Korea - 50 years ago this week, Feb. 7-13, 1952

[Brooke Rowe <world-national-security@pacbell.net>]

Korea - 50 years ago this week, Feb. 7-13, 1952

(EXCERPT) Ace shot down, Black gets Medal of Honor, by Jim Caldwell

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Feb. 5, 2002) - The Air Force's leading
fighter pilot was shot down in Korea 50 years ago this week, while on
the home front, Army Sgt. Cornelius H. Charlton posthumously became
the second black soldier to receive the Medal of Honor in the war.
Feb. 9-13, 1952 -- Adm. C. Turner Joy, chief U.N. delegate at
Panmunjom, on Feb. 9 rejects a communist demand to hold a
post-armistice political conference to settle peace terms. The
communists want to discuss the fate of Formosa, as well as other Asian
countries they want to take over. Joy says any talks after the truce
will focus only on Korean peace issues. Chief communist delegate North
Korean Maj. Gen. Nam Il suddenly changes his strident tone and agrees
that the Panmunjom teams should only talk about military peace in
Korea. He says South Korea should take part in the peace talks. South
Korea already has a member on the U.N. team. North Korean Defense
Minister Choi Yong Kun tells North Koreans on Feb. 11 that they must
build up their air force so they can bomb "U.N.-held South Korean
territories." Two days before Premier Kim Il Sung had said North Korea
must "prepare for decisive fighting with the enemy." The U.N.
delegates concede on another agenda item, exchange of prisoners, on
Feb. 13. They agree that all prisoners will be exchanged within 60
days of a cease-fire rather than immediately and all at once. Chinese
President Mao Tse-tung and Soviet Premier Josef Stalin exchange
congratulatory messages Feb. 13, the 2nd anniversary of a Soviet-Red
Chinese mutual aid treaty. Mao praises his country's "great, ever
closer friendship" with the Soviets. Stalin says their alliance will
be "further strengthened for the sake of the peace and the prosperity
of the whole world." The leading Air Force F-86 ace in Korea is shot
down and killed Feb. 10. Maj. George A. Davis Jr., 31, is killed on
his 59th combat mission in a dogfight over northwest Korea. He had
downed two MiG-15s before he was hit. That brought his total to 11
MiGs and three red bombers. Davis also shot down seven Japanese planes
in World War II on 266 combat missions. His wife reveals to the media
that Davis had complained in his letters that the Air Force didn't
send him home as it did other aces in Korea. Fifth Air Force in Japan
says that all pilots are required to fly 100 combat missions, even
aces, to complete their tour of duty. Communist troops attack in
strength against U.N. defensive positions Feb. 12. Fierce fighting
will continue till Feb. 14. Although the action is heavy, few U.N.
troops are wounded, but they report killing more than 400 enemy
soldiers.

Feb. 8 -- Queen Elizabeth II, 25, takes the oath to the throne of the
United Kingdom in a ceremony before 192 members of the Accession
Council in St. James Palace in London. She praises the "shining
example of service and devotion" demonstrated by her father, King
George VI who died Feb. 6. Retired Gen. Douglas MacArthur asks
supporters to withdraw his name from the Minnesota presidential
primary, just as he earlier did for Illinois and New Hampshire.

Feb. 12 -- The Medal of Honor is presented posthumously to the family
of Army Sgt. Cornelius H. Charlton. He sacrificed his life in leading
a platoon against an enemy-held ridge position June 2. Charlton is the
second black American to receive the Medal in Korea. His father, Van
Charlton, says his son's actions made "a liar out of Paul Robeson, who
said the Negroes would never fight for their country against the
communists." Gen. Matthew Ridgway, supreme allied commander in Japan,
demands that the Russian navy return 29 Japanese fishing boats it
seized near Hokkaido. The Russians earlier released 114 other boats.

Feb. 13 -- The Defense Department reports that American casualties
from Feb. 2-8 were 237, the least for any seven-day period of the war.
Total casualties to Feb. 8 are105,508, with 18,276 dead. The spokesman
said 816 Americans listed as missing in action were identified as
prisoners through letters to families authenticated as being from
communist prison camps. Japanese representatives suspend talks in
Manila over reparations to the Philippines after Filipinos demand $8
billion for damages caused by the Japanese World War II occupation.
The Census Bureau reports that the United States exported $15.9
billion, almost $5 billion more than in 1950. Imports totaled $10.9
billion, $2 billion more than in 1950. (Editor's note: Jim Caldwell is
a writer for the TRADOC News Service.)


http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/Feb2002/a20020206koreafeb7-13.html


---------------------------
   Brooke Rowe
   Associate Librarian
   The American War Library
   http://www.americanwarlibrary.com