N. Korea says it is ready to fight a war with S. Korea, US

From Yonhapo News: N. Korea says it is ready to fight a war with S. Korea, US
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea stepped up its rhetoric Monday as South Korea and the United States kicked off joint military drills that Pyongyang claims are rehearsals for a northward invasion.

"The war drills are an unpardonable infringement upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK as they evidently target the DPRK which is in the mourning period," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in an English-language dispatch, referring to the North by the initials of its official name.

The North has been observing a period of mourning after the Dec. 17 death of its longtime leader Kim Jong-il.

The latest warning came as South Korea and the U.S. staged the Key Resolve exercise that will last through March 9, with about 200,000 South Korean and 2,100 U.S. troops participating.

Separately, the two allies plan to hold the Foal Eagle joint military exercise from March 1 to April 30.

South Korea and the U.S. regularly hold military exercises to bolster their readiness against a possible North Korean invasion.

The North, which has a track record of military provocations against South Korea, routinely condemns the military drills in the South as precursors for an invasion.

"The army and people of the DPRK are fully ready to fight a war with them," the dispatch said. "The warmongers will meet destruction in the fire kindled by them if they go reckless misjudging the strong will of the Koreans to defend peace."

Seoul and Washington say the exercises are defensive in nature.

Kim's youngest son and new leader, Kim Jong-un, has instructed the military to "make a powerful retaliatory strike" at South Korea, if Seoul intrudes even slightly into the North's waters.

Kim made the comment during his recent trip to front-line military units responsible for the deadly shelling of a South Korean island in 2010, according to the KCNA.

On Saturday, Pyongyang vowed to launch a "sacred war" against the South and the U.S.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in an armistice, rather than a peace treaty.

Australia: Wagga unveils Korean War Memorial

From The Daily Advertiser: Wagga unveils Korean War Memorial A NEW memorial unveiled yesterday in Wagga will ensure the supreme sacrifice of those who served in the Korean War is never forgotten.

About 200 people from across Australia and the world attended the Korean Memorial Dedication Ceremony at Victory Memorial Gardens to remember those who fought in what has often been referred to as the “Forgotten War”.

Wagga’s surviving Korean War veterans – Harry Edmonds, Alan Evans and Catherine Thompson – were present at the ceremony and each said it meant more than words could describe.

“It means everything, it’s been so long,” said Mr Edmonds who had campaigned for years to have the memorial established.

“We’ve got somewhere to go and remember now.”

The feeling was shared by Alan Evans who said it was a historic day.

The boys that are missing have now got a home,” he said with a tear in his eye.

Minister and deputy head of mission embassy of the republic of Korea Wahn-Seong Jeong spoke of how he hoped all the Australian soldiers who lost their lives were looking down from heaven at the amazing change they had caused in Korea.

“Korea is humbled to think of the sacrifice,” he said.

Major General George Ball (retired) provided the keynote address at the ceremony and took the audience back to the war, recounting the tragic and brave history of Australian involvement. The prayer of remembrance was said by chaplain David Harding. “Grant them rest,” he said.

“And grant us who remain the spirit of service which may make us worthy of their sacrifice.”

Korean War veteran in Raynham to receive Bronze Star for his service

From Wicked Local-East Bridgewater: Korean War veteran in Raynham to receive Bronze Star for his service
Raynham — A couple living in Raynham — both of them Korean War veterans — are being honored for their military service.

Robert and Cesina Mayers are each being recognized for their efforts during the Korean War. Robert Mayers earned a Bronze Star, but wasn’t aware of it until recently applying for medical benefits.

“I am kind of shocked really,” said Robert Mayers, formerly of Attleboro. “It’s a big surprise. I’m happy with it. And now that I will receive it, it’s quite a thing. It’s quite an honor to receive it.”

Separately, Cesina Mayers, who also served during the Korean War, has been invited to a March 9 event at Arlington Cemetery to recognize women’s leadership in the military, she said.

