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Korean War Project Newsletter – March 03, 2007 Volume 10 # 1
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Photo: United Nations Memorial
Wall - Pusan - 2007
The Korean War Project is open to
access to anyone at no cost as is this newsletter. Our sponsors make this
possible.
Table of Contents:
1. Editorial
2. This Mailing List
3. Wolfhound Alert, help needed in Kentucky!
4. Taps – Stan Hadden, Stu Rothman, Bill Wyrick
5. From a Marine to all of our KVETS
6. 70th Tank Bn inquiry
7. Membership / Donations / Sponsors
8. United Nations Memorial Wall, Pusan South Korea
9. DMZ Vets honor their fallen comrades – update
10. The Assn. of 40th Infantry Division Korean War Veterans
11. Shout out to all Navy KVETS and Coast Guard KVETS
12. The Search for our MIA/Unaccounted for continues
13. Technical issues - KWP website
14. Radio Maple Leaf- Korea
15. Keeping the KWP on the air
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1. Editorial
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Yes, we are back online! 2006 was a rollercoaster year for the KWP, very
similar to the early 1999 experience which forced us to close shop for two
months. That shutdown was just two months after we created our email
newsletter.
Although the site was not totally off the air from October-December, most
areas were not available for web users. We did leave basic access and our new
'Letters to The Lost' area online. Many submissions of letters continued to
come in via email for that area.
How did we make it back? Our viewers made the decision by very generous
donations from Oct 28th onward.
The Associated Press story on November 11th played a key role by alerting the
public all over the world. Several Korean and Korean Americans who did not
know about us assisted our revival.
Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese newspapers carried the Associated Press story
and one original article in Seoul, by Dong-a-ilbo Daily Korea furthered the
news alert.
Many thanks to Jamie Stengel, AP (Dallas), and Seung Ryun Kim, Dong-a-ilbo,
for their work.
How do we plan to continue? See the last section of this newsletter for
details and ideas.
Note: we do not usually single out any donors for recognition in the
newsletter. Why? Privacy is the key element.
All donors are featured on the Members page and at the bottom of each web
page you view
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2. This Mailing List (going to 42,000 + persons)
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We began this newsletter mailing in December of 1998. The first issue went to
just over 2000 persons. We now average over 40,000 plus your personal
distribution to those not on our list.
This list is a private list for our visitors and members. A person may join
or leave the list at will. It is compiled from our Guest Book and comprises
public service messages of general interest to veterans and families.
To join or leave the list: email to: Ted Barker tbarker@kwp.org
Place: Subscribe or Unsubscribe in the subject line.
Consider forwarding the Newsletter to your friends by email or print. Word of
mouth is how we grow.
Thanks for being part of the Korean War Project family!
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3. Wolfhound Alert, help needed in Kentucky!
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We received the following Guestbook entry today from a KWP member.:
Donald D Gibson Kill in Action April 14 1951
Korean War Project Army Unit Entry
At: www.koreanwar.org/html/units/27ir.htm
Message Heading: Am I missed
Unit: 63 fa bn 24 inf div
Email: jbolt3337@charter.net
Firstname: James Willam
Lastname: Bolt
Street: 115 Kingston Drive
City: Laurens
State: SC
ZIP: 29360 1619
Country: U S A
Phone: 864-682-3337
Service: Army Veteran
Comments: He lies today on a lonely hill in Garrett Kentucky in a grave yard
that is forgotten and overgrown the other graves are sunken his is the only
one that has not. A little American flag flutter above it placed there by
Bradon Allen.
He can be reached at brandeath@gmail.com . Just thought men in the 27 Infantry Regiment 25
Division need to know that Donald D Gibson Kill in Action April 14 1951 is
alone and forgotten on that hill side in Garrett Kentucky
Oh how we soon forget those that gave all that they had to give for the
freedom we enjoy today. Forty Yards
William Bolt
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4. Taps – Stan Hadden, Stu Rothman, Bill Wyrick
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Three very good friends of the KWP and, indeed, all KVETS, have passed away
in recent weeks.
