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KOREAN WAR VETERANS MEMORIAL COMMEMORATIVE CD-ROM SCRIPT

 

2.1 Life in the U.S. 

The time is 1950. The United States is content, prosperous, powerful. As the strongest nation on earth, they bask in the glow of a booming economy, a total military victory in World War II, and ownership of the most lethal weapon ever known to man.

 

After decades of depression, war-time rationing, and sacrifice to the cause, the nation is firmly entrenched in the good life. As the population booms, America’s outlook on the future is rosier than ever. 

 

Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore are on the top of the Billboard charts. It’s a time for savoring life. The nation had put war behind them, and that meant military cutbacks. Between 1945 and 1950, U.S. troop strength drops from 12 million to a mere 1.6 million. Equally dramatic cuts are made in weapon and supply strength.

 

Americans embrace the armed forces, the military soldier becomes the civilian soldier. Military heroes such as MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Bradley became celebrities of American culture, one eventually rising to the highest civilian office in the land.

 

In the eyes of many, this shift caused a fatal weakening in the fabric of the military, as morale, combat readiness, and overall sense of purpose dropped sharply.

 

We would soon discover just how unprepared we really were. As war historian Fehrenbach noted, “What they lacked couldn’t be seen, not until the guns sounded.”

 

 

The Korean War - 4.0 - Intro

Dawn. June 25, 1950. The unsuspecting city of Seoul, capital of the Republic of South Korea slumbers in the early morning stillness, as the life-giving monsoon rains begin to fall. Further to the north, however, comes a monsoon far more devastating.

 

The North Korean People’s Army, the Inmun Gun, 100,000 strong, boasting Soviet-made T-34 tanks, heavy artillery and mortars, are on the move. Crossing the 38th parallel, the attack is swift, stunning, and deadly.

 

The ROK fights bravely, but with no weaponry to counter the North Korean tanks, the South Korean troops are systematically shattered. Seoul is left defenseless.

 

And so begins a desperate exodus, as hundreds of thousands of refugees, clutching children and a few family treasures, move south alongside stunned and ROK soldiers, images of a brutal and overpowering enemy advance still fresh in their minds.

 

Over the next three years, Korea would become a nation of beleaguered refugees. And the cruel winds of war would spare no family the heartbreak of death and displacement.

 

The endless flood of humanity crosses the Han River south of Seoul, the Inmun Gun close on their heels. Desperate to slow the enemy advance, the bridges over the Han are blown prematurely, sending nearly 1,000 souls to a watery grave in the dark, swirling waters below.

 

Even more tragic was the fate of more than 40,000 retreating ROK troops. Now stranded north of the Han, they were left to fight or be captured, both of which meant nearly certain death. The flower of South Korea - the ROK Army is decimated. Once 100,000 strong, only 22,000 remained.

 

Pushed to Pusan - 4.1.1

Time was of the essence. If the Republic of Korea was to be saved, swift, decisive action was needed. With the ROK Army reeling, the United States quickly dispatches reinforcements, made up of the occupation troops from nearby Japan, 120 miles from the Korean peninsula.

 

Occupation duty in Japan was an easy, comfortable, and exotic existence. Life ran at a leisurely and predictable pace, and the echoes of past wars were a quickly fading memory.

 

The departing troops were told they’d be home in less than a week. The word was that enemy was poorly trained and equipped, and many predicted that upon sighting the Americans, the North Koreans would surely turn and run.

 

Once in Korea, there was little time for training, The first units took up positions in Osan, some 50 miles south of Seoul, where they found themselves suddenly outmanned and outgunned.

 

Against a wave of tanks and superior firepower, they could only slow the powerful Communist juggernaut. It quickly became clear that they were facing a much different enemy than reported. As the reality sank in, and men began to die, confidence turned to fear.

 

By and large, the North Korean ranks were filled with lifelong military men. Nearly a third had fought with the Communist Chinese against the Japanese and the Nationalist Chinese. They were tough, disciplined, battle-hardened, and loyal to the death.

 

And as the days passed, the cities fell, one by one. Kaesong, Osan, Pyongtaek, Chonan, Teajon.

 

Over the coming weeks, the U.S. and remaining ROK troops were driven south and east by an unstoppable moving wall of North Koreans. And the retreating armies faced more than just enemy bullets, as scorching 120 degree heat, crippling humidity, and steep mountain inclines took a terrible toll. Wracked with thirst, the soldiers drank from the rice paddies, fertilized with human excrement, and succumbed to raging dysentery.

 

To these first front-line U.S. troops, home never seemed so far away.

 

END