[KOREAN-WAR-L:11388] Re: Books

["Walter E. Wallis, P.E." <unclgene@pacbell.net>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom & Janet Hacha" <thacha@adelphia.net>
To: <KOREAN-WAR-L@listproc.cc.ku.edu>
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2004 3:11 PM
Subject: [KOREAN-WAR-L:11387] Re: Books


> It seems obvious that Mr. Walter E. Wallis has not read "The Bridge At No
Gun
> Ri" or Bateman's book on the same subject or the No Gun Ri Review
released by
> the Army Inspector General in January 2001.
> I suggest that Mr. Wallis do so before he continues to wildly rant about
this
> subject.
> Tom Hacha

I suspect that my knowledge of the book and the subject are an order of
magnitude more than either the coauthors or Tom and Janet's knowledge of
landing in a strange country and rushing to the front to stem a tide of
unbrindled ferocity. I am aware of the earlier discussion of No Gun Ri, and
my statements are based on personal knowledge of the situation as it existed
a week after No Gun Ri. If my rant is wild it is because the whole No Gun Ri
story as aired defames men who are better than their defamers. I declared my
passion - criticize if you can my assertions and observations. You people
are kinda like the folk who, after the firemen save their house, bitch about
the water damage. Feather Merchants - Blech!

Walter E. Wallis
Inspire 28

>
>
> "Walter E. Wallis, P.E." wrote:
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <charlesjh@att.net>
> > To: <KOREAN-WAR-L@listproc.cc.ku.edu>
> > Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2004 8:37 AM
> > Subject: [KOREAN-WAR-L:11379] Books
> >
> > > An offering in response to Jeff McLaughlin's query about good Korean
War
> > books:
> > >
> > > ``The Bridge at No Gun Ri,'' published by Henry Holt and Co., NY. (For
> > excerpts, reviews and relevant, historically important documents, see
the
> > websites http://www.henryholt.com/nogunri/index.htm and its link
> > http://www.henryholt.com/nogunri/documents.htm )
> > > Here's one brief review:
> > > ---
> > > The Providence Journal-Bulletin (Providence, RI)
> > > September 30, 2001
> > > BOOKS - HOW THINGS CAN GO VERY WRONG IN WARTIME
> > > BYLINE: LUTHER SPOEHR Special to the Journal
> > > HIGHLIGHT:
> > >    * THE BRIDGE AT NO GUN RI: A Hidden Nightmare from the * Korean
War,
> > > by Charles J. Hanley, Sang-Hun Choe, and Martha Mendoza. Henry Holt.
313
> > > pages. $26.
> > >
> > > BODY:
> > >    Based on the reporting that won its three authors, all of them
> > > Associated Press reporters, the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative
> > > Reporting, The Bridge at No Gun Ri uses a familiar formula to tell a
> > > powerful story about an unfamiliar war. It is also a timely cautionary
> > > tale of what can happen when civilians are trapped between two armies.
> > >
> > >    The formula, perfected by Stephen Ambrose and imitated by countless
> > > others, involves following a small military unit as it comes together,
> > > goes through the crucible of combat, and emerges wounded, changed, and
> > > sobered, but generally triumphant at the end. Think Band of Brothers
and
> > > The Wild Blue.
> > >
> > >      It's the history of ordinary Americans _ the grunts, not the
generals
> > _
> > > in extraordinary circumstances, and as applied to World War II, ''the
> > > good war,'' at its best it is vivid, moving, and ultimately
reassuring:
> > > ''we'' did the right thing.
> > >
> > >    Hanley, Choe, and Mendoza apply the formula to a horrific incident
in
> > > a more ambiguous war, the Korean ''police action.'' They not only
follow
> > > an American unit into action, but also tell the story of the Korean
> > > villagers whose lives were shattered by those soldiers.
> > >
> > >    The unit is the famous 7th Cavalry Regiment (Custer's outfit),
which,
> > > as the North Korean army threatened to overrun the entire Korean
> > > peninula in the summer of 1950, was hustled into action from its cushy
> > > base in Japan. Like the rest of their division, they were flagrantly
> > > unready, "raw teenagers led by too few sergeants in the ranks and by
men
> > > past their prime at the top." Jittery, with nerves rubbed raw by lurid
> > > rumors, lack of sleep, constant movement, and unexpected contacts with