============= Bill Wyrick =============
William (Bill) Wyrick, "Chief", Col USA Ret, Task Force Smith, 21st
Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division passed away on December
17th.
Hal and I became friends with Bill over the internet and were honored to meet
him and all of the 21st IR, 52nd FAB, and TFS survivors
in Dallas in the fall of 1997.
Bill served as historian, awards researcher, leader and friend to those who
were so close to him. The crucible of fire in those halcyon days of early
July of 1950 forever seared the friendships among those brave young men.
Family contact may be made through his son, William Jr. at:
Email: smokefrombill@earthlink.net
Cards or letters to:
1321 Wildewood Downs Circle
Columbia, SC 29223-4432
============= Stu Rothman =============
Stewart N. 'Stu' Rothman, FMPA, 76, 1st Bn 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th
Infantry Division from Fairbanks, Alaska, passed away on February 8th 2007.
Stu and I became acquainted in 1996 as he was an early adopter of the
Internet. In recent years Stu gave everything he had to the Association of
the 17th Infantry, Editor of the wonderful "Buffalo Bugle" which
the KWP has received year after year.
He has also served as the Association President from 2000 until 2006.
Stu also was a published author, 1977, "The Lens is My Brush" and
"A Window on Life". He published "The Fairbanks
Magazine", the official city tourist publication. Along with that work
came hundreds of thousands of brochures. Cameramen everywhere know about Stu
and his passion for photography. He was in the room with the Pope and
President Reagan on the Popes' second trip to Fairbanks.
Stu hailed from Detroit and joined the Army in 1948, soon posted to General
MacArthur's staff in Tokyo.
Do visit his website: www.lensunlimited.com
I believe all former 17th Infantrymen and women would be exceptionally proud
of the bond Stu forged with current day members of the unit. He was a
champion of liaison contact to ensure the servicemen and women of our
devotion to them all.
Fort Wainwright performed a Memorial for Stu with a full 21 gun salute.
Please contact Don Shook, President of the 17th Infantry Association to
express your thoughts.
See online tribute at: www.17thinfantry.com
Don Shook
1010 Manor Road
New Kensington, PA 15068
============= Stan Hadden =============
Stanley Edwin Hadden
1918 – 2007
I am taking liberty to post the obituary of my good friend Stan Hadden. A
friend to all as well as a champion for all Korean War Veterans, Stan was the
first Editor of the GreyBeards magazine the official publication of the
Korean War Veterans Association, Inc. You will be truly missed, pal.
-------
Stanley Edwin Hadden, 88, of Gulf Breeze passed away Friday, February 9, 2007
at a local nursing home.
Stan was a native of El Dorado, AR and resided in Gulf Breeze for the past
six years, where he attended St. Frances of Assisi Episcopal Church. He was a
life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a member of the Korean War
Veterans Association. Mr. Hadden served in the United States Navy during
World War II and the Korean Conflict. Stan was instrumental in the design and
construction of the Korean Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Mr. Hadden was
a Colonel of Louisiana Governor Earl K. Long's staff, author of numerous
publications, and writer and publisher of the The Eagle and The Angel, a
weekly web newsletter. Stan was an accomplished artist of over 500 works of
art distributed throughout the world, with his trademark dog, Buzzy, and the
mysterious "Lady in Brown". Most notable is "The Reading of
the Declaration of Independence", hanging at the headquarters of Colt
Industries.
Memorial services will be at a later date in Harper's Ferry, WV with
inurnment in Port Hudson National Cemetery in Louisiana.
Published in the Pensacola News Journal on 2/13/2007.
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5. From a Marine to all of our KVETS
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1stLt Monica J. Moon, USMC
Camp Lejeune, NC
25 February 2007
To all the veterans of the Korean War,
My father was but two when he and his family fled Seoul during the evacuation
in 1951. Though he was young, he never let my brothers and I forget that we
are fortunate for the men and women who sacrificed their lives to free
Korea. If not for your efforts, my family and I would not be here
today. It is you that have encouraged me to give back to my country and
to give back to all the veterans that fought to keep my birth country free.