The couple’s family held a celebration to honor Robert Mayers in late November at the American Legion in Seekonk, attended by State Rep. Steven Howitt. The family organized the party after applying for medical benefits during the summer and discovering that Mayers’ military discharge form noted that he received a Bronze Star.

Howitt, a Republican from Seekonk, passed on the news about how the family discovered that Mayers earned a Bronze Star but never received the medal, said the couple’s daughter Tina Pothier. Now, she said, the Army’s Col. David Clark plans to pin the award on the Korean War vet during a State House ceremony.

“When (Howitt) passed it along, and I guess it really enticed the colonel — the story of how he never actually got it,” Pothier said.

Pothier said Clark called her, and she told him that the family bought a replica of the Bronze Star to give to her father. But she said Clark told her that wasn’t good enough, and gave her instructions on getting an official medal.

“Col. Clark is going to come down personally and pin it on my dad at the State House, sometime this spring,” Pothier said. “We are waiting to find out when.”

Pothier said Attleboro Mayor Kevin Dumas also attended the celebration at the American Legion, and presented Mayers a commemorative Attleboro coin. She said Dumas also read a proclamation in honor of Mayers issued by Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, and added that State Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, also attended.

Cesina Mayers said it was a pleasant surprise to find out that her husband received the Bronze Star, although adding they are not certain what specific actions he received it for. His daughter said the family believes it was likely for one incident in Korea when Robert Mayers pulled one of his buddies underneath a truck out of the line of fire. “No one ever told him about it,” Cesina Mayers said. “But it was entirely our fault. We never looked at the DD-214.”

While her husband is being honored for his service, so is Cesina. Speaking of the event at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate women who served, she said she plans on going.

“But I’m worried,” she said. “The only thing I’ve got to remind me of being in the veterans is an old moth-eaten hat that I have. I got a uniform, but it wouldn’t fit on my right leg. But it should be a good trip.”

Man finds deceased Korean War vet's Purple Heart

From 7 News: Man finds deceased Korean War vet's Purple Heart
LEXINGTON, Mass. (WHDH) -- A lost Purple Heart medal belonging to a Lexington woman’s deceased brother has been found.

“It’s a miracle it really is,” said Connie Bachman.

Connie Bachman's brother, Lt. Thomas E. Hadley, was 22 when he died flying in a combat mission in Korea. The medal for his heroic actions that day, was lost. “60 years it had been lost,” Bachman said.

But a man states away, helped get it back into the right hands. In Pennsylvania where the family once lived, Larry Moore’s grandfather had found the treasure in the trash at a sanitation center he ran.

It was passed down to his son who passed it on to Moore.

“I know my father had tried before in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s without the internet. I was here one night, a week or so before Christmas I was by myself, grabbed the laptop, grabbed the Purple Heart and started Googling. This time somehow I came up with the military order of the Purple Heart,” Moore said.

“And then down the ranks they found me,” Bachman said.

At first the Bachmans thought it was a scam, but when they called back, they verified it really was the military order of the Purple Heart.

The organization presented the Bachmans with a medal case, and their local U.S. representatives gave them a flag flown over the Capitol; forever memorializing Thomas Hadley’s sacrifice in 1951.

“There were six or eight fighter planes that were attacking a train in North Korea that was filled with ammunition. And one of the planes had been hit by fire and was slowly going down and that was his best friend.

“So, he dove down with his machine guns firing at the gun base to draw their attention so others could escape,” said Charlie Bachman.

North Korea warns of 'total war' over South's military drills

From MSNB: North Korea warns of 'total war' over South's military drills What I don't understand is - why is South Korea giving North Korea food aid (which they are) if North Korea is ruled by such loons. North Korea has no electricity, the civilians are starving...why not airdrop a bunch of weapons into them and take over the country, as happened with the Arab Spring?

North Korea warns of 'total war' over South's military drills
EOUL, South Korea — South Korea on Monday conducted live-fire military drills from five islands near its disputed sea boundary with North Korea, despite Pyongyang's threat to attack.

