China, U.S. enable North Korean misbehavior

From the Washington Times (an op ed piece): China, U.S. enable North Korean misbehavior
The recent Washington Times article “Obama cautions N. Korea about ‘provocations’ ” (Web, Saturday) reveals an Obama administration failure to face the fact that instability on the Korean peninsula - and the coldblooded sinking of the South Korean ship Cheonan - are ultimately the fault of China.

China could easily order North Korea to stand down, as it would not exist without Chinese sponsorship. North Korean dependency on China goes back to the Korean War and remains true given China's vast military and economic resources. If China were to put real pressure on North Korea, the country would have no choice but to back down.

Thus, China allows the threatening and murderous actions of North Korea to continue. It’s that simple.

The United States also enables this by not putting pressure on China, which grows rich from unlimited access to our markets while using profits to build missiles to point at us. Meanwhile, our children become indebted to China and we allow ourselves to be fooled by its good-communist/bad-communist charade.

Instead of cautioning North Korea, we should be warning China

VETERANS BEAT: Korean War's 60th anniversary will be commemorated this year

From the News Leader.com: VETERANS BEAT: Korean War's 60th anniversary will be commemorated this year
Can it be that the 60th anniversary of the Korean War will be memorialized in what the Department to Defense is calling the "Year of the Korean War Veteran?" It will begin in June.

And, the DoD is asking and encouraging Korean War veterans to share stories about their service.

Interested Korean War veterans are asked to call 703-545-0522 or to visit the Korean War 60th Anniversary website at koreanwar.defense.gov for more information.

For the record, the Department of Defense 60th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee authorized in the 2011 Defense Authorization Bill, is dedicated to thanking and honoring all the veterans of the Korean War, their families and especially those who lost loved ones in that war. Over the next three years. the committee will honor the service and sacrifice of Korean War veterans, commemorate the key events of the war, and educate Americans of all ages about the historical significance of the Korean War.

The Korean War was the first test of the United Nations' resolve to stand against tyranny in all its forms. Twenty-one nations banded together with the United States and Republic of Korea in a remarkable display of solidarity to turn back naked aggression and stem the idea of communism.

The Armistice signed in 1953 that remains in effect today reminds us that we must remain vigilant against the forces of tyranny and oppression.

The Korean War also saw the advent of aeronautical, medical and societal change. Helicopters were introduced to transport casualties to field hospitals, jets became the new "standard" for aircraft; leading-edge radio technology allowed better coordination of troop movements; and Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals units placed experienced medical personnel closer to the front, improving a wounded soldier's chance for survival. Perhaps the most lasting impact of the Korean War was the change that was manifested to American society. In 1948, President Harry S. Truman had signed Executive Order 9981, securing the full integration of America's Armed Services. Thus, America went to war in Korea for the first time in her history with a military that reflected her diversity.

We must never forget the selfless sacrifices of the veterans who fought in Korea to ensure the freedom and prosperity we enjoy today. The veterans who shivered in the trenches, tracked through knee-deep mud, flew combat missions over rugged mountainous terrain, and stood watch over hostile seas set aside their own comfort and aspirations to answer the call to arms at a time when our nation was still exhausted from the horrors of World War II. These patriots halted the tide of communism that threatened to sweep over the Korean peninsula. Today, the Republic of Korea stands as a modern, prosperous, vibrant democracy because of their courage and selfless sacrifice.

Recovery of Korea war remains halts

From the Detroit News: Recovery of Korea war remains halts
Washington — The United States said Wednesday it is suspending efforts to recover remains of thousands of fallen service members in North Korea, the latest sign that a recent thaw in relations is over.

The U.S. was in the process of resuming the hunt for remains missing from the 1950-53 Korean War that had been on hold since 2005, the only form of cooperation between the two militaries.

But North Korea announced plans last week to launch a satellite into space by rocket — a step the U.S. says would violate a U.N. ban. That knocked back recent progress in negotiations on the North's nuclear program, and has jeopardized a Feb. 29 agreement in which the U.S. was to provide food aid in exchange for a nuclear freeze.

The U.S. left open the door to resuming remains recovery if the situation improves.

North Korea says the rocket launch, intended to mark the centennial of the nation's founder in mid-April, has peaceful aims. The U.S. and other countries suspect it would serve to test capabilities of a long-range missile. Pyongyang has also threatened a "sacred war" against rival South Korea, in response to recent U.S.-South Korean military drills.

The agreement on resuming the troop recovery operations was made last October, and the program was beginning this month. The U.S. had already sent equipment by ship, and an advance team had been due in the country this month. North Korea would have received millions in compensation this year for its support of the operations.

Pentagon press secretary George Little told reporters that North Korea has not acted appropriately in recent days and weeks and "it's important for them to return to the standards of behavior that the international community has called for."

He said at some point the U.S. hopes to restart the recovery effort.

More than 7,960 U.S. servicemen are unaccounted for from the Korean War, which ended without a formal peace treaty, leaving the adversaries in a state of war. Some 5,300 of the missing are believed to be in North Korea.

The announcement is the latest setback for family members of veterans of the conflict who have lobbied hard for a resumption of the recovery operations.

Of the nearly 8,000 missing service members, the remains of just 192 have been recovered and identified so far, based on remains handed over by North Korea or retrieved between 1996-2005.

"It's heartbreaking to have such a humanitarian, positive mission be continually caught up in political storms," said Richard Downes, who leads a volunteer group representing families of Korean War MIAs.

