Life magazine photo of US troops in Korea in 1952.
Chaplain Kenny Lynch conducts services north of Hwachon, Korea, for men of 31st Regt. August 28, 1951. Pvt. Jack D. Johnson. (Army)
1st Lt. Alvin Anderson, one of the many repatriated POW’s to return home aboard the USNS Marine Phoenix, embracing his mother and sister as other members of his family look on. Fort Mason, CA, September 14, 1953. Herb Weiss. (Army)
I am a bit surprised that London did not have a memorial of any kind in it in recognition of the United Kingdom’s valiant soldiers who fought in the Korean War until now:
The first public memorial in London to British soldiers who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War was unveiled in a ceremony Wednesday along the banks of the River Thames.
The memorial incorporates a bronze statue of a British soldier by award-winning Scottish sculptor Philip Jackson that stands in front of an inscribed Portland stone obelisk on a base of Welsh slate.
The 5.8 by 3.1 meter (19 by 10 feet) memorial is just outside the headquarters of the U.K. Ministry of Defence. It is the last such monument to be erected in the capital of one of the 16 countries that allied with South Korea during the war. Over 300 members of the British Korean Veterans Association (BKVA) attended the unveiling ceremony in Victoria Embankment Gardens in central London.
The ceremony was also attended by 200 British and Korean officials, including the Duke of Gloucester and Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se. The memorial is a gift from the Korean government to express thanks to the 81,000 British soldiers who served in the Korean War, which includes 1,106 troops killed and 1,060 who were prisoners of war.
Queen Elizabeth II sent a congratulatory message that was read by the Duke of Gloucester. “The memorial is a fitting tribute to the veterans of that fierce conflict,” she said in the message, “and will ensure that they, and their fallen comrades, are never forgotten.”
“The Korean War was the first UN action against aggression,” reads an inscription on the obelisk. “Although exhausted and impoverished after the Second World War, Britain responded immediately by providing strong naval, army and air forces and became the second largest contributor after the United States. A distant obligation honorably discharged.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link.
Below is a video with historical military footage of troops having Thanksgiving dinner on the Yalu River around the 4:00 minute mark:
A wounded soldier on a hospital ship in Incheon, Korea eats Thanksgiving dinner, in 1952. ( National Museum of Health and Medicine/Flickr ) via the Atlantic.
Sixty-three yrs later, Korean War vet receives a second Purple Heart from @VernBuchanan for "Chosun Few" heroics. http://t.co/7GS15bpqP0
— Richard Horgan (@LiberateLaura) November 22, 2014
For this week’s #TBT, we’re going a little more lighthearted. Marilyn Monroe, one of the world’s more famous actresses, appearing with the #USO Camp Show, “anything Goes,” poses for the shutterbugs after a performance at the 3rd U.S. Inf. Div. area.1954. (U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Welshman.) [USFK Facebook page]
For some of you that served in the Korean War or had family members who did maybe you can help identify some of the people in these photos:
More than 5.7 million Americans served in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. The U.S. Department of Defense chronicled America’s involvement through photographs, a collection of which found its way into the care of Air Force veteran Betty Perkins-Carpenter, a resident of Penfield, New York. Now, Perkins-Carpenter would like to pass on these original photos, which remain in excellent quality, to the men and women pictured in them or their families.
The Democrat and Chronicle, owned by the same parent company as Army Times, has teamed up with Kodak Alaris to share the photos with a wide audience. Digital files scanned by Kodak Alaris have been used to create this website.
Keep an eye open for people or places you might recognize. You can search the gallery for a name, hometown, battle or date by using the search bar below. Click a photo to view it in a larger format and access a link to email Perkins-Carpenter to inquire about a photo. [Army Times]
You can read more at the link.
Considering that last year the North Korean government spent a lot of money renovating a Korean War cemetery honoring North Korean veterans of the Korean War; I would not be surprised if the Chinese leadership were unhappy that their cemetery did not receive the same treatment:
North Korea has begun renovation work on a cemetery in the North’s capital for Chinese soldiers who were killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, China’s state media reported Tuesday.
China’s ambassador to North Korea, Liu Hongcai, attended a ceremony in Pyongyang to celebrate the start of renovation work, the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, reported on its website. [Yonhap]