Thank you for your sacrifice.
Semper Fidelis,
1stLt Monica J. Moon, USMC
Editor's Note: I believe Lt Moon and all of our current day servicemen
and women should in turn be commended for the difficult mission in which they
are engaged .
Freedom is indeed not Free.
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6. 70th Tank Bn inquiry
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Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 3:02 PM
Subject: Sgt James M Lewis Jr, - KIA 5/07/51
I am a member of the 70th Heavy Tank Bn Assoc., Korea. We have a reunion each
year and I talk to a lot of our members that served in Korea together. None
so far knows where My Tank Commander Sgt Lewis is buried I am 74 years old
and I would like to find his grave before I die so I could pay my respects.
We were in the 1st Platoon Company C 70th Heavy Tank Bn.1st Cav Division.
William E Ralls. U.S.Army Msg. Retired.
10011 Nanka Rd
Louisville, KY 40272
PH: 502-937-8858
Editor Note: See Mr. Ralls posting for Sgt Lewis on our Remembrance
section of the KIA/MIA Database, online.
Sgt Lewis was from the Greater Los Angeles area.
Mr. Ralls would also appreciate any and all contact regarding the 70th Tank
Bn service in Korea – Ted
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7. Membership /Donations/Sponsors
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Consider supporting the mission of the Korean War Project by donations in the
form of Membership/Sponsorship and our "I Remember Korea" Bumper
Sticker campaign.
Membership: www.koreanwar.org/html/membership.html
Our Pledge Drive is an ongoing process. Many of our previous donors no longer
can assist. We are recruiting from those who have not participated, so if you
can, jump on in, it will be appreciated.
The site is free for all to use and those who participate help to ensure that
we remain online whether the donation is $1.00 or more!
Some of our site visitors cannot participate due to health or income
restrictions.
Sadly, many of our long-term contributors have passed away.
For those persons or groups who cannot participate, we certainly understand.
Donations/Memberships are tax deductible, if you use long form IRS reports.
Our EIN: 75-2695041 501(c) (3)
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8.United Nations Memorial Wall, Pusan South Korea
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We received email from Harry Niehofff and Gene Frasier recently about the
dedication of the UN Memorial Wall. It went without fanfare for most although
many of us knew something was in the works. Hal and I provided the committee
name revisions for some of the fallen quite some time ago.
The location of the Memorial is at the United Nations Cemetery in
Pusan. The wall contains over 40,000 names of the fallen during the war. This
list is the combined totals of all UN Forces.
The dedication was October 24, 2006.
From forwarded email from Canadian pen pals
"Ken Franztz;
"It is a magnificent memorial, longer than the wall of the renowned
Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington and records the names of 40,895 United
Nations service personnel who fell while on Korean War Service.
Hello Veterans,
We received some of the illustrations below from His Excellency Lee Suk-jo,
Custodian of the United National Memorial Cemetery Korea, Mr. Kim Soon-bong,
Assistant Custodian and their executive secretary, Miss Kim E.J.
They illustrate the United Nations Memorial Wall. It is a great memorial and
work of art - measuring two meters high by approximately 150 meters in length
- one and one-half football fields!
It contains the names of 40,895 allied servicemen who lost their lives on
United Nations service during the Korean War. The Memorial Wall was dedicated
- with virtually no fanfare of publicity: In fact Veterans all over North
America are shocked to learn of its existence - on October 24 last year,
marking the 61st anniversary of the 1945 founding of the United Nations.
The only news article seen by our editors about the wall and dedication was a
photographe that appeared in a Korean newspaper. It showed Canadian Ambassador
His Excellency Marius R. Grinius (a graduate of the Royal Military College of
Canada and former artillery major) and others examining names of the Fallen
on the wall.