In show of force amid standoff with N.Korea, Obama makes symbolic visit to Cold War relic DMZ

From Newser.com: In show of force amid standoff with N.Korea, Obama makes symbolic visit to Cold War relic DMZ
Razor-wire close to the border, President Barack Obama on Sunday paid his first visit to the tense zone separating North and South Korea amid new nuclear tensions. He told American troops stationed nearby they are protectors of "freedom's frontier."

Obama shook hands and spoke briefly in the dining hall at a U.S. military camp just outside the 2.5-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone, then walked into the heavily patrolled no-man's land to tour a small post where South Korean forces patrol just 100 yards from the demarcation line.

The president, positioned behind bulletproof glass, peered through binoculars across the line that has bisected the Korean peninsula for 60 years. He spent about 10 minutes at the observation post, looking first toward North Korea, then back to the South.

It was an unmistakable show of force to communist North Korea and its new leader at a time of diplomatic standoff. Obama underscored the Cold War symbolism by making the tour his first order of business ahead of a gathering of world leaders pledged to keep nuclear materials safe. Nuclear-armed North Korea will not attend.

The U.S. is threatening to cancel planned food aid to the North over its announcement that it will launch a long-range rocket next month, news that overshadows the gathering of world leaders committed to nuclear security that Obama will attend in Seoul. Obama was holding bilateral talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak later in the day, followed by a news conference.

"I could not be prouder of what you're doing," Obama told smiling American troops at Camp Bonifas at the edge of the DMZ. Obama said the same is true at every U.S. military post, but "there's something about this spot in particular."

"You guys are ... at freedom's frontier. When you think about the transformation that has taken place in South Korea during my lifetime, it is directly attributable to this long line of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen who were willing to create the space and the opportunity for freedom and prosperity," Obama said.

Obama's visit takes place as North Koreans mark the end of the 100-day mourning period for longtime leader Kim Jong Il, who died of a heart attack in December. Since Kim's death, son Kim Jong Un has been paying a series of high-profile visits to military units and made his own trip to the "peace village" of Panmunjom inside the DMZ earlier this month.

"The contrast between South Korea and North Korea could not be clearer, could not be starker," Obama told the troops.

That was a reference to the political freedom and prosperity in democratic South Korea, and the repression and desperate food shortages of the North.

In the midst of an election year focused on economic concerns at home, Obama has designed a rare Asia visit that features time in just one country.

Obama also planned to hold separate meetings on the sidelines of the nuclear summit with several world leaders. After returning to Seoul from the DMZ, Obama huddled with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan for talks heavily focused on the ongoing violence in Syria.

Obama said the two leaders were committed to bringing about change in Syria, where the U.N. estimates 8,000 people have been killed in clashes between government forces and opposition groups. Turkey, which shares a border with Syria, will host an upcoming meeting of the diplomatic "Friends of Syria" group, a gathering Obama said would focus on humanitarian aid and political change.

Erdogan said "we cannot remain a spectator to these developments."

Much of Obama's time was to be spent keeping up pressure on North Korea to back off the planned rocket launch and return to disarmament talks.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries have found that North Korea has moved a long-range rocket to its northwestern launch site in preparation for its launch, South Korean Defense Ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff officials said Sunday. The officials _ speaking on condition of anonymity citing department rules _ refused to provide further details.

Obama's visit to the border separating the Korean peninsula is the fourth by a U.S. president. Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all visited the DMZ; other U.S. officials regularly go there.

The border zone is a Cold War anachronism, a legacy of the uncertain armistice that ended the Korean War nearly 60 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of troops stand ready on both sides of the border zone, which is littered with land mines and encased in razor wire. Obama officials said the goal is to thank U.S. and South Korean military members and show U.S. resolve from "the front line of democracy" on the peninsula.

The United States has more than 28,000 troops in South Korea.

North Korea plans to launch a satellite using a long-range rocket next month, which the U.S. and other powers say would violate a U.N. ban on nuclear and missile activity because the same technology could be used for long-range missiles. Taken by surprise, the U.S. warned that a deal to resume stalled food aid to the North could be jeopardized if North Korea goes ahead.

The U.S. considers the rocket launch practice for a ballistic missile test and a violation of North Korea's international responsibilities. The planned launch is yet another setback for the United States in years of on-again, off-again attempts to launch real negotiations. The announcement also played into Republican criticism that Obama had been too quick to jump at a new chance for talks with the North Koreans.

Campaign politics surrounding a sitting president typically subside when he is abroad, although Obama's posture toward threats to America will be scrutinized by his rivals.

The timing comes as daily economic worries, not foreign ones, are driving the concerns of American voters. Yet the setting does give Obama a few days to hold forth on the world stage while, back home, Republican presidential candidates keep battling each other.

The goal of the large gathering of world leaders is to secure nuclear material and prevent it from being smuggled to states or groups intent on mass destruction. Progress has been uneven since 2010, when Obama set an ambitious goal of locking down vulnerable nuclear materials by 2014. No breakthroughs are expected now.

Obama has called nuclear terrorism the gravest threat the United States and the world may face. North Korea is a prime suspect in the proliferation of some nuclear know-how, along with missiles that could be used to deliver weapons of mass destruction. Iran is suspected in the arming of terrorists with non-nuclear weaponry, and the U.S. and other nations suspect Iran's nuclear energy program could be converted to build a bomb.

William R. Charette, Medal of Honor recipient, dies at 79

From Washington Post: William R. Charette, Medal of Honor recipient, dies at 79
William R. Charette, a Navy corpsman who received the Medal of Honor during the Korean War for jumping on top of a wounded Marine to protect him from the blast of a nearby grenade, died March 18 at his home in Lake Wales, Fla. He was 79.

