The forgotten war

"Just Jeepin'" (macintux)
06/24/2020 at 21:55 • Filed to: Planelopnik

Despite watching many episodes of M*A*S*H, I hadn’t picked up on most of these tidbits from the Korean Wa r (sorry, “police action”) . It was particularly surprising to learn that Taiwan probably owes its independence to the w ar.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Also the first jet to jet dogfights . Interesting stuff.

DISCUSSION (18)

fintail > Just Jeepin'
06/24/2020 at 22:31

When I was a little kid, my dad watched M.A.S.H., and I’d watch snippets, but I was just a little young for the humor, I guess. At that age I knew about the presence of WW2 and Vietnam, but not about Korea - I thought M.A.S.H was s et in Vietnam due to so many of the characters having 70s hairstyles, which I assumed would have been seen in Vietnam due to the time proximity.

I also didn’t get that Laverne and Shirley was set in the 50s, again, because of the hairstyles of numerous characters - I just thought they were eccentric. Not until I saw the Happy Days joint episode that I got it - hairstyles fool me.

As WW2 vets are now fading away rapidly and Korean vets are next up, Korea stories should probably be documented more.

facw > Just Jeepin'
06/24/2020 at 22:40

I knew all of these but the ordina nce total one. Of course I have read a history of the Korean War:

Though I think the bit about deciding to shield Taiwan came from something I read for my American Foreign Policy S ince 1945 class.

Anyway, I suspect most people know very little about the war. I doubt most people know that most of the war was fought primarily against Chinese forces (the North Korean army was largely defeated within the first year), that the North Koreans had captured almost the entire country within a few months, to the point that the South Korean/US/UN forces basically only controlled a small area around Busan in the South East corner of the country, or that having weathered the storm at Busan, the US Army was able to just as quickly push all the way to North Korea’s border with China, before being ambushed by a huge Chinese army that they had carelessly allowed to sneak in behind them in the mountains.

ttyymmnn > Just Jeepin'
06/24/2020 at 22:51

You should read about the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. It’s a harrowing tale of how the Marines and Army had pretty much pushed all the way to the Chinese border in the dead of winter only to have the Chinese come over the border and eventually kick us back to Pusan. One part of the story is the Marines who were surrounded at the reservoir but managed to fight their way out, while a force of Army soldiers protecting their flank were pretty much routed and fought on leaderless as they tried to escape. I had a neighbor when I lived in Houston who was one of the “Chosin Few” and fought at the reservoir.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chosin_Reservoir

facw > fintail
06/24/2020 at 22:56

I’d imagine most Korean war vets are already gone. If you were 18 at the time of the armistice, you’d be at least 83 today, so you have to figure most veterans would be in their late 80s, well beyond average male life expectancy.

fintail > facw
06/24/2020 at 23:39

Yep just like with the WW2 guys where we might have another decade until they are virtually all gone, just add a decade or so for Korea. I trust someone will document things a bit.

jminer > Just Jeepin'
06/24/2020 at 23:42

One of my grandfathers fought in Korea and did a variety of jobs during it but his favorite was as an artillery spotter. He would ride along in a small civilian prop plane doing things like calling in coordinates on convoys and enemy artillery installations.

He once told me a story of an AA battery that was tucked in just right into the side of a mountain covering a large valley and it kept knocking down American planes. It was protected enough that multiple ground based artillery attacks didn’t destroy it and he was sent out again to call for the Missouri. The battleship fired three salvos and he said the sound of those big guns hitting was like nothing else he’d ever heard before in his life and this man had spent several years in a combat unit at this point. They had to loiter for an hour for the dust to settle enough for identification of the damage. He said half the mountain was gone and they saw the battery upside down halfway buried in rubble.

Just Jeepin' > jminer
06/24/2020 at 23:44

I regret, but suppose I’m grateful, that I’ll never have an opportunity to see those classic battleships unload on the enemy up close and personal.

jminer > ttyymmnn
06/24/2020 at 23:44

That is excellent reading, thanks for posting that

ttyymmnn > jminer
06/24/2020 at 23:49

My mom’s 4th husband (long story) fought with the 2nd ID at Pusan. He suffered a head wound and was sent home. Didn’t seem to affect him long term, luckily. He was a great guy. Very unassuming, but he went to do a job.

jminer > Just Jeepin'
06/24/2020 at 23:49

I feel the same way, the unbelievable power they could unleash is like nothing else short of the largest bombs we have today.

That being said the use case for them today is very small and they’d be insanely vulnerable to modern air power.

jminer > ttyymmnn
06/24/2020 at 23:55

I had three grandfathers that served and their attitude was all the same.

My fathers father was a PT boat captain in WWII, my fathers mothers second husband served in Korea and he shared some excellent stories and my mother’s father served as an intelligence officer in the air force from Korea through the mid 90s when he retired.

facw > fintail
06/24/2020 at 23:58

Yep less than a decade really, especially since much of the “action” was in the first six months of the war.

But yeah, if you don’t get their histories now, you’ll have fewer chances down the road pretty quickly .

ttyymmnn > ttyymmnn
06/25/2020 at 00:00

I got my timeline a little out of order. The UN was forced back to Pusan early in the war, then MacArthur landed at Incheon and we went all the way north to the Yalu River bordering China. China entered the war and we fell back into South Korea, and the war went back and forth for a while before settling at the 38th parallel, pretty much where things were at the start. Just a lot more dead people.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Just Jeepin'
06/25/2020 at 00:23

My grandpa was in WWII and Korea. I have read a lot about it over the years and now I have the truck from that era so I’ve been really digging. I’ve actually learned a lot about Nam in the process because of the truck research.

ttyymmnn > fintail
06/25/2020 at 01:07

Have you ever watched the MASH movie? It’s brilliant. Clearly a Vietnam protest film, it also brilliantly highlights the absurdity and wastefulness of war, but not quite as preachily as the show.

ttyymmnn > Just Jeepin'
06/25/2020 at 01:09

The USS New Jersey was shelling Lebanon as late as 1984. I remember that clearly, as I was in high school at the time.

fintail > ttyymmnn
06/25/2020 at 02:01

Never seen it, might be good to put on an eventual list. I still watch the show now and then, as when I visit my grandma, the old shows are the first choices.

haveacarortwoorthree2 > ttyymmnn
06/25/2020 at 08:54

Breakout by Martin Russ is a pretty good book about it.