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Newsletter - July 6, 2001Korean War Project
P.O. Box 180190
Dallas, TX 75218-0190
214-320-0342
https://www.koreanwar.org/html/newsletter_july_2001.html
July 6, 2001
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July 2001 Newsletter
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Table of Contents
1. DNA Update|Search For Korean War MIA/POW Family DNA
2. US House speech, Rep. Steve Israel
3. Books in Progress and/or Bookstore
4. Book,Special Mention: Ted Hofsiss, 5th Cav King CO
5. DMZ Veterans News
6. Membership Drive
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1. DNA
Update|Search For Korean War MIA/POW Family DNA
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The Find the Families project is bearing fruit. Many thanks
to the visitors of the Korean War Project for spreading
the word about the Associated Press article, the work of Megan
Smolenyak a genealogist hired by the Dpt of Defense who
wrote several articles about DNA research for online
newsletters, and Ann Landers, who wrote a fine article on
June 4th.
Major Bowden, of Army Casualty, reported over 200 blood
samples taken for May 2001 alone. I don't have the June
results but expect the hundreds of phone calls will yield
more positive results.
Two news articles regarding recent identification of Army
Cpt. Harms (San Diego) and Lt. Wilson (Dallas, TX) give hope
to more success.
Teams from CILHI and DPMO have been in the Chosin Reservoir
vicinity to map out search grids and will be in-country in
September 2001 to do field work. This is in addition to ongoing
work in the Unsan and Chongchon River areas of far North
Korea.
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2. US House speech, Rep. Steve Israel, Long Island
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United States Representative Steve Israel, 2nd District,
Long Island, will be making a speech on the floor of the House
next week to alert members of Congress to the "Finding the
Families" project. A tip of the hat to Rep. Israel!
Hearty thanks to Tom Colluti of Long Island for alerting Rep.
Israel.
Long Island's Newsday will be noting the speech and the
project in next week's issue.
You can learn more about Representative Israel's committment
to the Finding The Families Project at:
https://www.house.gov/israel/purple_heart.htm
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3. Books in Progress and/or Bookstore
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===a.===
Roger Baker,USMC: USMC Tanks in Korea - now out
Publisher, David St. John, Editor of Elderberry Press
reports that Roger's long awaited book is available, now.
See Amazon.com for ordering or from Elderberry Press.
ISBN: 1930859058
Roger is a long term member of the KWP, the book is a must
read!
===b.===
Alton A. Pendleton, Major (Ret): Three O'Clock High
109 combat missions, 524th Fighter Escort Sqdn 27th FEW
Order: Alton A. Pendleton
908 Newport Ave.
Austin, TX 78753
Email:
APENDLETON@AUSTIN.RR.COM
===c.===
H.K. Shin, Remembering Korea 1950, A Boy Soldier's Story
A story of a young South Korean lad, 16 years old when the
war broke out, a compelling personal story.
University of Nevada Press and all bookstores
ISBN: 0874174821
www.nvbooks.nevada.edu
===d.===
Andrew Carroll: WAR LETTERS: Extraordinary Correspondence
from American Wars (Scribner).
Update: Andy's book has been selling well, #10 on New York
Times Book Review last week. Excellent reviews in all media!
At all bookstores and online at Amazon.com with all proceeds
go to veterans groups, the KWP among them!
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4. Book,Special Mention: Ted Hofsiss, 5th Cav King CO
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In 1996 we launched our Recollections section and included a
series of letters penned to Hal and I from Ted Hofsiss.
That series ended with 18 long letters. Those letters helped
Ted to deal with his chronic pain from wounds. Many
thousands of persons had read those letters by 1999.
The book: Waiting for the Blessed Light of Dawn: A Diary of
the Korean War, is a result of those "tell it like it was"
letters.
Here is the recent Fort Worth Star Telegram review of this
fine book:
Local veteran's book captures horror of Korean War
By Frank Perkins
Special to the Star-Telegram
Monday was the 51st anniversary of the beginning of the
Korean War, a conflict that its veterans call America's
first "forgotten war." But it certainly isn't forgotten to
Korean War vet Ted Hofsiss of Forestburg, in Montague
County. His pain from wounds is a daily reminder. Hofsiss
put his experiences in a book that I believe is the truest,
most accurate picture of the bitter fighting between the
United States and its U.N. allies, and the invading North
Koreans and, toward the end of the three-year struggle, the
Red Chinese army.
I was commissioned five years after the 1953 Korean
Armistice and read volumes of reports on the war. None
matches Hofsiss' narrative for what the war was like day to
day at bayonet range, where military success meant simply
staying alive while keeping up a good rate of fire.
Hofsiss' book, Waiting for the Blessed Light of Dawn: A
Diary of the Korean War, has no military jargon about
"meeting engagements" or "strategic withdrawals" or
"lengthened lines of supply" that dull the impact of pain,
fear, want and wounds.