He had complications from heart surgery, said his daughter Laura Bennett.

Of the seven Korean War sailors who received the Medal of Honor — the military’s highest award for valor — five were Navy corpsmen. Of those five, only Master Chief Charette survived the war.

On March 27, 1953, he was serving as the medic (a corpsman in Navy parlance) for a Marine Corps infantry unit fighting communist forces near P’anmunjom.

Amid combat, Chief Charette became separated from his platoon. While searching for his men, he learned that another group of Marines had decided to lead an assault on the enemy.

“When they told us to start going forward I thought, ‘I’ll wait until my platoon catches up,’ ” Chief Charette said in the 2002 book “Medal of Honor.” “But the sergeant stood up. He had a machine gun and his words were very encouraging: ‘Okay, men, move on out, because if they don’t kill you, I will.’ ”

Chief Charette advanced.

Throughout the battle, he “repeatedly and unhesitatingly moved about through a murderous barrage of hostile small-arms and mortar fire to render assistance to his wounded comrades,” according to his Medal of Honor citation.

From a promontory above the Marines, the communist forces began lobbing grenades on to the Americans. “There were so many going off there was no way to count them,” Chief Charette once said. “It was just a constant roar.”

As Chief Charette was tending to a severely wounded Marine, a grenade bounced a few feet away. Acting on instinct, he later said, he laid himself over the wounded Marine.

Chief Charette’s body absorbed the blast, protecting the Marine from further injury. When Chief Charette came to, he couldn’t see because his eyes were covered in his own blood. Although wounded from the explosion, Chief Charette continued to care for his comrades.

Having lost his medical pack in the blast, he tore off strips of his own clothing to use as bandages. He gave up the remnants of his combat jacket to an injured Marine who was shivering in the frosty air.

Later, Chief Charette exposed himself to enemy fire while he hoisted a wounded Marine to safety.

“I could hear the bullets zipping by my head,” Chief Charette told a Veterans of Foreign Wars publication in 2003. “But I couldn’t leave the guy there.”

William Richard Charette was born March 29, 1932, in Ludington, Mich. He was orphaned at 5 and raised by an uncle.

After high school, he worked aboard a ferry that hauled cars across Lake Michigan. He decided to join the Navy in 1951 after a night of New Year’s Eve revelry, figuring his experience aboard the ferries made him ideally suited for sea duty.

After the Korean War, he served as a corpsman aboard nuclear submarines before retiring in 1977.

Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Louise Fraiser Charette of Lake Wales; four children; a sister; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. A son died in 1991.

In May 1958, Chief Charette made national news when he was given a historic honor.

Aboard the cruiser Canberra off the Virginia coast, Chief Charette knelt before a flag-draped casket containing the unidentified remains of a World War II veteran. He placed a red-and-white floral wreath and snapped a salute.

In doing so, Chief Charette had formally selected that casket to represent all the nameless lost in World War II. It is interred today at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery under the inscription: “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”

In echo of Cold War tension with North Korea, Obama to visit Demilitarized Zone next week

From the Washington Post: In echo of Cold War tension with North Korea, Obama to visit Demilitarized Zone next week
WASHINGTON — Amid new tension with North Korea over a planned rocket launch, President Barack Obama plans to visit the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea at the start of an international trip next week, the White House said Tuesday.

Sunday’s trip to the most heavily defended border in the world carries obvious Cold War symbolism as Obama tries to foster new nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea. Although U.S. officials regularly go to the DMZ, the presidential visit is likely to be read by the North as a special show of strength to its new, untested leader.

“The DMZ is the front line of democracy in the Korean peninsula,” and a symbol of U.S. unity with military ally South Korea, said Daniel Russel, Asia director for the White House National Security Council. “A visit by the president there to see and to thank the U.S. and the South Korean service members makes perfect sense.”

Obama aides noted that Obama’s visit comes almost exactly two years after the sinking of a South Korean warship, which Seoul and Washington blame on the North.

Obama will visit some of the approximately 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the Korean war six decades ago. The DMZ trip is his first stop on a three-day visit to Seoul, South Korea, for an international summit on keeping nuclear weapons materials out of the hands of terrorists.

The gathering of more than 50 nations is intended to take stock of progress toward Obama’s goal of locking down nuclear material around the world by 2014. Despite some progress by known nuclear nations, the goal of complete security is far distant. It is also overshadowed by North Korea’s nuclear brinksmanship and fears that Iran could soon build a nuclear weapon.

North Korea has built and tested nuclear devices and is suspected in the spread of weapons of mass destruction to other countries. North Korea is not invited to the security gathering.

“The nuclear security summit is not about North Korea,” Russel said. “It’s about the commitment of the participating nations to honor their pledges and their commitments.” He said North Korea “will be the odd man out.”

Obama will hold separate discussions Monday and Tuesday with leaders of Russia, China, South Korea and other nations. It will be his last meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who leaves office next month. Russia and China have blocked a U.S.-backed effort to condemn Syria at the United Nations for its yearlong crackdown on civilians.

The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice.

Secretaries of state and defense make regular visits to the DMZ, as do other U.S. officials, but presidential visits carry added symbolism. Obama’s will be the first visit since 2002, when George W. Bush visited the DMZ village of Panmunjom a few weeks after he condemned North Korea as part of an “axis of evil.” Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan also visited the DMZ while in office.

Obama could have skipped the trip in hopes of resuming new arms control talks with the nuclear North but doing so could have opened him to charges of weakness at home. North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, visited Panmunjom and the DMZ for the first time as leader this month. Kim ordered troops to be on high alert, state media reported.

