Posts Tagged ‘North Korea’
A 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 MoreThey Pray Like Angels and Fight Like Demons
“The Puerto Ricans are proud of their heritage, and on top of that, the soldiers of the 65th Infantry are very proud of their Regiment . . .” – William W. Harris, Commanding Officer, 65th Infantry Regiment Fought in sub-zero temperatures, brutal terrain, and knee-deep snow, the Chosin-Hungnam campaign, the most costly and potentially disastrous four weeks…
Read More1,010 Days of Hell
“They closed in steadily on us. There was no rush, no storming our positions. We kept knocking them down like ducks in a shooting gallery but they kept coming.” – Marine SSgt James Nash Chosin: Hellfire Valley Throughout the horrific night of November 29, 1950, Major John “Jack” McLaughlin and his men fought off wave…
Read MoreA “Timeless” Tribute to the Korean War
In one of the most unlikely events of holiday primetime television, the writers of “Timeless,” a science fiction drama series with a following of millions, showcased the Korean War’s Hungnam Evacuation. The show’s final episode, which aired on December 20 and highlighted the little-known military and humanitarian operation, became the talk of the town on…
Read MoreA Christmas Miracle
Thousands of refugees, huddled at the water’s edge and anxiously waiting to board American ships, knew what would happen if they were left behind. The Chinese, massing in the nearby mountains, would storm into Hungnam and make an example of anyone who had defied them. US and ROK collaborators, Christians, anti-communists, and anyone deemed a…
Read MoreFighting and Dying in a Frozen Hell
It’s a pivotal event of the 20th century. The Battle of Chosin, or “Changjin” as it’s called in Korea, a two-week-long bloodbath pitting 30,000 US, ROK, and British troops against 120,000 Chinese soldiers, was a defining moment of the Korean War. Fighting in the winter of 1950 in bitter cold and brutal terrain, men endured…
Read MoreMen of the Merchant Marine: Unsung Heroes of the Korean War
As the elderly American, surrounded by cameras, microphones, and reporters, walked towards the memorial, two Korean men stepped forward from the crowd. As if on cue, the sea of people suddenly parted, and the three men shook hands, their warm smiles and contagious laughs drawing everyone’s attention. It was a magical moment, one that words and pictures…
Read MoreChildhood Dog Tag Hunts
Country “A”: “We don’t study that.” “No, our teachers never talk about it.” “I may have heard about it in a movie but not at school.” Country “B”: “Oh, yes, we learn about it starting in grade school.” “It’s taught as a great victory.” “We study it in detail.” Living in Korea for the past…
Read MoreTeamwork, Freedom, and Choco Pies
Remember the footage a few months ago of a North Korean soldier dashing across the border into South Korea, his fellow countrymen frantically chasing, yelling, and firing their guns at him? The video was seen by millions around the world. In the hours immediately following the dramatic escape, the 24-year-old, riddled with bullets and bleeding…
Read MoreSending Them to Die
At the age of 16, Lee Tae-won, convicted of helping a young woman escape from North Korea and deemed an enemy of the state, was sentenced to five years in a “re-education” camp, or gulag. His father, an accomplice to his son’s treasonous behavior, was given the same sentence. As traitors of the Supreme Leader,…
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