museum “to hold the world’s last bullet,” he was charmed by South Koreans.

“They are creative and culturally advanced,” he said. “But North Korea is a country isolated from the world.”

Arsenkin has never returned to North Korea, and the transparency of modern Russia has prompted people to rethink the war’s cause.

“I think our presence was not justified,” he said. “A re-evaluation of approaches and values has taken place.”

He said he would like to meet American, South Korean or British veterans to shake their hands in friendship.

Kansas congressman asks committee to act on Medal of Honor award for Kapaun

Kansas congressman asks committee to act on Medal of Honor award for Kapaun
WICHITA, Kan. — A Kansas congressman is pushing his House colleagues to waive regulations to approve the Medal of Honor for an Army chaplain who died in a prison camp during the Korean War.

Rep. Mike Pompeo, a Wichita Republican representing the 4th District, asked the House Armed Services Committee this week to approve legislation waiving the rules to award the Medal of Honor to the Rev. Emil Kapaun, a captain who died in May 1951 in a prisoner of war camp.

"Chaplain Kapaun repeatedly risked his own life to save hundreds of fellow Americans," Pompeo told the committee. "His extraordinary courage and leadership inspired thousands of prisoners to survive hellish conditions and resist Chinese indoctrination.

"His actions reflect great credit upon himself, the 1st Cavalry Division and the United States Army."

Federal law restricts the awarding of the Medal of Honor to two years from the time of the qualifying military action. If Congress approves the legislation waiving the time restriction, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a native of Kansas, could recommend to President Barack Obama that Kapaun receive the medal.

In 2009, then-Army Secretary Pete Geren signed a letter recommending Kapaun receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor for valor.

In January, Pompeo was joined by Kansas Republican Reps. Lynn Jenkins and Tim Huelskamp and Republican Sens. Pat Robert and Jerry Moran in seeking legislation to award Kapaun his honor.

Kapaun grew up in Pilsen, in Marion County, and served there as a parish priest before joining the Army. He served in World War II and in many battles in Korea before he was captured.

Following the war, the prisoners of the 8th Cavalry Regiment spoke of how Kapaun, an Army chaplain, continued to look after his men even though he was wounded and sick himself. Risking his own life, Kapaun would sneak out after dark to scrounge food for those too weak to eat, fashion makeshift containers to collect water and wash their soiled clothes.

Kapaun died at the camp hospital seven months after he was first taken captive by the Chinese in 1950.

Seven chaplains have received the Medal of Honor, including Vincent Capodanno, a Navy chaplain from New York, killed in Vietnam in 1967. In 2006, Capodanno was declared a Servant of God by the Vatican, a step toward canonization.

Peoria historian works to honor soldier killed in Korean War

PJStar.com: Peoria historian works to honor soldier killed in Korean War
PEORIA — Local historian and researcher Norm Kelly doesn't know what prompted him to look for the name of Luther Zimmerman on the Korean War memorial last year.

He had written about Zimmerman, an 18-year-old private first class who was killed in action Aug. 15, 1950, for a book, but the name faded over time.

"No idea what made me decide to check on him. Maybe I read (my book) again, I don't know, but when I was Downtown, I looked him up, and I'll be damned, he wasn't on the plaque (in the Peoria County Courthouse)," Kelly said. "He was the first man to die in the Korean War from Peoria County."

Kelly's efforts will result in Zimmerman's name being etched into the black granite memorial which is on the ground level of the courthouse near the Circuit Clerk's office. His name will join those of 51 others who lost their lives in the three-year war that wasn't called a war for years.

Official records put Zimmerman's home in Knox County, but Kelly found he lived in Peoria for a couple of years with his mother, Blanche Utsinger, in the 900 block of Hurlbert Street. While there, he attended school at McKinley Elementary School and Roosevelt Junior High School before moving to Abington and then to Avon.

Peoria County Auditor Carol VanWinkle said it's important to honor Zimmerman, even 61 years after his death.