Both leaders are invoking the symbolism of the DMZ at a time of political jockeying over North Korea’s next move.

North Korea has announced that it will launch a long-range rocket next month. The U.S., Japan, Britain and others have said the planned launch is a threat to diplomatic efforts. They warned it would violate a U.N. ban on nuclear and missile activity because the same rocket technology could be used for long-range missiles.

The U.S. has warned that a deal to resume stalled food aid to the North could be jeopardized if North Korea goes ahead.

Veteran's History Project

From The Sun Telegraph: Sydney Veteran's History Project
Robert Pohl
Sergeant, U.S. Army
1953-1955, 1974-1998
Larry Nelson
Published: Saturday, March 17th, 2012

A. Robert (Bob) Pohl was doing just fine. He was 21 years old, a high school graduate, and had a good job with the telephone company, working in Fremont. It was January 1953 and the Korean War was winding down. There were seven guys on his line crew where he worked. Five of them got drafted – including Bob. Each went separate directions.

There were close to 200 Army draftees headed from the Omaha area to Camp Crowder, Mo. Camp Crowder was a military base in Southwest Missouri, just south of Neosho, Mo. Here, Bob got his physical examination, met some new best friends, had a shiny new haircut, a duffle bag full of clothes and gear … and soon was sent on to Camp Pickett, Va., on a C-47 cargo plane. This place is in rural Virginia, near Blackstone. It is now an Army National Guard base. This was the site of Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training for Bob.

He is there in February, 1954. It’s cold and humid. The coal-fired furnace blew carbon soot into the bays of the barracks. Each soldier had to pull a rotation as “fireman.” Not to put out fires, but to make sure the furnaces had enough coal. The training in the field was done on the red-colored mud.

The sense of strict discipline may have slipped a little here. On one occasion, a trainee got too intoxicated. He passed out on his bunk. His “buddies” disassembled his bunk and took it out in front of the barracks, on the company street where they re-assembled it. Then they brought the passed-out-one out and let him sleep on his bunk. He was awakened by the Field First Sergeant the next bright, new morning. How they obtained alcohol is unknown. The Field First Sergeant was aggravated, to say the least.

Basic Training pay was about $34. It required being lined up alphabetically, then when it was your turn, you presented yourself to the pay officer: “Sir, Private Pohl reports for pay!” Salute. Sign here. Take your money.

The Advanced Individual Training taught him to be a medic. He was further trained for four months as a dental lab technician in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. There was no need to keep the furnace stoked. But the soldiers were still in training and could only move about the area in formations and by marching. It was funny watching other privates march to the swimming pool in their swim trunks, towels and combat boots and caps.

Finally, with most of the training done, he was sent to Fort Jackson, S.C., to a Replacement Center. He served the needs of the government. Here, although he was a trained dental tech and medic, the Army was standing up a Signal Battalion – a unit that would provide communication capability. He had documentation from the telephone company that he was a trained employee in this very field. The Army used him as an installer and an instructor, this time at Fort Bragg, N.C., the home of the XVIII Airborne Corps.

There was some pressure by cadre at Fort Bragg encouraging Bob to learn to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Ummm … No Thanks. Part of the work was loading heavy trucks onto a C-119 – the flying boxcars. Once the heavy truck was loaded, it seemed to take a lot of space and time to get the plane off the ground. When they landed on some rural airstrip, they had three minutes to get the truck unchained and off the aircraft before the plane would take off again. The planes flew the men into remote areas to get the lines installed.

Some of the training involved teaching guys to climb poles and get used to the safety belt. Six to eight poles would be arranged in a circle (and in the ground). They would climb the poles, work on balance and even toss a medicine ball from man to man. The ones who dropped it had to descend, grab the ball and get back up there. A fine exercise in concentration, safety and team-building! In time, these trained men would be installing telephone and field wire plus radio antennae around the base.

On one occasion, he and five others were installing wire in a wooded area. Very nearby, a training demonstration was taking place. Bob didn’t know about it, neither did the trainers know of Bob and his men. The demo was on the M-65, the Atomic Cannon. This unit fired a 280mm round significant distances. “Atomic Annie” could fire conventional and nuclear munitions. And it was loud. Bob and his five co-workers sustained hearing injuries that prevented them hearing anything for almost a week. Miraculously, their hearing returned. He still has tinnitus and hearing loss.

While Bob was at Fort Bragg, N.C., he got a weekend pass and hitchhiked to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., where he could visit his brother. The brother was a key player with regard to the Hercules missile development. (Sadly, and later, the same brother was found in the desert close to White Sands Missile Range, N.M. He had been killed. Now, much later, the case is still unsolved.) Bob’s tour of duty ended at Fort Benning, Ga. He returned to Omaha, and to the telephone company. He went to night school studying electronics. He used the Montgomery G.I. Bill. His work brought him to the Sidney area.

In 1974, he found himself considering going back into the Army. This time he would be in the Nebraska National Guard. He had skills they could use. He liked the Army. He saw some retirement light at the end of the tunnel. At first, the Guard unit was schooled in some subjects that were kind of off the wall, he thought. The seventies were a tough time to be in the Guard. This was an artillery unit. He worked in electronics, radar, meteorology and food service. Lots of weekends and annual training periods. And there were more hearing difficulties as they fired 155mm self-propelled Howitzer Cannons. He also moved up in the ranks and retired as a staff sergeant.

He had formed several good friendships in the service. Many of those have passed away. Bob is a member of the American Legion (almost 50 years) and the Disabled American Veterans.

