Launches Korean War "Living History" Retrospective; Staffs Media Center at Opening Ceremony
Washington, DC - Military.com (www.military.com), the trusted online home for the military community, today launched an online retrospective honoring those who served in the Korean War. This special feature includes first-hand wartime accounts and invites veterans around the country to share their stories and contribute to public understanding of this conflict. Personal stories are presented in the context of historical events, maps, photos, official documents, and more.
Military.com is also sponsoring and manning the media center at the opening ceremony for the nation's Korean War Commemorations in Washington, DC on June 25th. This Sunday afternoon event on the National Mall, adjacent to the Korean War Veterans Memorial, features a wreath-laying ceremony and remarks by President Clinton. The event begins the nation's three-year commemoration of the Korean War.
Veterans' Stories
Below are examples of the powerful first-hand accounts that Korean War veterans have already shared at Military.com.
Lt. Col. Lloyd Childers, USMC, Itazuke Air Field, Japan
"Most of the missions that I flew in that area were "hecklers," where we would go up at night and drone around. If we knew that we were in enemy territory, we would drop a bomb or do some strafing. I think the primary mission of a heckler designated flight was to keep the enemy awake. It was interesting to watch whenever we would fly toward an area -- we knew when they heard our airplane engine because the lights would start to go out. And the whole area would become dark. This we did for -- I don't know how long -- a few weeks. The situation changed drastically because of the Inchon landing in September. .."
Donald "Red" Krause, 5th Regimental Combat Team, Pusan Perimeter
"We later learned from prisoners that our mountain was their objective -- seize and hold at all cost. Their approach to our positions was from the west and northwest. They had begun their attack earlier by sending North Korean soldiers infiltrating up the mountainside at night using balls of string to establish routes for the main attack to follow. Since it took several nights to accomplish the mission, the scouts would remain motionless during the day when movement could be spotted. They would continue their stealthy advance the next night…"
Clarence Mehlhaff, 24th Division, 63rd Field Artillery, July 1950, South of Taejon
"This buddy of mine and myself, we finally jumped out of the truck. I was so tired. It's hard to explain what you just went through -- of all the firing and that, and not getting hit. Everybody in the truck was shooting into the buildings and whoever was in the buildings was shooting at you. Once we got out of town, my buddy and I, we jumped off the truck because I couldn't go no more. I was so tired and I just wanted to go to sleep. I laid down behind a tree ... we laid down and fell asleep. It was around four o'clock when we heard a funny noise coming down the road, which woke us up. It was a 12-ton wrecker, an Army wrecker. They were coming out of Taejon also. It had big pipes on, and was making a lot of noise. The guy stopped, and he said, "Do you guys want a ride?" I said, "Yea, where are you going to?" He said, "Well, we're going to have to get out of here because the enemy is coming in the back here, they're probably 4 miles from here." So, we got on that wrecker and we took off. The next thing, we were back on the other side of the Naktong River..."