> > > the enemy, they were a disaster looking for a place to happen.  AND
YET
> > THEY HELD ENOUGH SPACE FOR US TO LAND - AT A PRICE THIS BOOK DEMEANS.
> > >
> > >    They found that place near the village of No Gun Ri, where,
panicked
> > > by the possibility [AWARE OF THE CERTAINTY] that a column of refugees
had
> > been infiltrated by
> > > North Korean troops and convinced that [ALLOWING INFILTRATERS TO PASS
> > THROUGH WOULD GET THEM KILLED AND THE WAR LOST]  their orders covered
their
> > > actions, the 7th Cav pinned down several hundred villagers beneath a
> > > railroad trestle and for more than three days days replete with
> > > ''screaming children, ricochets in the concrete underpasses, bodies
> > > piling up in the entrances'' shot and killed as many as 400 civilians,
> > > including many women and children.  PERHAPS THE CIVILIANS CHOULD HAVE
GONE
> > AWAY FROM THE POSITION?
> > >
> > >    A half-century later, the effects of that massacre still shape the
> > > lives of the survivors, Korean and American alike. When the Cold War
> > > ended, villagers petitioning the American government for redress got
the
> > > attention of the Associated Press. Reporters interviewed more than 500
> > > people and delved deeply into military records, including some showing
> > > that high-ranking officers had authorized firing on civilians.  THIS
WAS
> > NEVER "NEWS" AND HARDLY A SECRET UNCOVERED BY BRILLIANT DETECTIVE WORK.
> > >
> > >    Thanks to its careful documentation, The Bridge at No Gun Ri surely
> > > refutes the 2001 Pentagon report that termed the incident ''an
> > > unfortunate tragedy inherent to war and not a deliberate killing.''
> > >
> > >    But Hanley, Choe, and Mendoza, whose writing is measured, clear,
> > > to-the-point, and remarkably rhetoric-free, do not demonize the men
who
> > > pulled the triggers, whose tortured postwar lives give grim meaning to
> > > the term ''post-traumatic stress disorder.'' If there are villains,
they
> > > are higher in the chain of command.  OH, THEY DON'T DEMONIZE, THEY
SIMPLE
> > LABEL THEM AS STUPID AUTOMATONS INCAPABLE OF "ESTIMATING THE SITUATION"
[THE
> > TRAINING PHRASE AT THAT TIME FOR MAINTINING BATTLEFIELD AWARENESS]
> > >
> > >    Because it graphically describes the violence of the encounter at
the
> > > bridge and its agonizing aftermath, this is not an easy book to read.
> > > But it is an important one, especially now, as we prepare to go to war
> > > again. We need to think hard about how things can go wrong when
fighting
> > > for the right.  IT MIGHT ALSO BE HELPFUL TO EXAMINE THE LIFE IN NORTH
> > KOREA DURING THE NEXT 53 YEARS TO SEE WHAT WE SAVED SOUTH KOREA FROM,
AND
> > ASK THE LOCALS IF THEY WOULD TRADE THEIR LIVES FOR THUSE UP NORTH.
> > >
> > >    Luther Spoehr teaches a course on America Since 1945 at Brown
> > > University. AND I AM CONFIDENT HIS STUDENTS ARE MADE AWARE OF EVERY
BAD
> > THING EVER PERPETRATED BY EVIL AMERICA.
> > >
> > > ---
> > >
> > > As one of the authors of the above book, I felt compelled to offer
this as
> > an antidote of truth to the posting last Wednesday, in response to the
> > McLaughlin query, of a review of a book that is nothing more than a
> > small-minded and mean-spirited slapping together of baseless
``theories,''
> > fabrications and fantasies about No Gun Ri.
> >
> > > Thank you.
> >
> > > Charlie Hanley
> > >
> > > AS AN EARLY ON COMBATANT FROM 7 AUG 50 AND AS ONE WHO HAS CRITICIZED
THE
> > LACK OF TRAINING OF THE OCCUPATION TROOPS I CATEGORICALLY REJECT THE
IMAGE
> > OF THEM AS SCARED TEENAGERS PANICKING. THEY DID THE BEST THEY COULD
AGAINST
> > THE FORCE AGAINST THEM, AND THEY HELD UNTIL I GOT THERE TO TAKE OVER.
THERE
> > WERE SOME OTHERS WITH ME, OF COURSE. IF ANYTHING, THEIR TRAINING DID NOT
> > EQUIP THEM FOR  GRACEFUL RETREATING, A NECESSARY SKILL IN ANY COMBAT
> > SITUATION.
> > CIVILIANS DO NOT BELONG IN A COMBAT ZONE. CIVILIANS SHOULD NOT ADVANCE
INTO
> > AN ARMED POSITION AFTER RECEIVING WARNING SHOTS. WHEN CIVILIANS SHIELD
> > BELLIGERENTS AND PROVIDE COVER FOR THEIR ADVANCES THEY BECOME CANNON
FODDER
> > FOR THE SIDE UTILIZING THEM.
> >
> > WALTER E. WALLIS
> > INSPIRE 28
> > [YES, I KNOW I AM YELLING BUT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH]
>