Thank you for your service, Staff Sgt. Pohl!

Analysis: Sudden North Korean turn risks US ties

From News-Leader.com: Analysis: Sudden North Korean turn risks US ties
WASHINGTON (WTW) — North Korea's planned long-range rocket launch threatens to wreck its recent food-for-nuclear concessions deal with the United States and dim hopes for better relations under new leader Kim Jong Un.

The North's announcement Friday marked a sharp and sudden turn 17 days after the two countries offered unexpected signs of optimism that three years of tensions were easing. Such a launch would violate a U.N. ban.

"It's a real slap in the face," said Victor Cha, a White House director for Asia policy under President George W. Bush. "It undercuts a lot of theories that the young leadership might be different. If anything, it shows that it's very much the same as before, only more unpredictable."

It is an embarrassment in an election year for President Barack Obama, who has been labeled by Republican presidential candidates as naive in his foreign policy. Republican lawmakers have accused his administration of "appeasing" North Korea by offering 240,000 tons of food in exchange for a freeze on nuclear activities and a freeze on nuclear and long-range missile tests.

If North Korea carries out the launch, it will be hard to keep alive the accord announced Feb. 29.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said a satellite launch would be a "deal-breaker" and indicated that the United States would be unlikely to send the food.

A launch in violation of the North's commitments, she said, would undermine confidence that the North would allow proper monitoring of the distribution of the aid.

The development shows the pitfalls of negotiating with a secretive government, which views its nuclear program as a deterrent against invasion. The United States retains 28,000 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. The two Koreas remain in a state of war because the war ended without a peace treaty.

Previous U.S. efforts over the past two decades to persuade North Korea to disarm have ended in disappointment. Even before Friday's announcement, a group of five Republican senators wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton accusing the administration of accepting the North's "hollow commitments."

North Korea says the rocket launch would be for peaceful means. But the same kind of technology is used for ballistic missiles, which could eventually provide a delivery system for a nuclear weapon if the North should become able to miniaturize one for use on a warhead.

The North Koreans "are putting the Obama administration in a very, very difficult position," said Evans Revere, a former State Department official for East Asia. "The administration would have little choice but to react in a firm way to this."

The United States could refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council. The last time North Korea conducted such a rocket launch -- it described an April 2009 launch as a bid to send a communications satellite into space -- the council condemned it.

Whether permanent council members Russia and China, the North's closest ally, would support such a step this time remains unclear. All parties are aware of what can happen if the North feels cornered. Soon after the 2009 launch, the North conducted a nuclear test.

For now, the U.S. says it is consulting with the other parties in suspended six-nation disarmament talks to encourage the North not to go ahead with the launch. The North says it plans to conduct the launch between April 12-16, in commemoration of the centennial of the birth of its founder, Kim Il Sung, the new leader's grandfather.

That the North is prepared to take that step, risking international censure and spoiling its diplomatic outreach to Washington, underscores the importance of the centennial, as the untested Kim Jong Un seeks to consolidate his power. It also would fuel speculation over the internal dynamics in the new government and whether it has competing policy aims.

An international nuclear summit March 26-27 in South Korea, to be attended by Obama, will provide a high-profile opportunity to crank up diplomatic pressure on the North over its plans.

"The U.S. will probably really lean on the Chinese," said Jonathan Pollack, an expert on North Korea's nuclear program at the Brookings Institution think tank. He said he expected the message to China to be: "You remember what happened last time they tried to launch a satellite?"

NC Division of Veteran Affairs seeks to recognize Korean War heroes

From The GLobe (Camp LeJeune, NC): NC Division of Veteran Affairs seeks to recognize Korean War heroes
As part of the statewide effort to recognize North Carolina service members and their families who fought in or supported the “forgotten war,” the Korean War Commemoration Committee and the Department of Defense are scheduled to launch “The Year of the Korean War Veteran,” June 25, the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

The project is being led by the N.C. Division of Veteran Affairs, an organization that serves as an advocate for veterans and their families offering assistance through the network of District and County Veterans Services Offices.

“More than 177,000 North Carolina citizens served in Korea between June 27, 1950, and Jan. 31, 1955,” Gov. Bev Perdue said in a recent press release. “We believe that more than 72,000 of these veterans are still living in North Carolina today, and many more have descendants who make their home here. I ask that everyone pitch in to help us provide formal appreciation of their service and sacrifice.”

NCDVA Assistant Secretary Tim Wipperman has placed a link on the division website, Doa.nc.gov/vets/KoreanWarForm.aspx, to provide a certificate of appreciation signed by U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to all Korean War veterans and the family members who supported them.

“This may be one of our last chances to recognize the contributions of those who began the successful struggle to stem the tide of communism,” said Wipperman.

No documentation is necessary and the form can be filled out and submitted online by the veteran, family member or a friend. Requests for certificates may also be downloaded and mailed to Korean War Veterans Certificate, N.C. Division of Veterans Affairs, 1315 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1315.

According to NCDVA, North Carolina recorded 968 deaths in service during the conflict, of which 784 were battle deaths. An additional 2,272 service members were wounded; 109 were taken as prisoners of war, and 204 were designated as missing in action.

In addition to the certificate of appreciation, the DOD encourages any Korean War veteran who would like to share his or her story with the Korean War Commemoration Committee’s oral history project to visit Koreanwar.defense.gov or call 703-545-0522.

MASH pushed buttons on cultural frontiers

From The Australian: MASH pushed buttons on cultural frontiers
KOREAN War comedy M*A*S*H premiered on September 17, 1972, and ended on February 28, 1983, with the finale the most-watched television episode in US history until surpassed only by recent gridiron Super Bowls.

