A Foxhole View: Personal Accounts of Hawaii’s Korean War Veterans PDF
Preview A Foxhole View: Personal Accounts of Hawaii’s Korean War Veterans
A FOXHOLE VIEW A F O X H O L E V I E W Personal Accounts of Hawaii’s Korean War Veterans edited by Louis Baldovi A Latitude 20 Book University of Hawai‘i Honolulu © 2002 University of Hawai‘i Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 07 06 05 04 03 02 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A foxhole view : personal accounts of Hawaii’s Korean War veterans / edited by Louis Baldovi. p. cm. “A Latitude 20 Book.” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8248-2588-8 (cloth : alk. paper) – ISBN 0-8248-2610-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Korean War, 1950–1953—Regimental histories—United States. 2. United States. Army. Regimental Combat Team. 5th. 3. Korean War, 1950–1953—Personal narratives, American. 4. Korean War, 1950–1953—Veterans—Hawaii. 5. Hawaii. I . Baldovi, Louis. DS919 .F68 20002 951.904'28—dc21 2002018078 Frontispiece: Old Baldy after weeks of fighting ( July 1952). Courtesy of Glenn E. White. University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources. Designed by Bookcomp, Inc. Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group A SOLDIER’S STORY The rifleman fights without promise of either reward or relief. Behind every river there’s another hill—and behind that hill, another river. After weeks or months in the line only a wound can offer him the comfort of safety, shelter or bed. Those who are left to fight, fight on, evading death but knowing that with each day of evasion they have exhausted one more chance for survival. Sooner or later, unless victory comes, this chase must end on the litter or in the grave. General of the Army Omar N. Bradley contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Overview of the Korean War xv Chronology of the Korean War xix Military Terms and Expressions xxiii Part I. 1950 | The Cold War Turns Hot 1 Part II. 1951 | Chinese Firecrackers in Korea 109 Part III. 1952 | Trench Warfare and Hilltop Battles 185 Part IV. 1953 | Truce Talks, Patrols, and Artillery Duels 259 Appendixes A Roll Call of Killed in Action 287 B Basic Combat Organizations 293 C Basic Weapons Used by American and Communist Forces 295 Selected Bibliography 299 Index 00 vii preface On the north lawn of the state capitol in Honolulu, beneath a canopy of native Hawaiian trees are two serpentine walls 5 feet high, one much longer than the other. The walls are made of polished black granite and are pedestaled, each pedestal bearing the name of a Hawaii soldier killed in the Vietnam or Korean War. The longer of the two walls, about 80 feet in length, honors 456 of Hawaii’s men who died in the Korean War. On July 24, 1994, forty-two years after the Korean War cease fire took place, the State of Hawaii dedicated this monument to honor all its gallant sons. In comparison to the overall population of the United States, Hawaii suffered three times as many wounded and three and a half times the total number of casualties. Of the sixteen nations, excluding the United States, that sent ground combat units to Korea, only Turkey and the United Kingdom had more men killed in action than Hawaii. In spite of the sacrifices by Hawaii soldiers, little had been told about them following the war and, at the same time, very little was heard from its veterans. Perhaps people were just tired of hearing about wars. For whatever reasons, Korea became known as the “Forgotten War.” On July 27, 1995, the Korean War Memorial in the nation’s capital was dedicated, giving notice to the country that the Korean War was not a “Forgotten War” after all. In his address at the dedication, Presi- dent Clinton declared that July 27, 1996, through July 27, 2003, shall be known as “National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day.” In 1997, the Defense Department announced that June 25, 2000, to November 11, 2003, would be recognized as the “50th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration.” In 1999, Hawaii’s governor appointed a com- mission comprised of Korean War veterans to conduct events related to the commemoration. However, even with their newly found identity, very little has been written about Hawaii’s Korean War veterans.This was the primary reason ix
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