The Mistaken History of the Korean War: What We Got Wrong Then and Now

199 Pages·2018·1.629 MB·English

by  Paul M Edwards

The Mistaken History
of the Korean War
ALSOBYPAULM. EDWARDS
ANDFROMMCFARLAND
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United Nations Participants in the Korean War:
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Combat Operations of the Korean War:
Ground, Air, Sea, Special and Covert(2010)
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Small United States and United Nations
Warships in the Korean War(2008)
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A Dictionary of Hills, Outposts and Other
Sites of Military Action(2006)
The Mistaken History
of the Korean War
What We Got Wrong
Then and Now
P M. E
AUL DWARDS
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Names: Edwards, Paul M.
Title: The mistaken history of the Korean War : what we got wrong
then and now / Paul M. Edwards.
Description: Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc.,
Publishers, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018000264 | ISBN 9781476670485 (softcover :
acid free paper)♾
Subjects: LCSH: Korean War, 1950–1953. | Korean War, 1950–1953—
Historiography.
Classification: LCC DS918 .E364 2018 | DDC 951.904/2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018000264
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
ISBN (print) 978-1-4766-7048-5
ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-3077-9
© 2018 Paul M. Edwards. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Front cover: Corporal Charles E. Price plays “Taps” at a cemetery
for his fellow Marines in Hungnam, Korea, on December 13, 1950
(Department of Defense)
Printed in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
To the life and memory
of Frank Kelly and Robert Kozuki
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgment ix
Preface 1
I. Reluctant to Call It War 7
II. Post-Traumatic Perseverance 12
III. Getting It Straight 18
IV. Failed Expectations 50
V. Memory Mistakes Minimize Mission 58
VI. No One Was Invited to the Parade 73
VII. The Shock of No Gun Ri 85
VIII. The Infidelity of the Storytellers 93
IX. Brainwashed, Yes, but Who? 139
Conclusion 162
Chapter Notes 167
Bibliography 177
Index 181
vii
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Acknowledgments
A special thanks must be expressed to the veterans of the Korean
War, and their families, who deposited their papers in archives and depo-
s itories across the nation. This is especially true of those gifts given to
the Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum and Library and to the Cen-
ter for the Study of the Korean War in Independence, Missouri, where
students and scholars continue to profit from them. These personal
papers have been invaluable in this study. For many of those who sur-
vived the war in Korea, it remained a private experience, and to expose
their letters and memoirs to the public was difficult indeed. While much
of the information they provide has been used as available, it is impor-
tant to note that their ideas, points of view, sometimes their words, as
well as their unspoken emotions, have been adopted with great care
and respect. The selection of what to use and the interpretations of
their meaning are my own and I take full responsibility for them.
Appreciation is also expressed to the many veterans who have
shared their views through oral histories in which they talk about mem-
ories and why they have been so easily forgotten. It is interesting to
note that many of these conversations are different from those provided
in less formal discussions and recordings. Those differences have been
dependent on notes taken at the time and are identified for documen-
tation. It is important to acknowledge the help of colleagues such as
the highly insightful Dr. James Matray, the consummate researcher Dr.
Mike Pearlman, and the honestly cautious Dr. Allen Millet for their
assis tance primarily via the written works. Special thanks are extended
to those scholars who have produced highly significant monographs,
among these Franklin Cooling’s “Allied Interoperability in the Korean
War”1and a “History of the Korean War: Inter- Allied Cooperation Dur-
ing Combat Operations 1952.”2 Special acknowledgment must go to
ix