Featuring an ensemble cast led by Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, Harry Morgan, Gary Burghoff and Jamie Farr, the series still cycles around on TV, as hip and irresistible as it was 30 years ago. Watch a couple of episodes and you won't be able to look at nearby mountains without humming Suicide is Painless and waiting for the choppers to show up.

This fascinating doco traces the original stories and people that inspired the series including that of Richard Hornberger. Under the pseudonym "Richard Hooker", Dr Hornberger wrote the book MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors (1968) based on his own experiences in the Korean War. In 1970, the book was turned into the famous movie, directed by Robert Altman and starring Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould.

With nearly an entirely new cast but the same MASH characters from the book and movie, the series immortalised the army doctors stationed at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital located in the village of Uijeongbu just north of Seoul in South Korea.

The documentary film features interviews with some of the actors, including Farr, Swit and Burghoff and co-creator Gene Reynolds, along with many of the surgeons, doctors, nurses and pilots and enlisted men who served in Korea. The series initially mirrored America's cultural war over Vietnam, when the radical counterculture was still in a battle with traditional values embodied in government and the military. There's little doubt that the real-life MASH units -- with female nurses working on the frontlines for the first time and African-American medics staffing them -- anticipated the widespread social changes that followed.

Women veterans mark 60th anniversary of Korean War

From US Army: Women veterans mark 60th anniversary of Korean War
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, March 14, 2012) -- Women veterans of what is often referred to as the "Forgotten War" were welcomed to the Women in Military Service to America Memorial, March 9, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

When President Harry S. Truman ordered U.S. forces into Korea in 1950, the entire complement of women in the armed services numbered just 22,000, of which nearly 7,000 served in the health care professions. The remainder held line assignments throughout the service branches.

It was in the Korean War when Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals were first introduced. MASH units are credited with reducing deaths from battle wounds by 50 percent compared to World War II figures. Helicopters were also first introduced to evacuate wounded while also sustaining the force with troops and supplies.

Though nurses and medical specialists were the only women permitted into the combat theater during most of the war, women serving stateside were assigned to a variety of nontraditional jobs. They could serve as police, parachute riggers, pharmacists and engineers.

In keynote remarks to the audience of Korean War women veterans, Brig. Gen. Leslie A. Purser, who serves with the deputy chief of staff, G-2, said her current rank and position weren't simply a representation of hard work, but were directly related to the women veterans in the audience.

"This event serves as a long overdue opportunity to share my appreciation to those present who influence women service members in their personal and professional journeys," she said. "To all of you, on behalf of all women serving in our military, thank you for paving the way to allow us the honor of serving our country."

"As we look to the future, the coming years promise to be very exciting for women in the military as additional barriers are removed and women continue to assert themselves and are afforded opportunities and positions that are critical to our nation's defense," she said.

The main event followed with Army Nurse Corps Historian Lt. Col. Nancy Cantrell leading a panel discussion with five women Korean War veterans from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force who each described a particular memory from their war experience.

Cathy Drake joined the Army Women Nursing Corps in 1949. After basic training and commissioning, she went to work in 1950 as an operating room nurse with the 8055 MASH, which the television series was loosely based on. She met her husband who served as an 8055 anesthesiologist.

"The main thing about being in a combat zone was the living quarters," Drake recalled with an easy sense of humor. "We were all in tents. In wintertime when we bathed, we'd all just go into one big tent, soap up and hope the water would come on," she recalled. She added that sometimes there' would be one of the doctors or corpsmen in there by mistake who got the wrong time, "but we didn't pay attention to it."

Army vet Eleanor Porter joined the physical therapy program with the Women's Medical Specialist Corps in 1952. Stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, she worked with burn patients, those with traumatic head injuries and amputees.

Porter met her husband while treating him. He lost both legs to wounds suffered in Korea.

"The reason he does so well now is because he had such a good physical therapist," Porter joked after 58 years of marriage. "If you see him you won't think he's a double amputee. He walks beautifully."

She and her husband have been active with the Amputee Coalition of America, helping to inspire servicemen and women to move forward with their wounds.

"We have visited with amputees twice a week for the last seven and a half years at Walter Reed before it was closed," she said. "When a young fella has just lost his legs and we'd walk into their room, we hope they'll think, well, if that old geezer can do it, so can I."

Daisy Losack, a Marine Corps sergeant and supply clerk during the Korean War, had seen a female Marine on a recruitment poster. That's all it took for her to follow in the footsteps of her father and four brothers by joining the military.

"I learned by women serving in the military, we relieved a serviceman to execute his job to protect our country," she said. "I am so proud to have been able to serve my country in this capacity and I am still trying daily to make the Marine Corps proud of me."

She met her husband at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Also a Marine, he had survived the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Over the years the Losacks have spoken at schools across the country about their Korean War experiences.

Army Nurse Corp historian Lt. Col. Nancy Cantrell said the Korean War set the pace for trauma care today.

"With each war, we saw a little improvement and expansion in the role of women," Cantrell said. "Women had been mostly limited to personnel and medicine, but the Korean War was a wake-up call for women in that those roles were really beginning to expand in the civilian world. They really were the pioneers of trauma care and nursing."

Col. David J. Clark, executive director of the Department of Defense 60th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Program, ended the ceremony noting that, "today the Republic of Korea serves as a force for good in northeast Asia, a bastion of democracy and a staunch ally of the U.S., with an economy that's an envy of the world."