Ambassador Grinius currently is the head of the UN Memorial Cemetery
Commission which overseas the cemetery and is comprised of the Ambassadors
(or their representatives) of the countries of the interred servicemen.
Obviously, something was amiss that this vast memorial was not properly
represented by the international news media.
In length it is larger in size than the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in
Washington, DC. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial or Vietnam Wall is known the
world over.
The United Nations Memorial Wall is known only by a few. It is not even known
among Korean War Veterans who served in the war and whose comrades it
commemorates."
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KWP Editors' Note: I am sure that more names could be added just as revisions
to lists maintained by volunteers like the KWP and/or official DOD offices
have been made.
See Photograph Above
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9. DMZ Vets honor their fallen comrades – update
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On November 11th at the 11th hour – 2006 veterans family and friends
congregated at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC to honor
their comrades who fell during the period known as the "DMZ War".
They also paid tribute to all those who 'fought, bled or died' during the
1950-53 time frame and beyond.
A temporary plaque was also placed at the foot of the Memorial stating the
reason for this memorial ceremony. Concurrently, a bill is being sponsored in
Congress to allow these veterans to permanently place a plaque honoring those
who fell in the fighting from 1966-1969.
Three good news stories covered the ceremony and the background of what
transpired to do so.
Just recently, Bob Haynes, HHC 1/23rd. Inf. 2nd. Inf. Division
Korea DMZ 1966-67 Imjin Scout "Keep up the fire!", who hails
from McHenry, Illinois had a wonderful story published in the Northwest
Herald (Suburban Chicago area). 40 column inches were devoted to this
important period of time. That is a large story in any newspaper!
Kevin Cramer, the writer, spent a lot of time researching the story which
focused on Haynes, but also Mark Hartford, who conceived of the ceremony and
plaque. Also interviewed was Van Jenerette of Myrtle Beach, SC who penned the
seminal article (featured on the Korean War Project) "The Forgotten DMZ
War".
Agent Orange issues were discussed in the article. Bob Haynes suffers from
exposure to AO and is a key information resource for all who may have had
contact with this killer chemical.
Article link with video and excellent maps:
www.nwherald.com/multimedia/video/20070211dmz
(More on AO in the next newsletter)
DMZ Links on the KWP:
www.koreanwar.org/html/dmzvets.htm
Contact Bob Haynes at: mailto:dmzbob66-67@comcast.net
PH: 815-363-8452.
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10.The Assn.of 40th Infantry Division Korean War Veterans
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The Association of 40th Infantry Division Korean War Veterans headed by my
great pen pal, Sid Sultzbaugh of Lorain, OH., forwarded a check for $1,000.00
to support the KWP.
Sid asked that credit be given to the entire membership of that reunion association.
In early 1996 Sid asked me to create a website for his reunion association
specifically for KVETS. We did so and I later moved operation and control
over to Sid at his location. The organization has been a great success but is
winding down operations.
The website for the group is still operative and located at:
www.kellnet.com/veterans
Link for all 40th ID info on the KWP at:
www.koreanwar.org/html/units/40idunk.htm
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11. Shout out to all Navy KVETS and Coast Guard KVETS
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Many former Navy men and women have made comments to us about lack of
coverage of naval issues via our newsletter.
The same can be said for Air Force and Coast Guard men and women.
We admit that much of our newsletter material has been Army and Marine Corps
centric.
Give us some help by submitting articles or requests about things that are of
importance to all of us. If you have posted info on our Guestbook or Looking
For section that merit notice, please point them out to us.
We do not always catch this type of input since there are still only two of
us here.
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12.The Search for our MIA/Unaccounted for continues
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For over a decade, the KWP has been featuring the tireless efforts of
dedicated DOD staff who pursue all leads concerning our MIA /Unaccounted for
from the Korean War.
May 27th 2005 saw the end of our forensic teams' presence in North Korea by
order of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld.
Concerns over safety for the teams during a particularly contentious period
of time in US – North Korean diplomacy were offered as the reason to pull
out.
