Cliff Notes From Dad to Mary about Korea
By ice rivers
- 321 reads
When I was 5 years old I had to come to grips with the reality that 200,000 Chinese gorillas had appeared from out of nowhere and were rampaging through the mountains, forrest and fields of Korea, killing our good guy soldiers. I was hearing this stuff on our teevee set which was one of the first on the block. It had to be true. John Cameron Swayze said so. Meanwhile, I had just seen my second movie, King Kong and I didn't want those gorillas coming over here and running through Rochester.
The gorillas were attacking our hero General Douglas MacArthur. My father had served in the Phillipines and was almost part of the invasion of Japan until Harry Truman decided to drop the bomb which ended the war in the Pacific. MacArthur was the hero of the war in the Pacific. He had returned as he promised with his corn cob pipe and cool shades. He arranged the uncondional surrender of the Japanese and became the administrator of the new Japanese governent.
Meanwhile Mao Tse Tung had led a revolution in China and driven defeated the forces of Chang Kai Shek into Formosa (now Taiwan). Simultaneously, North Korea got all aggressive and attacked South Korea (as usual trying to unite the countries).
Meanwhile, the United Nations had been established as a way to stop aggression. Does this sound familiar? MacArthur became the Supreme Commander of the United Nations forces, most of whom were either South Korean or American soldiers. The South Korean army retreated almost immediately leaving the military burden to MacArthur and his "United Nations" force. The United States wasn't fighting in Korea wink wink, we were representing the UN. Today we represent NATO which was a reaction to the aggression during the second world war. No more agression, god damn it.
Meanwhile, the North Koreans were getting support from the Soviet Union and China which was now Red China after the revolution. The North Koreans headed South crossed the 38th paralell into Southern territory. They were clearly the aggressors. The North Korean army appeared to be winning the war when MacArthur pulled off a genius and courageous landing at Inchon. Mac rallied the troops. They surrounded the North Korean army. The tide of battle had turned.
Meanwhile Truman was realizing that he had to keep some reins on MacArthur, after all he was the Commander and chief even if MacArthur was the genius and the hero. We didn't/don't need an American Caesar. They arranged to meet at Wake Island. MacArthur assured Truman that the war would be entirely over in the next month. The Chinese weren't going to enter the scene. No way. Truman told MacArthur not to become overly aggressive, we don't want WW3, General. Truman left to come back to Washington. MacArthur prepared to drive a little bit further into North Korea. MacArthur's advance North was ended when out of nowhere a force of 40,000 Chinese soldiers, some on horseback with spears and swords, who had been traveling under the cover of darkness suddenly emerged and overwhelmed the outnumbered UN forces.
The Chinese offensive stopped as suddenly as it started. Meanwhile Truman and America wondered WTF. MacArthur decided that the 40,000 Chinese troops had gone back home so he decided to move North again. Then all of a sudden, he found himself confronting 200,000 attacking gorillas who forced a torturous retreat of UN soldiers.
Truman was getting more and more frustrated with MacArthur and the situation so he sent over General Ridgway to rally the troops which he did. Truman decided to "relieve" MacArthur of his command. Ridgway took over. The war continued. MacArthur reported to Congress and was greeted as a hero. He gave his famous speech about "old soldiers who never die but just fade away."
The war continued on sporadically until we agreed to cease fire and were right back where we started with Korea still split into two distinct countries where we are today.
Also today, we are not fighting a war in Ukraine. We are adding support to the Ukranian people who are bravely, steadfastly resisting the agression of the Russian army as it once again attempts to "unify" its country. It's a dangerous mess.
My wife told my daughter that I was very concerned about Ukraine. When I spoke to Mary, I said that the agressive situation reminds me of WW2/ Korea/Viet Nam et al.. I asked her to give me a 1-10 rating on her knowledge of the Korean War and of Truman and MacArthur. She said that she had heard of Truman, knew something about Korea and zero about MacArthur. She asked me for "cliff notes" after I told her about my childhood fears of gorillas coming out of the woods and over the mountains while the world was still shaking from the effects of the atomic bombs and awaiting the end of times. I figured I had about a thousand words to spend which is neither too many or not enough for the purpose.
You've just read the Cliff Notes that I am now sending to Mary.
And to anybody else who needs/ wants them.
Of course, like all notes it is over-simplified but it all makes sense to me as insane as it is.
Now it's time for the national news on my giant screen teevee.
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