"None of this would have been possible without your sacrifices and those of your fallen comrades, so on behalf of those in uniform serving today and an eternally grateful nation, thank you," he said. "We are standing on the shoulders of giants."

Roseville Medal of Honor recipient recalls Korean War

From Zanesville Times Recorder: Roseville Medal of Honor recipient recalls Korean War
NEWARK -- Standing in front of a crowd of Licking County veterans, Sgt. 1st Class Ronald E. Rosser described the 10-hour Korean War battle that made him a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

He talked about the freezing temperatures and the brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Chinese Army. He explained how he faced battalions of Chinese soldiers alone with just a few grenades and his gun.

But instead of talking about the medal around his neck, his focus was the bravery of all the soldiers who fought with him that day in Korea.

"The American soldiers over there were outstanding," he said. "They fought and died without complaint."

A resident of Roseville in Muskingum County, Rosser, 82, is one of 82 Medal of Honor recipients still alive.

On Friday evening, members of nine veterans groups gathered at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1060 in Newark to honor him and hear his story.

The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest military honor, given by Congress to soldiers who risk their lives in combat beyond the call of duty.

"Not too many people get to meet a Medal of Honor recipient," said Frank Luciotti, commander of AMVETS Post 345 and past president of VFW Post 1060. "To have him alive and telling his story is fantastic."

Sponsored by the Licking County Veterans' Service Commission, the dinner was a collaboration between AMVETS Post 345 and VFW Post 1060.

Luciotti met Rosser five years ago and always hoped to bring him to Licking County to honor him.

Friday's dinner was a way for local veterans groups to get together and show their appreciation, he said.

Rosser was presented with a plaque and an honorary membership in VFW Post 1060.

"We are in the presence of a real American hero," Luciotti told the crowd Friday. "You probably won't ever get another opportunity like this in your life."

Rosser enlisted in the Army at age 17 and served from 1946 to 1949, said Janice Wheaton, Licking County Veterans' Service Commission director.

He was planning to return to civilian life, but in 1951 his younger brother was killed in the Korean War, Wheaton said.

In honor of his brother, Rosser reenlisted in the Army and requested to go to Korea. When he arrived in Korea, he was amazed by the brutal terrain and terrible fighting.

"It was continuous fighting, day and night," he said.

On Jan. 12, 1952, Rosser was assigned to a raiding party that was supposed to sneak up on a battalion of Chinese soldiers.

The battle was so fierce that the group of 170 men was reduced to 35.

Rosser volunteered to lead the remaining 35 up to the Chinese trenches. By the time he got there, he was the only one who hadn't been killed or seriously injured.

Instead of turning back, Rosser jumped into the trench with the enemy.

"I figured I wasn't getting out alive, but I'd take as many as I can with me," he said.

Rosser survived the attack and went back to the trenches at least two more times, killing at least three dozen Chinese soldiers.

He also was able to help protect the wounded soldiers until they were able to get to safety, he said.

"I was doing what everyone else was doing," he said. "I was doing the best I could."

When Rosser found out he was a candidate for the Medal of Honor, many of his superiors wanted him to leave the front lines. But he refused to go until the rest of his men left.

He received his medal Jan. 27, 1952.

Rosser made a career in the military, retiring after 20 years of service.

Today he speaks about his experiences all over the world.

"I talk about the American soldiers who served with me," he said. "They served honorably and bravely."

Rosser said he especially enjoys talking to schoolchildren about the sacrifices veterans made for their freedom.

"I tell the kids, '(Our generation) of Americans gave you the greatest gift possible, the U.S. as a free nation,'" he said. "All we ask is that they turn it over that way to their children."

Women veterans of Korean War honored

From the Washington Post: Women veterans of Korean War honored
Graying hair coiffed, medals on display and sitting with military poise, they readied themselves onstage. They greeted one another like old friends: Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force veterans sitting side by side, preparing to share war stories.

But Friday, it was no old boys club.

Female veterans of the Korean War were being honored by the Department of Defense 60th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee. More than a dozen women who had served during the war joined family, friends and U.S. and Korean military personnel at a panel discussion and reception held at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Former 1st Lt. Eleanor Porter, a Springfield resident, was among those honored. A 1951 graduate of the University of Rhode Island, Porter decided she wanted to work with people instead of testing water for the city of Providence. She joined the all-officer Women’s Medical Specialist Corps in 1952 as a physical therapist.

Porter served at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio and later in Colorado, working in wards with burn patients and in gyms, helping amputees strengthen their muscles by using resistance mats.

“You don’t show that you’re upset with what you see,” Porter said. “You shudder a little inside, but you learn that you don’t let your feelings show with the patients because they need to have someone who is not going to break down.”

The successes were what made the work worthwhile. “When the amputees first get up on new legs and walk, you know you’ve done something to help somebody,” Porter said.

Some cases were emotional and disturbing, Porter said: a man who lost his eyes; a polio patient only treatable through the portholes of his iron lung; a soldier suddenly living with neither a leg nor a hip.

Soldiers faced with the traumas of amputation used camaraderie and laughter to cope.

“They never felt sorry for themselves,” Porter said. “They always kidded each other and gave each other, ‘Oh, come on, you can do this,’ or ‘Put your own pants on,’ or something like that when someone had new legs and had trouble putting their trousers on.”

In January 1953, one patient caught the young woman’s eye — 2nd Lt. Tom Porter. Tom lost both legs in Korea and met Eleanor during his rehabilitation at Fort Sam Houston.

“He was a flirt,” Eleanor said. “I’d be bandaging him and he’d grab my hands, and I’d say, ‘You’re going to get me in trouble!’ ”

They began dating, and in March 1954 the two were married.