South Korea reported no immediate action by North Korea following the drills, which ended after about two hours. The drills took place in an area of the Yellow Sea that was the target of a North Korean artillery attack in 2010 that killed four South Koreans and raised fears of a wider conflict. The heightened tension comes two months after the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. His young son Kim Jong Un has taken the helm of the nation of 24 million.

Underground shelters South Korean military officials said they were ready to repel any attack. Residents on the front-line islands were asked to go to underground shelters before the drills started, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff.

North Korea's military maintained increased vigilance during the South Korean drills, though it hasn't done anything suspicious, a South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules. He refused to provide further details because he said they involve confidential military intelligence on North Korea.

Before the drills began, North Korea said it would launch a "thousands-fold more severe" punishment than the 2010 shelling if South Korea conducted the drills.

'Total war'
North Korea is fully prepared for a "total war," and the drills will lead to a "complete collapse" of ties between the Koreas, the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement carried Monday by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Seoul is closely monitoring North Korea's reaction. The Korean peninsula has been technically at war for about 60 years.

Officials from North Korea and the United States are to meet this week in Beijing for talks on the country's nuclear weapons program. The discussions will be the first such bilateral contact since Kim Jong Il's Dec. 17 death.

Ties between the Koreas plummeted following the 2010 shelling of front-line Yeonpyeong Island and a deadly warship sinking blamed on Pyongyang. North Korea has flatly denied its involvement in the sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors.

US to hold nuke talks with N. Korea
South Korean troops on the five islands fired artillery into waters southward, away from nearby North Korea, a Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.

Residents on the islands, many of them elderly, filed into underground bomb shelters and huddled around portable heaters during the drills.

More than 1,000 people evacuated to shelters, but few came to the mainland, despite the North Korean threat, according to Onjin County, which governs the islands. Ferry services linking the islands and Incheon port on the mainland operated normally, county officials said. Officials say requests to evacuate are made each time South Korea conducts drills.

Soon after Seoul told Pyongyang of its live-fire training plans Sunday, North Korea's military called the drills a "premeditated military provocation" and warned it would retaliate for an attack on its territory.

A North Korean officer warned in an interview Sunday with The Associated Press in Pyongyang that North Koreans were always ready to "dedicate their blood to defend their inviolable territory."

No peace treaty The maritime line separating the countries was drawn by the U.S.-led U.N. Command without Pyongyang's consent at the close of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea routinely argues that the line should run farther south.

On Yeonpyeong Island, which is just seven miles from North Korean shores, about 490 people evacuated to shelters, while the rest of the 600 to 700 residents stayed at home or went to work as usual, an island official said in a phone interview, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to reporters.

South Korea also plans joint anti-submarine drills with the United States this week, but the training site is farther south from the disputed sea boundary, South Korean military officials said. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as what U.S. and South Korean officials call deterrence against North Korean aggression.

North Korea says joint U.S.-South Korea drills are a rehearsal for a northward invasion.

Meanwhile, North Korea's state media said Monday its ruling Workers' Party will hold a key conference in April, the first since 2010, in which it is likely to make official the succession of power to its third generation of leadership.

The conference, to be held in mid-April, will come around the time of the centenary of the state founder Kim II Sung's birth, which the North has planned to mark the launch of a new era as a "strong and prosperous nation."

"The Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee decides to convene the WPK Conference in mid-April Juche 101 (2012) to glorify the sacred revolutionary life and feats of Kim Jong Il for all ages and accomplish the Juche cause, the Songun revolutionary cause, rallied close around Kim Jong Un," KCNA reported.

Juche is the North's homegrown state ideology mixing Marxism and extreme nationalism, preached by the state founder Kim Il Sung. Songun is his son's own ruling doctrine that translates to "military first."

Korean War POW's remains return home to Scott County, Va.

From TriCity.com: Korean War POW's remains return home to Scott County, Va. SCOTT COUNTY, Va. -- The remains of a Korean War POW returned to the Tri-Cities region Thursday night.

