Sunday News, New York City. N Korea Reds Declare War
June 25 2021 Remembering June 25, 1950
Today marks the 71st Anniversary of the beginning of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula as the North Korean Armed Forces crossed into South Korea. A scramble took place to send US Forces from Japan back to Korea. The image of the newspaper clipping tells the grim story of the attack across the demarcation line. The Chinese, Soviets and North Koreans had been discussing such an attack for many months prior to the actual attack.
US military capacities had been drastically reduced in the years following the end of World War Two. US Forces garrisoned in Japan were immediately called to action to include KMAG advisors who had recently been withdrawn.
Both of us have been able to meet quite a few of the first US ground forces from the 24th Infantry Division that comprised Task Force Smith.
Hundreds of books, internet, and media articles have been published over the years on the early days of this war. Finding online resources was difficult in the early days of the World Wide Web (Internet).
Part of our personal tribute to those men and women who answered the call is to give our thanks and to also say a final goodbye as the ranks thin. We have been blessed to have made so many pen pals since beginning this project. Hal Barker has attended many reunions of the men who 'adopted' him into their ranks as he researched how our father performed his duties as a Marine pilot in Korea.
Hal was invited to be an honorary lifetime member of the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division Korean War Branch Association. Many other units participated in those reunions all from units that were attached to or fought next to the 23rd during the course of the war.
What we did not know as youngsters was the intense training it took to prepare for war. Men and women all around us were training far in advance of the outbreak of fighting. Dad moved from duty station and schools from late 1948 through September of 1951. His task was to train as a helicopter pilot and then train other pilots from the Navy and US Marine Corps. Final destination was Marine Air Base El Toro.
California was a beehive of activity for all branches of service from San Diego up the coast and then into Oregon and Washington. Offshore locations such as Hawaii and the Philippines also had to rush into military readiness to move personnel to Korea or to locations to provide direct support such as naval or air operations.
We have seen some moving narratives penned by veterans, family members, historians and especially from Korean Nationals and Korean Americans. So, let's begin our solemn day of Remembrance with a letter from a Korean family member.
A Message From Korea - June 25, 1999
Hi, I am Inyang Jo from Seoul, Korea.
49 year ago, Korean War broke out, and my mother was born three days after that.
My grandmother told me that when she was packing to escape, my aunt was so excited because she thought that her family was going to picnic.
But we all know it wasn't that pleasant trip.
During that chaos, my mother was born, and my grandmother was so worried about her baby. Because nothing was unsure for her future.
Now she has a husband and two children who loves her very much.
And she is a elementary school teacher.
I am her daughter who is about to graduate from university. I bought a shirt for her birthday, it is green. Green is great on her.
I am writing to you for saying how I am great for your being at that tragic war.
Not only my country's young men but also young men from all over the world fought for justice, peace and liberty.
Consequently, you got hurt and even killed. I am sure my mom has had happy life because of that sacrifice of yours. I thank you for safety of my mom and her family.
Because of you, I am here having my mother whom I love more that anything in the world.
Therefore I want you to know that as long as Korea exists, as long as my mother lives and I live and my kids ( I don't have them yet, though ) live, you can never be forgettable.
Love, Inyang Jo
Seoul, Korea
From: Hal Barker referring to his story "Return to Heartbreak Ridge"
A trip to Waianae:
On the way to writing this story, I discovered the story of PFC Herbert K. Pililaau, Medal of Honor, a young soldier who died on Heartbreak Ridge. On November 3, 1994, I visited the Hawaiian Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials near the Iolani Palace in Honolulu.
Later, I walked the Punchbowl to pay my respects to the dead of many wars. Over 800 Unknowns from the Korean War lie at rest overlooking Honolulu.
On that bright day in November, the Unknowns were alone without flowers to mark their graves. I walked past each grave in turn, knowing they will be remembered in my heart.
Hal Barker
Note: Post Truce Korea (DMZ Era)
A recurring message that Ted Barker gets is from men and women who served after the truce up through current date. The theme is often not wanting to receive the email newsletters since the sender was not in service during the Korean War.
Well over 60% of our correspondents on the website and by email served after July 27, 1953. Everyone is welcome to be part of our extended "family". We have routinely posted information of value for this grouping since our first newsletters.
Here are the key items that have consumed most of our time this past year.
1. Programming
2. Move of our service provider
3. New email service
4. Research | Casualty Book Announcement.
5. SSL issues
6. Subscribing and Unsubscribing
7. New news features are now available.
Hal has had to spend considerable time fixing errors that pop up when there are updates with our software. He asks that anyone encountering errors to please report them to him to include location on the site, type of error, etc.
Our service provider, GTT, alerted us about shutting down our type of internet connection in late March, 2021.
Ted began the mad scramble to find the right home for all of our website services and email server. There were a lot of tech support discussions as well as testing of upgrades to find the end location. The website was up and down quite a few times as a result.
Part of the migration required a new email server and addition of a bulk email newsletter service, MailerLite. Our new home for our mail server is Rackspace.
We are pleased to announce that Spectrum Business is our new home. Visitors to the website should notice much faster speed of access as a result of the unanticipated move to Spectrum.
From now on a much different looking mass mail will be offered. There will be categories other than 1950-1953. These include DMZ Era Veteran topics such as Toxic Chemical exposure.
Note: We would like to announce the first comprehensive accounting of Korean War losses in book form. You may read more directly at the website. (See the blue link below)
The book is the culmination of over 25 years of intensive work to honor those who perished in the Korean War. Our online database has always been the starting point for visitors to research.
The entire database is available online at the Korean War Project for viewing by the public. It wil continue to be a place for additions and corrections for our war dead.
Only 500 copies are being printed for availability in late July, 2021. Hardback, library quality, 528 pages.
The Korean War database is much more advanced than the current DOD database now on NARA that is slated for use on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance.
SSL Issues linger. This means lingering issues with Apple products and some Windows 7-10 users who get notices about security or access. Some Apple based devices have no issues while others have serious issues. IBM style Windows applications like Chrome, Firefox or Edge can be fixed very easily.
See the link provided for troubleshooting both types of operating systems. As always, contact Ted at tbarker@kwp.org for immediate assistance. Links will be forthcoming to provide some help solving the impediment to access.
Subscribing and Unsubscribing to our email delivered content has been hit or miss in the past. Everyone that will receive this email has consented in the past to getting copies of our email.
If we have missed any message from you to leave our list or pause delivery, this new delivery system will make sure there is no further contact for group email. Regular email, phone, or letters will always be available.
See the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of this page. If you choose the subscribe button and wish to reserve a copy of the Casualty book, check the corresponding block.
Our new features will include groupings to give you content that is tuned to your original reason for leaving messages on our site. You may select one or more topic areas. Some of those areas will include Help files to answer questions or find items. Questions like the following records, finding buddies, maps, navigating of our site.
Best regards,
Ted Barker [Admin]
tbarker@kwp.org
Hal Barker, Director
hbarker@kwp.org
PH: (214) 320-0342
Korean War Project
PO Box 180190, Dallas
Texas 75218 United States
