Korean War
The Best Christmas Present Ever
Seventy years ago, US Navy demolition teams, Army engineers, and hundreds of other American servicemen, all part of a UN force that weeks earlier had numbered over 100,000, watched as a massive explosion – the largest since World War II – erupted over a small port in North Korea. With docks, warehouses, and wharfs bursting…
Read MoreThe POW/MIA Day Story that Facebook Thinks is Too Political
With National POW/MIA Recognition Day held this past Friday, September 18, Americans from all walks of life and from every creed, race, and religion honored their fellow countrymen who became prisoners of war or were listed as missing in action and have yet to come home. As a Marine veteran, career educator, and writer who…
Read MoreI Don’t Hate Nobody Because Life Is So Short
“When I became a citizen it was one of the happiest days in my life . . . [the US] is the best country in the world, and I’m part of it.” – Tibor Rubin He survived more than a year in a Nazi concentration camp, was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in…
Read MoreThree Men, Two Wars, and One Classroom
During wartime and peace, the power of an inspirational mentor can never be underestimated . . . One such mentor, a WWII Medal of Honor recipient once referred to by his commanding officer as “the bravest man I ever saw,” was a math professor and US Navy chaplain. The Early Days at Holy Cross A…
Read MoreA Week of Terror in 1968
“We thought the president there was a stooge, an American collaborator. I hated him.” – Kim Shin-jo, member of a North Korean commando team sent to assassinate the South Korean president in January 1968 On the afternoon of January 17, 1968, a 31-man, hand-picked team of North Korean commandos who had been…
Read MoreListening to Our Better Angels
“I have always thought of Christmas as a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time.” – Fred, the nephew of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol With the holiday season once again upon us, Americans from all walks of life – and every race, creed, and religion – become observers, and in many cases, active…
Read MoreA Country Worth Fighting For
http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/A-Country-Worth-Fighting-For.mp3 “If this country is worth living in, it’s worth fighting for. There is no set pattern – no time when you can say you’ve done enough.” – Albert Ireland, USMC, WWII and Korean War veteran, 9-time Purple Heart recipient Born in Cold Spring, New York, during the final months of WWI, Albert L. Ireland seemed…
Read More“What Would Sybil Say?” A POW’s Story of Love, Loyalty, and Survival
When asked what kept him going during his nearly three years as a Korean War POW, William “Bill” Funchess, 91, gives credit to his physical and mental toughness growing up as a “South Carolina farm boy;” his strong Christian faith; and his wife, Sybil. Reminiscing about “the most wonderful girl in the world,” Funchess said…
Read MoreWe’ll Go Down Fighting Like Marines
“Hang on, Bert. I’m coming to get you!” – Medal of Honor recipient PFC Gene Obregon to his buddy, PFC Bert Johnson, during a firefight in Seoul Athletic, witty, and hard working, Eugene “Gene” Obregon, was the kind of kid everyone liked. Born on November 12, 1930, in Los Angeles, California, he graduated from LA’s Theodore Roosevelt…
Read MoreThey Stood Proud and Strong
“We grunts never knew, one day from the next, where we were or what we were accomplishing. The mountains, valleys, stinking rice paddies, and frozen mountains all seemed the same to us. We were living and dying in our own violent little world.” – Marine serving during the Korean War with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines The…
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