uh oh - what is JK going to say about that? Carl thanks for the comments on the book and other things.
Regards, Gernilee
----Original Message Follows----
From: "ysk"
Reply-To: KOREAN-WAR-L@raven.cc.ku.edu
To:
Subject: Re: MacArthur's War
Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2002 14:18:57 -0700
Good take on Gen. Mac -
"There is no sense in the UN, with America bearing the brunt of the thing, being constantly compelled to man those front lines. This is a job for the Koreans. We do not want Asia to feel that the white man of the West is his enemy. If there must be a war there, let it be Asians against Asians, with our support on the side of freedom." Dec. 17, 1952, Gen. D. Eisenhower
Ike's stark warning fell on deaf ears and the Vietnam War saw millions of Asians killed by the white man - for what? The white man was driven out in the end for little to show for.
What about Korea? Didn't the white man save Seoul from Stalin's rapastry? Didn't South Korea rise from ashes to become an Asian tiger - all thanks to the white man?
What if the white man had not intervened in Korea? Would Korea be starving and backward as North Korea is today?
ysk
----- Original Message -----
From: Cfbernard@aol.com
To: KOREAN-WAR-L@raven.cc.ku.edu
Sent: Saturday, June 01, 2002 1:26 PM
Subject: MacArthur's War
Bob Dove, Bruce Gardiner,
Thank you for giving me the clue for searching old files. My reaction to Weintraub's work written in April 2000 is below. I don't see any need to update it to reflect what Afghanistan is teaching (we are learning ?) about other sorts of war.
My exposure to MacArthur began with reading of his exploits and statements during WWII. It was tempered a bit by the USMC's attempt to keep their own place in the sun. Typical: "With the help of God (and a few Marines) MacArthur got back to the Philippines." My clerk's job in the headquarters of the 7th Marines in Hopei Province in North China stuck many things about him in my mind. Going to Japan in 1949 made him the big chief, hence in the consciousness of all of us. Korea was disconcerting to any soldier as innocent as me.
And this intellectual baggage is what I carried during all my military service, particularly in Laos and Vietnam. My positive reaction to Weintraub's discussion of the first ten months of Korea owes much to reflections that have never left me tranquil.
Best regards,
Carl Bernard
MACARTHUR'S WAR, Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero
by Stanley Weintraub