[Old Fossil]

The remains of another Arkansas soldier who was taken prisoner and never heard of again has been identified and is being returned to his family. CPL C. G. Bolden from Clinton, Van Buren County, was in the 2nd Infantry Division and was captured in January 1951. One of his fellow prisoners stated they had no food or proper clothing and they were dying from freezing, starvation, and/or pneumonia. He stated C.G. was sick and leaned up against a building, and died. His remains will be returned to his family and buried in the Clinton Cemetery on February 21, 2015.

There are still almost 8,000 still unidentified, but C.G. is the fifth or sixth from Arkansas who has been identified and returned.

[Old Fossil]

Another has been identified and returned. Army PFC ROBERT MITCHELL was killed during the Pusan Perimeter in September 1950 but his remains were not recovered (though not identified) until 1952. He has now been identified and returned to Arkansas to be buried in Beebe, White County, Saturday.


Also returned this month was WWII Marine PFC LARRY ROBERTS who was killed during landing on Tarawa Atoll in the Pacific and will be returned to Damascus.


The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and those super scientist doing the DNA matches are doing a superb job and receive very little attention.

[slingshot]

Originally Posted by Old Fossil

Also returned this month was WWII Marine PFC LARRY ROBERTS who was killed during landing on Tarawa Atoll in the Pacific and will be returned to Damascus.


The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and those super scientist doing the DNA matches are doing a superb job and receive very little attention.

Tarawa happened on November 20, 1943. That just happens to be my birthday. It's very humbling to me to know that all those Marines and sailors were dying on the day I was born.

[Old Fossil]

Originally Posted by slingshot

Tarawa happened on November 20, 1943. That just happens to be my birthday. It's very humbling to me to know that all those Marines and sailors were dying on the day I was born.

Yep, they didn't stand a chance but I guess it had to be done. That's why combat commanders loose lot of sleep; they gotta weigh the importance of the objective against the cost of lives. War IS hell, even for the leaders who are not on The Line.

[Wartrace]

Originally Posted by awshucks

Truman should have left Mca cross the Yalu. Think about it for a minute. WWII was just over, we nuked the Japs, the Chinese play a 'long game'. Things would be diff today.......

The Chinese and Soviet's had a say in that plan; In late 1950 the goal was to reach the Yalu. The U.N. couldn't manage to do it in force. How could they have attempted a crossing into China? Not to mention when the troops were close to the Yalu it was 30 degrees below zero +/- one of the coldest winters in Korea ever recorded.

I am currently reading "The Frozen Hours" By Jeff Shaara. If anyone is interested in the Chosin Reservoir Campaign I highly recommend the book.

1) General Almond should never been allowed to command 10th corps. He might have been a great staff officer but he was not suited to command combat troops.

2) O.P. Smith should have been in command from the beginning.

3) MacArthur should have retired long before he was "retired". He had lost touch with his troops instead trusted his "yes sir" staff.

It is funny you refer to the Chinese as playing a "long game"; it was more a war of attrition with an almost endless supply of cannon fodder. They were more than willing to sacrifice people in every attack.

[Old Fossil]

In the wee hours of the morning, 67 years ago today, all h=!! broke loose.

[slingshot]

Originally Posted by Old Fossil

In the wee hours of the morning, 67 years ago today, all h=!! broke loose.

I remember. I was 7 years old and living in La Grange, Texas. I remember the adults talking about it.

[Old Fossil]

64 years ago today we were told to stop shooting, but someone forgot to tell the North Koreans and today they have even bigger "guns"

[Old Fossil]

We all know the non-combatants are the ones who suffer the most in war, but the children even more so. All they know is that they are scared and their friends and family are getting hurt or killed.


This little beauty was selling walnuts that were similar to our English Walnuts. In the early spring of 1951, we, Battery A, 937th Field Artillery Battalion Arkansas Army National Guard from Mena Polk County, was pulled off the line and sent to the rear for special training. We went into position near a small farming community and the next day we were "covered up" with kids selling walnuts and eggs. We bought everything they had and were really happy to get the fresh eggs. We could already taste fried bacon and eggs.


That night after everything got quite some of us sneaked into the mess tent and "acquired" some bacon and bread and went back to our tent to cook a feast. But the eggs wouldn't break! None of them. Someone finally checked them out and found they all had been boiled. Oh well, sliced boiled egg fried in bacon grease ain't bad

[Old Fossil]

The G.I. Scrip we had in Korea in 1951