"Regardless of how long he lived here, he fit the criteria. I think that we have to remember and honor them regardless of whether they lived one year or their entire life here in Peoria County," she said.

Zimmerman enlisted on Nov. 19, 1949, his 18th birthday, and was assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Regimental Combat Team, which was sent to the Korean Peninsula in the summer of 1950. The 5th RCT first saw action in the battle of the Pusan Perimeter, which came about six weeks after the war started in earnest.

U.N. forces had suffered losses throughout the early weeks of the war and were driven back to the port city of Pusan, located in the southeastern tip of the peninsula. The 5th RCT and other U.N. troops managed to hold off the North Koreans during the month-old battle but in the process, more than 4,000 soldiers and Marines were killed.

Little information on Zimmerman's death can be determined, other than he was killed in action near the city of Chindong-ni, which lies near Pusan. He is buried at Wiley Cemetery in Fulton County.

Kelly, who himself was a Korean War-era vet, says he doesn't feel deep emotion yet because, as he put it, "his name isn't up on the plaque yet. Once it is there, then I will feel it."

VanWinkle said it cost about $250 to etch Zimmerman's name into the granite. She said she hopes the work will be finished by Memorial Day and plans on mentioning Zimmerman at some point during the county's ceremony that day.

2 Korean War soldiers to receive posthumous Medals of Honor

CNN: This Just In: 2 Korean War soldiers to receive posthumous Medals of Honor
Two U.S. soldiers will receive posthumous Medals of Honor for their actions during the Korean War, the White House announced Wednesday.

Relatives of Pfc. Anthony T. Kaho’ohanohano and Pfc. Henry Svehla will receive the medals from President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony on May 2.

Kaho’ohanohano is being commended for his actions on September 1, 1951. As his unit, Company H, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, fell back under superior enemy numbers near Chopra-Ri, Kaho’ohanohano ordered his squad to move to a more defensible position and provide covering fire for the retreating forces, according to a White House news release.

"He then gathered a supply of grenades and ammunition and returned to his original position to face the enemy alone - delivering deadly accurate fire into the ranks of the onrushing enemy. When his ammunition was depleted, he engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat until he was killed. His heroic stand so inspired his comrades that they launched a counterattack that completely repulsed the enemy," the release reads.

“His last words were ‘I’ve got your back,' and he went out and did his job,” his younger brother David Kaho’ohanohano, 77, of Hawaii told Stars and Stripes. “Nowadays, you don’t have too many heroes, and he was one of the big heroes in our family.”

Kaho’ohanohano's sister, Elaine Kaho’ohanohano, and another brother, Eugene Kaho’ohanohano, will be at the White House ceremony.

Svehla is being honored for his actions on June 12, 1952, while he was a rifleman with Company F, 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division near Pyongony, Korea.

"Coming under heavy fire and with his platoon's attack beginning to falter, Private First Class Svehla leapt to his feet and charged the enemy positions, firing his weapon and throwing grenades as he advanced. Disregarding his own safety, he destroyed enemy positions and inflicted heavy casualties. When an enemy grenade landed among a group of his comrades, without hesitation and undoubtedly aware of the extreme danger, he threw himself on the grenade" and was killed, according to the White House release.

Svehla's sisters, Dorothy Mathews and Sylvia Svehla, will receive the medal from Obama.

Conn. bill would grant diplomas to Korean war vets

Hartford Courant: Conn. bill would grant diplomas to Korean war vets
HARTFORD, Conn.— Connecticut legislators are being asked to let local school boards grant high school diplomas to veterans who left school to serve in the Korean conflict.

The legislature's education and public safety committees both recently endorsed the bill, which awaits action in the state House of Representatives this spring.

Local and regional school boards can already grant diplomas to World War II veterans who left school for military service. The proposed bill would expand that authority to let them honor Korean war-era veterans who served between June 27, 1950 and Oct. 27, 1953.