Hofsiss narrates what happened to him as a 19-year-old and
other soldiers in King Company, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry
Division, from their arrival at Pusan, South Korea, in
September 1950 until he was seriously wounded on a nameless
mountain outside Chipyong-ni in North Korea six months
later.
The book details his agony as he watched close friends die.
They are assaulting a hill. His Browning automatic rifle
jams in the middle of the assault, and he must kick the
operating rod to the rear after each shot to load the next
round. An enemy grenade explodes and kills the platoon
sergeant and wounds the platoon leader. Hofsiss is crouching
next to one of his close friends when the man is shot in the
head. Seconds later, another of his friends is struck and
killed in front of him.
The horror compounds the next day when he leads the
company's first sergeant to the bodies of his friends only
to learn that they will have to be listed as "missing in
action" because they were partially stripped by the enemy
during the night and their dog tags are missing.
" 'I can identify them,' I cry," Hofsiss wrote. "
The sergeant turns again, putting his hands on his hips.
'No! Only an officer can identify bodies without dog tags or
other ID!'"
In war, as Hofsiss learned, cruelty wears many faces,
including the faces of your leaders.
Hofsiss tells of close combat in below-zero winter weather;
of killing two enemy soldiers at point-blank range - one
with a .45-caliber automatic, the other with his bayonet; of
kicking men awake every two hours to make sure they didn't
freeze to death; of little, if any, food and one bath in six
months; of ulcerated feet because of a shortage of socks;
and the unending terror of nightly attacks by waves of
Chinese.
He sums up that war in this pithy sentence: "I think we were
frightened ... by the sure knowledge that if we survive to
return home, the world will never be the same for us again."
For information about the book, contact Roadrunner
Publishing Co., Route 1, Box 67, Forestburg, TX 76239-9717.
Or call (940) 964-2409 or contact
Hofsiss by email at tedhof@nortexinfo.net.
© 2001 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas
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5. DMZ Veterans News
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Norm Tredway reports that legislation has been introduced to
recognize the efforts of those who have served in Korea and
along the DMZ since the truce of July 27th 1953.
KOREA DEFENSE SERVICE RECOGNITION
AFTER 47 YEARS
After 47 years of defense service in Korea, U.S. Armed
Forces are one step closer to the recognition they earned
and deserve for their historically dangerous and hostile
duty. Congressman Elton Gallegly, California's 23rd
District, submitted Bill, H.R. 1935, to the House of
Representatives May 22, 2001 to create and award the Korea
Defense Service Medal to those Armed Forces members that
have served in the DMZ area and southern peninsula including
sea and air support units from 28 July 1954 to the present.
There has never been a formal truce agreement officially
ending the Korean War by the two Koreas in spite of 47 years
of negotiation. Only a fragile cease-fire agreement is in
place and technically, the countries remain at war. Since
defense service began in 1954 there have been over 40,479
breaches to the cease-fire agreement by North Korean Forces.
These incidents include patrol ambushes, attacks on UN
guard posts, attacks on work crews, artillery and mortar
barrages into the DMZ, barracks bombings, assassination
attempts, sabotage, aerial shootdowns of recon and light
observation aircraft and helicopters, night parachute drops
by agents, coastal submarine landings by large and small
commando forces, and illegal hijacking of naval vessels. At
least 1,239 U.S. personnel have been killed, hundreds
wounded, 87 captured, tortured, and held prisoners, and
there are more than 2,300 Republic of Korea casualties.
Forty Congressmen have joined Representative Gallegly and
became co-sponsors of this bill. Of the forty, sixteen are
members of the key House Armed Services Committee. There
are several Senators, which includes members of the Senate
Armed Services Committee, now considering introducing a bill
into the Senate corresponding to the House Bill.
In June 2000 the Korea Defense Veterans Alliance,
headquartered in Dunellen, NJ, initiated this project to
bring proper recognition to defense veterans. The KDVA is a
national organization of current and former Armed Forces
members from all branches of service that have been deployed
to Korea. The organization is regionally structured with a
region director in each of its seven regions and a director
for mass media, legislative affairs, veterans affairs,
active service members, and international affiliations
respectively.
Norm Tredway, National Chairman
Korea Defense Veterans Alliance
Korea 1955-1956 24th "Victory" Inf Div
732 752-8457
kdvahq@att.net
"Proud to Have Served...Proud to Belong"
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6. Membership Drive
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As always, our Membership Drive really needs your
help. We are still behind in our goal to reach 5000
members.
The Korean War Project is free to all visitors, but our
members keep us online.
If you are not a member, please consider joining. It only
costs $15.00 per year and helps keep the Korean War Project
online.
To become a member, go to:
https://www.koreanwar.org/html/membership.html
Note: those who wish to use online credit card may now do so
thanks to AOL Foundation's Helping.org. Click on the graphic
"Donate now" in the Membership page and follow the form
instructions.
Standard mailing address is the same, see Membership page.
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Buy a bunch and take them to give out at your next reunion.
Thanks to all of you for helping make the Korean War Project
successful.
Regards,
Hal and Ted Barker
hbarker@kwp.org tbarker@kwp.org
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