I am a resident of Illinois in the United States who has been
conducting full-length taped interviews with American Korean War
veterans since 1996. In the course of these interviews, I have seen
the anguish in the faces of these men who fought so valiantly on
behalf of the people of South Korea. War was very hard on these
peace-loving men, and the memories of what they had to do in order
to save South Korea from Communist aggression and keep alive
themselves are painful ones, and ones that refuse to go away. I am
very angry about the AP story. The following commentary is based on
the memories of the American Korean War veterans I have interviewed:
In a recent AP story, the writers claim that 1st Cavalry
riflemen broke the "law of war" when they killed civilians at No
Gun Ri during the Korean War. I have interviewed some 250 Korean
War veterans in 3-9 hour interview sessions, and I do not
believe that an "expert" on war would make such a ridiculous
statement. Every combat veteran knows that the only true "law"
during war is to kill or be killed. During the Korean War,
America’s finest men fought for survival in a brutal war that
killed over 33,000 Americans, wounded 103,000 more, and still
claims more than 8,000 missing veterans. These men did not dodge
the draft or question their country’s need in 1950-53. Instead,
they responded to the call and fought for the freedom of people
they did not know in a far away country that was equally unknown
to them.
The hard and true facts are that during that horrible
war, civilians were callously used by the communist enemy as
pawns in their plan to take over South Korea. Old men, women,
and little children were armed with communication equipment and
weapons and sent by the enemy into American defense perimeters
to kill and maim. They strapped explosives to their bodies and
deliberately detonated them after walking into areas where high
concentrations of American troops were gathered. Civilians gave
away allied positions, poisoned our troops, slit their throats
in the dark of night, and tossed hand grenades into mess tents.
North Korean soldiers and mercenaries (male and female) dressed
themselves as civilians to infiltrate among the thousands of
refugees fleeing North Korea. American troops had no way to
discern who was or wasn’t North Korean unless an interpreter
could tell them.
There was a reason why the refugees were
fleeing. Communist North Koreans and Chinese were a vicious
bunch. They destroyed everything in their path—hearth and
humanity. They slaughtered pregnant women and unborn babies.
They murdered old men, teen and pre-teen youth, and toddlers.
They killed civilian missionaries and teachers. They drugged
thousands of their own men with opiates and then sent them into
battle without weapons, determined to win the war by sheer
numbers, if not expertise. This vicious enemy slaughtered
American medics and the wounded they were tending, knowing full
well who they were. They tied the hands of unarmed Americans
behind their backs, cut off their genitals, and shoved them down
their throats. They strung our young men to trees with
communication wire, hanging them dead or alive. They set fire to
truckloads of wounded and unarmed American servicemen. They
beat, starved, and walked wounded Americans hundreds of hours on
death marches to POW camps. In those camps, the communists
generally under-fed their prisoners, did not provide sanitary
facilities, would not allow the Red Cross to visit, and ordered
weak and hungry prisoners to go on burial detail after their
buddies had died a miserable death. The enemy did not care a fat
fig about humane treatment of Americans, or the "law of war."
Not one single American who served in South Korea owes the
people of that country an apology for anything. Appreciation,
not censure, should be the order of the day from South Koreans,
because the price of the freedom they enjoy today was paid with
American blood, American tears, American money, American
military expertise, and American sacrifice.
This is my message
to any reporter or member of the general public who points the
finger of blame at American troops for the loss of "innocent"
civilians during the Korean War, or any war: Try experiencing
the horror of seeing a buddy take a direct hit from incoming
mortar fire. Watch his body disintegrate right before your very
eyes. Then come back to the free country in which you live and
talk to me about the "law of war." War is not pretty. War is not
fair. In war, combatants die and so do innocent civilians caught
in the line of fire.
The feats of bravery and endurance of America’s Korean War
veterans were many and remarkable, but they have generally gone
unrecognized for decades. What a shame that, on the eve of the
50th anniversary commemorative events for Korean War veterans,
the news media has chosen to finally "reward" these good and
faithful men with a story that has more holes shot through it
than Seoul had after the Inchon invasion. The story was a gross
injustice to Korean War veterans—and reflected the ignorance of
authors who are clueless about the realities of war.