State officials haven't determined how many Connecticut veterans might qualify, but legislators say many are now well into their 80s.

U.S. military officials say almost 37,000 Americans died in the Korean conflict, including 326 from Connecticut.

Instead of Helping, Trustee Program Is Hurting Veterans, Families Say

THe New York Times: Instead of Helping, Trustee Program Is Hurting Veterans, Families Say
LANCASTER, Tex. — During the Korean War, Billy Brown faced enemy bullets, starvation and bitter cold. Now the benefits that he earned for his sacrifice have been tied up by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which in 2009 diverted his payments to trustees who have taken control not only of those funds, but of his life savings of some $100,000 as well.

Richard Wortham, Mr. Brown’s son, gained power of attorney for his father four years before the department stepped in, and found out about his father’s new financial minder only when he tried to withdraw money from the bank. “They said we no longer had access to his money — we could only get it from the fiduciary,” Mr. Wortham said.

What began as a broad effort to safeguard ailing veterans and their families from financial loss and abuse has turned into what lawyers and veterans’ advocates call a mismanaged and poorly regulated bureaucracy that not only fails to respond to veterans’ needs but in some cases creates new problems.

Families of veterans like Mr. Brown, 80, and William E. Freeman, whose sister was denied the ability to manage his benefits, and beneficiaries like Dennis Keyser, whose appointed trustee turned out to be a felon, say the system is badly flawed.

The person the department appointed to handle Mr. Brown’s affairs, Marcus Brown (no relation), listed his occupation as a “cabinet specialist” and has a high school education; the family said he informed them that they would have to petition him for purchases. While the family has not accused Marcus Brown of abusing the funds — and his lawyer, Logan Odeneal, notes that his client has served as a manager of benefits for some 80 veterans and “his accountings always balance to the penny” — the family found him unresponsive and chafed at what they saw as an unnecessary imposition.

When Mr. Wortham fought the appointment in court, the department argued that such decisions were theirs alone to make and beyond appeal or judicial review.

“The process the V.A. has, it’s not working,” Mr. Wortham said, sitting at the foot of his father’s bed in a nursing home here. “It’s not working for Dad, and it’s not working for other veterans.”

The department says it has appointed people to manage 111,407 accounts with a cumulative value of more than $3.2 billion. They earn up to 4 percent commission on the money under their care. The department, in a statement, said that beneficiaries had access to due process before a final decision was reached about appointing a beneficiary, and that the financial managers were carefully vetted. Once appointed, they “may also be required to prepare annual accountings.” In making the choice, the agency said, “priority is given to a family member if qualified and willing to serve.”

The department’s inspector general has warned, however, that the department does not do enough to protect its veterans from the risks of faithless fiduciaries. A report last year said that the program was not “effectively protecting the V.A.-derived income and estates of incompetent beneficiaries” or providing “effective oversight.”

The report stated that 315 fraud investigations from October 1998 to March 2010 had “resulted in 132 arrests and monetary recoveries of $7.4 million in restitution, fines, penalties and administrative judgments.”

Thomas J. Pamperin, deputy under secretary for disability assistance at the department’s Veterans Benefits Administration, declined to discuss individual cases, except to say “there are always two sides to a story.” He said if family members felt an appointment was inappropriate, they could ask the department to review the decision, and the “the program office would consider that,” he said.

He stressed that the number of court cases concerning such matters was small, and that while some family members might feel otherwise, “we are extremely cognizant of the need to look out for the veterans’ best interest, and not to be capricious and arbitrary in our actions.”

Douglas J. Rosinski, a lawyer in Columbia, S.C., who represents Mr. Brown’s family and three other families with complaints about the system, disagreed. “There are many hundreds, if not thousands of potential cases” around the country, he said, and called abuses of the system “a hidden tragedy of the most defenseless of our veterans.”

Jim Strickland, who runs the Web site VAwatchdogtoday.org, said that cases like those of Mr. Brown, Mr. Freeman and Mr. Keyser were “happening all over the country.”