Fifty years and four children later, the Porters read of a young amputee wounded in Iraq and saw an opportunity to help. Through the Amputee Coalition of America, the amputee-therapist duo began visiting soldiers at what was then the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

“All we have to do is walk in the room, and they look at my husband — he’s 83 and walks beautifully — and they see a man walking in and they can’t tell he’s an amputee,” Eleanor Porter said. “When they find out he is, they think, ‘Well, if that old geezer can do it, so can I.’ ”

She said their seven years of working with more than 1,000 amputees and their families brought them purpose and dear friends. The Porters have been invited to weddings, had children named after them and were godparents to one baptized amputee.

The biggest lesson for everyone, she said, is that life continues.

“You accept what’s happened and go on from there,” she said. “You make a life for yourself.” The amputees she befriended and kept up with “went on and had a life and had families. My husband is that way, and I am, too. . . . That’s our philosophy.”

For these veterans, life has gone on, and the committee wants to ensure that their service is not overlooked. Each of the program’s armed forces speakers praised the women for their work.Each of the program’s armed forces speakers praised the women for their work.

“We could not do what we do without the trail you set for us,” Army Nurse Corps Historian Lt. Col. Nancy Cantrell told them.

Representative Moseley honors POW MIA veterans at statehouse

From Chesterton Tribune: Representative Moseley honors POW MIA veterans at statehouse On Monday, the Indiana General Assembly followed the lead of State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, in recommending that the POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/ Missing in Action) flag be flown in both the Indiana House and Senate Chambers.

“It is estimated that there are 83,000 missing Americans who bravely served in World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War,” said Moseley. “It is time that we honor their dedicated service and patriotism by flying their flag in both chambers.”

The flag has flown over the White House on National POW/MIA Recognition day since 1982. In 1990, Congress officially recognized the flag.

“The flag is a promise that America has made to the families of those who valiantly served our nation,” said Moseley. “We are committed to discovering the fates of those missing servants to the best of our ability.”

The resolution passed unanimously from the House floor.

“As a legislator, it is important to me to bear in mind those who have given their lives so that individuals such as myself can take part in the democratic process,” said Moseley.

Moseley has served his country as a veteran of the Army National Guard.

“Flying the flags in the General Assembly not only will recognize those who served our country, but the sacrifices that their families continue to make every day,” said Moseley.

Every member of the House signed onto the resolution as a co-author in support.

Time running out for Korean 'comfort women

There's only 63 of them. Why not just pay them off?? From CNN: Time running out for Korean 'comfort women
Seoul (CNN) -- Waiting more than 60 years for an official apology has taken its toll on Kim Bok-dong.

The 87-year old says she is tired and her health is failing but she continues to fight for recognition from the Japanese government for being used as a sex slave by their military during World War II.

There were believed to be around 200,000 so-called "comfort women," mostly Korean. Many have since passed away, but those still alive want individual compensation for their treatment.

"When I started, the Japanese military would often beat me because I wasn't submissive," Kim says.

'Comfort women' mark 1,000th rally

"Every Sunday, soldiers came to the brothel from 8am until 5pm, on Saturday from noon until 5pm, plus weekdays. It was very hard to handle. I couldn't stand at the end of the weekend. Since I had to deal with too many soldiers, I was physically broken."

Kim has tears in her eyes as she talks of her ordeal -- an ordeal that lasted every single day for eight years.

Kim describes being moved around half a dozen Asian countries from the age of 14. "I was born as a woman but have never had a woman's life. I was dragged to the foreign army's battles, and my entire life was ruined." Remembering China's 'comfort women'

Kim's first marriage broke down when she couldn't have children, which she assumes due to her mistreatment. When her second husband and her mother died, she had to work in the fields to earn a living.

Kim is part of an NGO called the "Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan," which is fighting for an apology.

A weekly protest has been held outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul for the past 20 years. The embassy keeps its blinds shut during the protests and does not comment.

Some Japanese prime ministers have personally apologized in the past, but the NGO director believes that it's not nearly enough. Since I had to deal with too many soldiers, I was physically broken Kim Bok-dong

"Anyone can verbally apologize. But this is not an issue that can be resolved by saying sorry," says Yoon Mee-Hyang. "This is a crime that was institutionalized by a country, they forced women into sexual slavery over a long period of time. They need to adopt a resolution at the official level and we need to see legal reparations."

Yoon is planning to travel to Japan to meet with government officials. Tokyo maintains its legal liability for the wrongdoing was cleared by a bilateral claims treaty signed in 1965 between the two countries.

The South Korean government has stepped up diplomatic pressure recently, but only after a Korean court ruled in August that it was unconstitutional for the government not to help. Attempts by President Lee Myung-bak to discuss the issue with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda have so far yielded no results.

The issue of comfort women continues to haunt relations between the two countries. But for the few comfort women still alive -- only 63 are now registered in South Korea -- it's an urgent issue that they can't afford to wait for.

Wednesday!

I know I keep promising that I'm going to get back to a daily schedule of posts, and I know that weeks have gone by and there's been nothing regular about my schedule!

And I apologize! Stuff happens, abetted, I admit, by procrastination. There was a helluva lot of scanning of material I needed to do which I never did, and now I've got to get all that material back where it came from, so I've got 2 days of probably 12 hours a day spending my time scanning, and double checking to make sure I havne't missed any pages, etc.

So I'm going to spend the next 2 days doing that, will be all caught up on Wednesday, and will resume daily posts here.

And will finally have learned my lesson about procrastination - don't do it!