Tag: Korean War

According to the article there are still 7,000 personnel unaccounted for from the Korean War and this team is hoping to find some of them with an increased search effort in South Korea:

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification — and DPAA — the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency — have formed a 10-member team to look for 50 American service members killed or missing from battles involving the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, according to a ministry news release on Tuesday.

The investigators will survey six locations: Hongcheon in Gangwon province; Yangpyeong in Gyeonggi province; Changwon in South Gyeongsang province; Mungyeong and Sangju in North Gyeongsang province; and Yeongdong in North Chungcheong province. DPAA identified Hongcheon and Yangpyeong as potential spots tied to missing troops in January during a working-level coordination meeting by the U.S., South Korea and Australia, according to the release. Those areas are linked to battles during Chinese offensives in 1951, the ministry said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is a great article about the life of Chaplain Emil Kapaun who died while in captivity during the Korean War. Before he died he was credited for aiding and saving the lives of many Soldiers during the war and in various POW camps:

Army chaplain Emil Kapaun repairs a bicycle in Korea in August 1950. Kapaun often traveled by bicycle near the front lines to visit soldiers. (Photo courtesy Col. Raymond Skeehan)

The last time Paul Roach and Mike Dowe had seen the Rev. Emil Kapaun, he was being taken away by prison guards during the Korean War — sick, shivering and near death. More than 70 years later, in 2021, the two former Korean War prisoners traveled to Kansas to finally view the remains of their friend, the beloved Army chaplain, after the military identified Kapaun among unknown soldiers buried in Hawaii, finding remains long thought to be lost forever.

Kapaun would be welcomed home to Wichita by a crowd of more than 6,000 people and finally given a proper burial. But before the congregation paid its respects, the two aging veterans, who had been imprisoned alongside Kapaun, gathered for a private viewing beside the chaplain’s flag-draped casket. As soon as Kapaun’s remains were uncovered, Roach and Dowe recognized their friend immediately. “That’s his smile!” Roach said, recalled the Rev. Matthew Pawlikowski, a retired Army chaplain who accompanied the men to the viewing. “Even in death, he was bringing joy to people.”

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the ink.

This must must have been a awesome moment for these veterans:

Eight veterans of the Korean War arrived from Commonwealth countries in time to mark the 75th anniversary of a crucial battle of the war and their historic contribution. Approximately 2,500 troops from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, with support from the U.S. and South Korean armies, held back 10 times their number at the Battle of Gapyeong on April 23-25, 1951.

The Commonwealth troops held back the Chinese Spring Offensive and spared Seoul from recapture by Communist forces. A total of 26 veterans and their families arrived as guests of South Korea on April 22 in Seoul to pay tribute at the War Memorial and visit the Commonwealth Monument in Gapyeong, about 40 miles northeast of the capital. Saturday, they visited Panmunjom, the truce village inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link as well as read my prior posting about the Battle of Gapyong.

Here is one of the best good news stories from the Korean War when Chaplain Russell Blaisdell and Staff Sergeant Mike Strang helped to organized a large airlift of orphans to Jeju:

Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Russell Blaisdell, left, and Staff Sgt. Merle “Mike” Strang in an undated photo. (U.S. Air Force)

U.S. Air Force chaplains at two sites in South Korea recently marked the 75th anniversary of a humanitarian airlift that saved hundreds of children at a critical moment in the Korean War. Operation Kiddy Car began Dec. 20, 1950, as Chinese and North Korean forces advanced toward Seoul, forcing United Nations troops to withdraw, leaving hundreds of orphaned children without a safe way out of the city.

Nearly 1,000 children were flown to safety at Jeju Island aboard 16 Air Force transport planes thanks to the operation organized and led by Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Russell Blaisdell, according to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force website. Ceremonies at Osan Air Base on Dec. 17 and at South Korea’s Gwangju ChoonHyun Babies Home Memorial on Thursday recognized the operation’s historical significance and the Air Force’s humanitarian role. In a short speech at Gwangju, Kyung-Ae Lim provided a personal perspective, shifting focus from official history to a child affected by the war.

“My name is Kyung-Ae Lim, and I stand before you as one who was once a Korean War orphan,” Lim said in the frigid air at the Gwangju memorial. Lim was 10 years old when Blaisdell helped her evacuate, an experience she said changed her life. Lim spoke for about five minutes next to a statue of Blaisdell. “We were transferred by U.S. C-54 cargo planes to Jeju Island,” Lim said. “Even now, 75 years later, the memories of those days remain vivid in my heart.” The Skymaster aircraft eventually carried about 955 children and several dozen caregivers to Jeju Island, in what historians consider a rare example of a chaplain-led humanitarian evacuation during active combat.