“The law says veterans have the right to due process,” he said, but “when the fiduciary process is initiated, that all goes out the window.”

Mr. Keyser, 40, got a double shock concerning the manager of his benefits. Because he has cerebral palsy, Mr. Keyser had been receiving his late father’s benefits for several years. But last summer, the telephone line for the department’s appointee, James M. Hammonds, was disconnected. Mr. Keyser’s caretaker, Bob Albertson, did some digging and discovered that Mr. Hammonds had been convicted of tax fraud. Then he dug a bit further and discovered that Mr. Hammonds had died in May.

Another veteran in the Dallas area, Mr. Freeman, 56 and schizophrenic, had moved in with his sister, Debora Allen. Ms. Allen, who also takes care of her father, obtained veterans benefits for her older brother and expected to be named his benefits manager since she had obtained power of attorney.

But she said the department had deemed her ineligible because she was unemployed — which she needs to be, she said, so she can care full-time for her family. “They said: ‘This is what we decided. It’s better if we handle it. We have the right people,’ ” she recalled. When she asked the department for some of her brother’s money for a car so she could drive him to doctors’ appointments, she was turned down. “It’s his money!” she said.

When families have sued, the government generally responds with briefs stating that the decision to appoint a fiduciary is solely within the jurisdiction of the Department of Veterans Affairs and not subject to judicial review. The government’s strategy in state cases is to say that only the federal court system established for veterans’ cases can review the claims — but the government has also told the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims that those decisions “are entirely discretionary” under the veterans affairs secretary and so “the court has no jurisdiction” over appointment protests.

Katrina Eagle, a veterans advocate in California, filed a brief in the Freeman case recently, decrying what she called a “cynical litigation strategy” that deprives veterans of due process rights under the Fifth Amendment. “Like many other veterans with V.A.-appointed fiduciaries, Mr. Freeman has been trapped in a legal quagmire because the secretary asserts that whatever tribunal is hearing a challenge does not have jurisdiction to hear that challenge,” Ms. Eagle said.

Mr. Rosinski, Billy Brown’s lawyer, said, “You have more process with a traffic ticket than you do with this.”

The path of Mr. Brown’s case has been particularly tortuous. In January, after a hearing in a Texas court in which a judge stated that he was inclined to assert jurisdiction in the matter, Mr. Wortham received a letter from the veterans department announcing that it had appointed a new manager for his father’s benefits.

A local lawyer for Mr. Brown’s family, Don Uloth, persuaded a judge to issue a temporary restraining order prohibiting any of Mr. Brown’s funds from being transferred or sent to anyone but Mr. Wortham or Mr. Brown.

But the day after receiving the department’s letter, and a day before the judge’s action, the department closed all of Mr. Brown’s bank accounts and sent all of his funds to the new manager of benefits. Then last month, the government got the case transferred to federal court — a move that Mr. Rosinski suggests was intended only to delay matters and to avoid, at least temporarily, an unfriendly decision. Since then, the department has frozen payments of Mr. Brown’s allowance, a move that Mr. Rosinski characterized as retribution.

Meanwhile, Mr. Brown’s life continues to ebb. He suffers from chronic pulmonary obstructive disease and diabetes, and has had at least one stroke.

“There’s nobody beyond the law,” Mr. Wortham said in promising to continue to fight to get his father’s money back under his family’s control. “I’ll be here to my last dying breath, fighting for my dad.”

Oak Knoll Military Hospital Imploded

NBC Bay Area: : Oak Knoll Military Hospital Imploded
The last remaining World War II-era military hospital in California, is no more.

The Oak Knoll Naval Medical Center in Oakland was imploded today, after crews detonated 800 pounds of dynamite, says the Napa Valley Register.

The building was the last of about 100 military homes, barracks, stores and other structures that made up the 167-acre medical complex.