All of us want this mission to continue. Family organizations to include the
Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAS are among interested
parties pushing for continued DOD work. John Zimmerlee of that group has been
tireless in his personal efforts to find information to assist the overall
effort.
Since November of 2004, the KWP has worked more closely than ever with the
JPAC staff in Hawaii. We were asked by staff to create a new mode of
interpersonal communication with forensic staff at JPAC, formerly CILHI.
Regular updates on progress to obtain DNA or for more family contact were
forwarded by staff members. This added to the long-term relationship with
service casualty offices and the DPMO in Washington, DC.
A key development of the pullout from the DPRK has been more JPAC staff time
at the main offices in Hawaii. Scientists who would normally be in the field
or working up field search criteria have time to focus on the remains and
data right there at headquarters.
There has been more DNA collection, more identification as witnessed by the
repatriation of remains to families since late 2005
Volunteers continue to utilize the interactive data on the Korean War Project
KIA/MIA and Remembrance areas.
Art Lajeunese, Ed Moynagh, Ray Sestak, and Harold Davis carry on the
volunteer work that Ken Page, Art and Ed initiated via the KWP back in 1997.
Many other volunteers frequent the Unaccounted For section of the KWP on a
daily basis.
Reference points:
KWP: www.koreanwar.org/html/korean_war_databases.html
DNA Project, Jan Curran: mysite.verizon.net/resqfmuf
DPMO: www.dtic.mil/dpmo
JPAC: www.jpac.pacom.mil
Coalition of Families: www.coalitionoffamilies.org
National Alliance: www.nationalalliance.org
Korean War POW/MIA Net: www.koreanwarpowmia.net
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13. Technical issues - KWP website
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We have been working to make the visit to the KWP less problematic.
Programming errors and very old equipment often cause attempts to access the
site to be difficult.
Many of you will have found the site completely offline when you wish to
access it. For two days in mid January the site was totally offline while 6
year old equipment was adjusted. Recent downtime has been due to testing of
program code.
Last week we spent $1000.00 to purchase new equipment that will be put to
work next week. Hal continues to find and repair glitches and will continue
to do so.
Storm season is coming up and when severe weather hits Dallas County, near
our apartment, the electricity goes off for hours at a time. We also
disconnect during lightning storms.
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14. Radio Maple Leaf- Korea
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Good morning from Montreal.
Recently a personality in the Montreal radio scene, Mr. Gordon Courtenay,
passed away. In his obituary in the Montreal Gazette it mentioned that
he had worked with a Canadian radio service during the Korean War called
Radio Maple Leaf.
I have been searching trying to find out more information about this service
and have come up empty-handed. I am most interested in Canadian radio history
and would love to get more information about this radio service from the
Korean War.
Would you have any means of tracking down anyone in your group who might have
some information regarding the Radio Maple Leaf service?
Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank
you in advance.
Sheldon Harvey
TEL: 450-671-3773
Sheldon Harvey
Radio HF - Canada's radio specialist
www.radiohf.ca
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15. Keeping the KWP on the air
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In order to keep the Korean War Project online we must continue our email
Pledge Drive. We also mail letters to all those who donate. Those letters
continue to have great results.
Word of mouth has been the source of all of our fund-raising.
Keeping a schedule for timely production of our newsletters is a must and we
have not done well as we juggle priorities with the KWP and our personal
lives.
The Letters to the Lost as seen on the KWP website has a very real potential
to create self-sufficiency for our operations.
Hal plans to produce a library quality hardback book. This allows The Library
of Congress and all libraries to order a copy.
We must raise $20,000 to make the book a reality. This amount is above and
beyond what we have averaged in annual donations.
Many of you have already expressed interest. No pre-ordering has been
performed. We must have the book completed to accept money for the book.
The KWP will handle all orders and delivery but shall also utilize Amazon.com
for widespread publicity and ease of ordering.
Hal and Ted Barker
Korean War Project
PO Box 180190 Dallas, TX 75218
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