Blaisdell “saved many orphans from near certain death by collecting them from the streets” with the help of Staff Sgt. Merle “Mike” Strang and Korean social workers, according to the museum. Blaisdell found shelter and medical care for the children, while he and Lt. Col. Dean Hess arranged contributions of food, money and clothing.

Lim said that after arriving on Jeju, the children were sheltered by U.S. and Korean caretakers, and that Blaisdell remained a constant presence during a time marked by fear, displacement and uncertainty. “We may be from different countries, but I sincerely thank Chaplain Blaisdell for taking care of us with God’s love,” Lim said. “I sincerely thank Chaplain Blaisdell for giving me a second chance at life.” 

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link or check out my prior posting about Chaplain Blaisdell that is part of my Heroes of the Korean War series below:

This is an interesting story from the Korean War I had not heard about before that may lead to the awarding of a Medal of Honor:

A 100-year-old Korean War veteran involved in a secretive dogfight with seven Russian fighter planes more than 70 years ago would be eligible for the Medal of Honor upon the passage of a new defense spending bill expected to be voted on later this week. The National Defense Authorization Act for 2026, finalized on Sunday, includes legislation that removes a five-year statute of limitations rule so that Royce Williams, whose exploits as a Navy pilot are now part of military lore, can be considered for the nation’s highest award for courage under fire.

On Nov. 18, 1952, Williams was piloting an F9F-5 Panther when he encountered seven Soviet MiG-15s. Williams, a lieutenant at the time, shot down four of the fighters and survived a 37-millimeter round to his fuselage. Though his plane was badly damaged, he managed to make a safe landing on the deck of the USS Oriskany aircraft carrier off the North Korean coast.

After the mission, he was directed to keep silent about the high stakes dogfight that pitted him against Soviet aviators at the peak of the Cold War.  “In the moment I was a fighter pilot doing my job … I was only shooting what I had,” Williams said in an earlier Navy account of the dogfight. “They had me cold on maneuverability and acceleration — the MiG was vastly superior on those counts to the F9F. The only thing I could do was out-turn them.” Williams battled the Russian pilots for 35 minutes, making the encounter the longest dogfight in U.S. military history, according to the Navy.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is a pretty cool family legacy to have. Congratulations to LTC MacKnyght or her recent retirement:

The great-granddaughter of U.S. Army Gen. Matthew Ridgway recently visited South Korea to see the place where United Nations troops waged a desperate fight to finally halt a Chinese counteroffensive nearly 75 years ago. Julie MacKnyght, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, toured Chipyong-ni, where U.S. and French troops under the United Nations Command held off waves of Chinese attacks Feb. 13-15, 1951.

Her great-grandfather, at the time commander of Eighth Army, ordered the U.S. 23rd Regimental Combat Team, along with the French, to hold the vital crossroads village and halt the Chinese army advance. U.N. troops, surrounded and outnumbered five to one, held on for three days, according to a U.S. Army account of the fight. “It’s been amazing to be able to come here,” MacKnyght said Tuesday during a tour of the Chipyong-ni battle memorial about 40 miles east of Seoul. “I’ve been fascinated by my great-grandfather since I was a little girl. So, it’s really cool to see firsthand his impacts here in Korea.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This week is the 75th anniversary of the Incheon Landing Operation that turned the tide of the Korean War.  With the Lee administration trying to play nice with North Korea, it will be interesting to see how visibly ROK government officials will attend official events commemorating the Incheon Landing.

You can read more about the Incheon Landing Operation at my prior postings at the below links:

For anyone visiting Incheon the memorial hall there dedicated to the landing is well worth checking out as well: 

Long time ROK Heads may remember how in 2005 huge riots broke out in Incheon as ROK veterans groups defended the MacArthur statue in Incheon commemorating Operation Chromite from the anti-US groups that had vowed to tear it down.

Fortunately the anti-US groups failed to tear down the statue after their Braveheart style attack was foiled by police and pro-US groups.  For those that haven’t been there before Jayu Park in Incheon where the MacArthur statue stands is well worth checking out as well as taking a walk through Chinatown below the hill. Hopefully you don’t run into any anti-US leftists this week if visiting the park.