The facility opened in 1942, treating wounded soldiers in World War II, Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

The hospital was decommissioned in 2005, when it was auctioned off to SunCal Companies, which now is building a residential development.

Korean War Movies

Screen Junkies: Korean War Movies

Filmmakers often overlook the Korean War, but these Korean War movies show how the “Forgotten War” is just as compelling, moving and important as any other major conflict. Whether these Korean War movies tell the war’s story through humor or gritty battle scenes, all of them will open your eyes to this important moment in history.

“MASH” (1970) – MASH stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, but for most people, it just refers to the best Korean War movie (and television series) of all time. Directed by the legendary Robert Altman, MASH uses humor to confront the horrors of war. If you have never seen Duke, Hawkeye or ‘Hot Lips’ O’Houlihan, get ready for some hardcore belly laughs. “MASH” won an Oscar for Best Writing and was nominated for four others, including Best Picture.

“Pork Chop Hill” (1959) - The Korean War is known as the “Forgotten War,” but director Lewis Milestone—also famous for “All Quiet on the Western Front”—wants to make sure you always remember the soldiers who fought and died. In “Pork Chop Hill,” American soldiers fight to take back a hill from Red Chinese troops. You can guess how the hill got its name. This is the other side of the “MASH” coin, where young men’s ravaged bodies wind up at the mobile hospital.

“The Bridges at Toko-Ri” (1954) - This Korean War movie takes you inside the cockpit and mind of a Navy fighter pilot on the verge of a mission to bomb the brides at Toko-Ri. With William Holden starring and Oscar-winning special effects, you cannot go wrong with this Korean War movie.

“Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War” (2004) – This South Korean movie tells the story of brothers fighting for South Korea during the Korean War. Although the older sibling initially enlists in the army to protect his little brother, their relationship falls apart just like that between North and South Korea.

Korean War Glossary #5

Army Organization, 1950
Squad - Infantry, 12 men: 10 riflemen and a 2-man BAR team

Platoon - made up of four squads: 48 men plus a platoon sergeant and a platoon leader, a second or first lieutenant

Company - Made up of three rifle platoons, and one weapons platoon. The weapons platoon was armed with three 60mm mortars and three light .30 caliber machine guns.

The company headquarters consisted of a company commander, captain, an executive officer, a first lieutenant, a first sergeant, a company clerk, a mess sergeant and 3 cooks, a supply sergeant and a corporal supply clerk. There is a motor sergeant and six driver/mechanics. All toger, 17 men.

Total men in a company table of organization: 217 men. As the Korean war progressed, the cooks, drivers and clerks became riflemen.

Battalion - The battalion consisted of three rifle companies, one weapons company, and a headquarters company.

The weapons company was commanded by a Captain. It was armed with 81mm mortars, .30 caliber heavy maching guns (water-cooled) and two 57mm recoilless rifles. The headquarters company was commanded by a captain with a first lieutenant executive officer.

Within the headquarters company the signal section, the I&R (intelligence and recognizance) Platoon, a motor section, and mess sergeant and cooks. The battalion was commanded by a lieutenant colonel, the executive officer was a major, the S-1 personnel, S-2, intelligence, S-3 operations, and S-4 logistics. All were majors.

Regiment - the regiment consisted of three battalions. The regiment is the oldest numbered unit in the army. Many date back to the REvolutionary WAr and the 27th, the Wolfhounds, is one of the oldest. It gained its name during its participation in the Allied intervention in the Russian civil war in 1919.

The regiment is the maneuver element of the division. The normal employment would be two regiments on line and one in reserve.

Division - Commanded by a major general. The division consisted of thre regiments.

Attachments - Within the Army were tanks and engineer outfits. Also, signal, quartermaster, ordinance, transportation, aviation MP and JAG units were in the division.

Corps - A corps is put together by the army. It can be as few as two divisions or as many as the army commander likes. Usually three to four divisions.

Army - An army consisted of several corps. (For example, the Eighth Army.)


Bibliography
The Battle for Pusan by Addison Terry