William Ray Sluss was just 17-years-old when he left Scott County, Va. to enlist in the army. He was captured by enemy troops during the Korean War, and died in a POW camp in April of 1951 from starvation at the age of just 21.

In 2007 recovery crews found Sluss' body, and his identity was confirmed through extensive testing with help from his family.

The Fort Lee Honor Guard, Rolling Thunder, and police escorted Sluss's remains home Thursday, so he can receive a proper military burial this weekend.

Wis. couple grew 55-year marriage from war tragedy

From the Appleton Post Crescent: Wis. couple grew 55-year marriage from war tragedy NEENAH, Wis. (WTW) — Korean war veteran Dick Nooe's memory can be hazy, but the moment he met his wife, Sara, while recovering from injuries that left him blind remains as clear as day.

It was February, 58 years ago, and the Marine was recovering at the Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital in Chicago. His world had turned black — with the exception of a few shadows — a few weeks earlier when his unit was overrun by Chinese soldiers. In the desperate fight near the 38th Parallel, a concussion grenade exploded in his face and enemy fighters beat him with rifle butts.

"I was a mess. There were serious fractures in my head and face," Dick said. "In those hospitals I thought my love life was over."

Sara, a 26-year-old "Gray Lady," took on the task of socializing with the troops maimed in combat.

"I remember her introducing herself in a deep voice, and I had this picture of her as an old 'gray lady,' not knowing what the program was," Dick Nooe, 80, said Tuesday — Valentine's Day — at their tidy Neenah home. "I had been with umpteen women but that Thursday night when we danced, I knew she had the finest figure around."

Sara, 85, remembers Dick as "a little better looking than most," but is careful not to give the father of their two children too much credit.

Dick moved to Oregon to pursue studies after his recovery while Sara stayed behind in Chicago. The two exchanged letters and Dictaphone recordings before committing to moving in together and marrying. Eventually, the couple settled in Neenah.

Sara remembers an uncle warning her that the marriage would be fraught with hardship, caring for a blind man. She didn't see it that way.

Fifty-five years later, Sara says "it's just love, that's all," that has held the couple together.

Dick says their relationship is successful because they rely on each other on a daily basis.

"Each morning I get a cup of coffee for each of us and we take time to talk," Dick said. "There are no secrets held from each other."

The pair also isn't shy about their intimacy. With a fair amount of giggling and teasing, they say their passion still burns.

As he keeps a keen eye on contemporary relationships, Dick called modern-day marriages troublesome, especially when children are caught in the crossfire.

"Couples truly need to talk things out and not suppress stuff," said Dick, a therapist by trade who still practices.

Sara said a marriage is toughest in the early years.

"It's always hard adjusting to each other," she said.

Dick said relying on strong family bonds during rough patches is crucial.

Flowers don't hurt either. Dick had a small Valentine's bouquet delivered to Sara earlier in the day, as he does on occasion.

Although he can't see Sara, Dick said his memory provides flickers of the days when he could still make out shadows.

"I have these beautiful memories of her that I always picture," Dick said. "One is of walking down a sidewalk in Chicago and the sunlight hit her hair just right."

Each year, Dick shows his thankfulness for the Gray Lady program that brought the pair together by donating to the Red Cross.

Although the Gray Ladies went away in the late 1960s, remnants of the volunteer program remain, said Barbara Behling, spokeswoman for the Red Cross in northeastern Wisconsin.

"We still have a number of programs supporting the military around the globe," Behling said. "It's one of our congressional mandates."

At the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King, Behling said the Red Cross still provides volunteers who sponsor activity nights reminiscent of the ones the Gray Ladies sponsored after World War II.

"It's certainly evolved since those days, but we're still doing tremendous work for our military members," Behling said.

To this day, Dick's Marine friends tell him he scooped up the "cream of the crop" with Sara 58 years ago.

"I'm thankful the staff at the VA told me about the Gray Ladies that night," Dick said. "It led to a wonderful marriage, and we both can say we're truly content."