Re: Pyongyang, North Korea

Joe21® · 2018-02-21T00:17:36.929Z

In today's (2/20/18) issue of the Seneca Journal, is a photo of a battered bridge over the Taedong River in Pyongyang with refugees shown all over the girders trying to escape from the Chinese Army. Former AP photographer, Max Desfor, who took the photo, died recently at the age of 104. When we left Pyongyang on Dec.1,1950, we crossed the river on a pontoon bridge. There is a nice article along with the photo. The photo brought back a lot of memories. When we left Pyongyang the road was covered with refugees fleeing toward South Korea. For some, every thing they had was on their back or in their arms. A few had a wheelbarrow and even fewer had a donkey and cart. Some were even carrying the elderly. It was truly a heart breaking situation. The river had been iced over but from this photo it appears the ice had broken up and moved down river.

Joe21®

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Feb 20, 2018, 9:17 PM

I went up and down South Korea five times and was beginning to feel like I knew every Korean along the way. First, I entered Korea at Inchon and then to Pyongyang, The Chinese entered the war and we went down to Pusan. Next, I went up to the 38th Parallel to join a Combat Engineering Company. Then it was back to Pusan and Japan. Back to Pusan and once more to the 38th Parallel. When I received orders to come home, it was back down to Pusan. Somewhere in there should have been some "Frequent Rider Miles" and a lot of "Frequent Walking Miles".

I've been back to South Korea twice, once in the 1980's and again in the 1990's. Seoul had considerable damage during the war but they had rebuilt and revitalized the country to the extent it was entirely different from what I remembered during the war. I did not get to some of the more rural areas but assume vast changes had been made in those areas during the ensuing years.

The South Koreans. particularly those who were living during the war, have been most grateful to those of us who served during the war. I have received several medals from the Koran Government over the years and currently in the process of receiving another.

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Interesting Joe - love your posts. My Dad fought in Korea '52 to '53 with the Wolfhounds (27th Inf Reg - M Company). He was also there for the ceasefire in July '53. He ran one of the first prisoner exchanges at the DMZ after the ceasefire (still have the prisoner tag that he pulled off the first Chinese soldier he processed). He became really pissed at the condition of our boys coming back from the Nork/Chinese prison camps. After seeing the way our boys were treated he started stripping the Nork/Chinese prisoners down to their skivvy's sending them back North in nothing but their underwear. Not a real payback compared to the torture, starvation, physical, and mental abuse our guys endured... Korea was a real meat grinder - the old man wouldn't talk much about it until I was in ROTC at Clemson. It is a real shame at how Korea has truly been a forgotten war by a lot of folks where the combat was as brutal as it could get.

I ended up doing 27 years in the Army (retired a couple of years ago) - went all around the world but never went to Korea. Saw plenty of the middle east and Latin/South America...

Pyongyang, North Korea