OUR KOREAN WAR STORY: Brother survived Chosin Reservoir

OUR KOREAN WAR STORY: Brother survived Chosin Reservoir: Sgt. Nevada ‘Jim’ Williams landed at Inchon, South Korea, with 2,500 soldiers of the U.S. Army's 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regiment Combat Team on Sept. 15, 1950.

OUR KOREAN WAR STORY: The arms issue

OUR KOREAN WAR STORY: The arms issue: American Legion sought answers why the United States was unprepared, despite $60 billion in military funding, for the Korean War.

OUR KOREAN WAR STORY: ‘You, Mr. Citizen, Are Civil Defense’

OUR KOREAN WAR STORY: ‘You, Mr. Citizen, Are Civil Defense’: Traveling exhibits take nuclear-age threat and preparation across the country.

OUR KOREAN WAR STORY: 13 resolutions for a new generation

OUR KOREAN WAR STORY: 13 resolutions for a new generation: American Legion National Executive Committee calls for VA, GI Bill benefits on par with those who served in World War II.

Exercise Prepares US,South Korean,Australian and New Zealand Forces for Amphibious Assault

Exercise Ssang Yong 2016 is underway in the Pacific Ocean and the Southeast Korean Penninsula.More than 17,000 troops from the US,Republic of Korea,Australia and New Zealand commenced the drills on 10 March.On 12 March,US Marine Corps and US Navy personnel from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit,Camp Pendleton,California and the 31st MEU,Japan,joined ROK Marines,Australian Army and Royal New Zealand Army troops for amphibious assault training at Doksukri Beach,South Korea.A flotilla of 19 ships took part in the effort,7 of them from Expeditionary Strike Group 7,which is drawn from 2 Amphibious Ready Groups and has more than 9,000 Marines.Ships from the Royal Australian Navy,Royal New Zealand Navy and 3 ROK ships from Commander,Flotilla sailed in a joint Marine Expeditionary Brigade/Expeditionary Strike Group.*
The role of the 13th MEU is to conduct amphibious operations that help build a greater partnership with other naval forces in the Korean theatre of operations,said 13th MEU commander Colonel Anthony Henderson.It gives us an opportunity to show how we conduct our full spectrum of operations from amphibious landings to humanitarian assistance.The MEU will help support the MEB/ESG with its ground,logistics and aviation combat elements,COL Henderson explained.Amphibious landings,aviation operations and landing craft air cushion surface operations will be supplemented by the Marines also doing community service ashore for a well-rounded experience.*
Upholding the reputation of the 1st Marine Regiment,the Marine Corps legacy of being fierce combatants in the Korean War,is very much on the minds of the 13th MEU Marines,who will execute live-fire training in the course of the exercise.*
What we have done for the last year as a naval integrated team with all these ships and how we function across our mission sets-using the sea as manoeuver,providing presence and ensuring stability by our operations-is what we train to and what we're prepared to demonstrate in Ssang Yong 2016,said Sergeant Cesar Martinez,an infantry platoon sergeant with the Fighting 13th Marines and Sailors.

VFW National Convention:Distinguished Guests,Sobering News

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in Louisville,Kentucky Tuesday morning.Hagel,a double Purple Heart recipient and enlisted man Vietnam veteran,took note of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice on July 27.It's an opportunity for the country to fully express its gratitude for your service and sacrifice,Secretary Hagel said. I grew up in small towns in Nebraska,where life revolved around the VFW and American Legion posts.I've been a VFW member for 45 years since I came home from Vietnam in 1968. The US is emerging from the longest period of sustained combat in our history in Iraq and Afghanistan.The world is complicated,and it's dangerous.America must have a strong,capable and ready military,but fulfilling that obligation will require us to realign and reshape in difficult budgetary times,prioritising our core mission of defending our country;maximising our combat power;and taking care of our military men and women past and present. The Department of Defense must set clear priorities within the sequestration realities of the largest reduction since the post-Korea drawdown.Sequestration is an irresponsible process and it is terribly damaging,but we cannot lead the DOD based on hope.We have to prepare an institution for whatever comes.Many DOD missions and capabilities are essential,but others are not. The President must be assured that the options we present to him are ready and real.In an era of reduced resources,every dollar we spend on large staffs and overhead are dollars not spent on our troops.If we are to preserve out decisive miltary edge,we must find savings everywhere in our budget.I expect these cuts to result in organisations that are more efficient and agile-but it will require far more than cuts. We've had to reduce,stop and defer training,maintenance and modernisation.These cuts have had,and are continuing to have,very damaging effects such as a shortage of training rounds;planes are not flying;ships are not sailing.Unfortunately,military readiness does not always have a vocal constituency,and you cannot buy back readiness.There is a cost in precious human lives to sending out a hollow force. DOD is not a corporation,and cannot be run like one.The cost of our decisions is how they have a real effect on human lives. Our people are under stress,and so are the institutions that support them.Our people have been pushed to,and beyond,the breaking point.They must have the same care at home they had on the battlefield.DOD and the VA are building a seamless system to ensure our veterans never again encounter the problems they are having now.We're making good progress;we're committed to do it.We will get through this,but only if we're prepared to make wise and difficult decisions,Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Also present at the VFW convention was US Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Robert Papp,Jr.He received a VFW medal for his service and presented the organisation with a cheque for his own VFW membership dues.Admiral Papp cited the Coast Guard's history of bravery under fire as the nation's fifth member of the Armed Forces.Coast Guard members have received the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.It has 1700 of its men and women currently deployed overseas in Afghansitan,Kuwait,Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.The Coast Guard patrol boat squadron in Bahrain is securing the Northern Arabian Gulf,Admiral Papp noted.A Coast Guardsman was killed in 2004 by a terrorist bomb as he served alongside US Navy Sailors in a boarding party in the region.

Fifty Years Later:John Glenn,Marine and Astronaut

Astronaut John Glenn recently concluded his distinguished aviation career when he gave up his pilot's license at the age of 90.It was getting too hard for him to climb into his Beechcraft Baron.Still alert,Senator Glenn,who represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate from 1974-99,attended the fiftieth anniversary commemoration of his first orbital spaceflight by an American on 20 February at the Kennedy Space Center.
Senator Glenn's career in military aviation isn't nearly as well known as his NASA years,yet was outstanding in its own right.He flew 59 combat missions as a U.S. Marine pilot in World War II in an F49 Corsair in the South Pacific.That was followed by 63 combat missions in the Korean War in an F9F Panther jet interceptor,as well as 27 missions in an F-86F Sabre on an exchange program with the U.S. Air Force in that war,downing 3 MiG-15s near the Yalu River just before the truce that obtains to this day.
For his achievements,Senator Glenn was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Gold Stars and two Oak Leaf Clusters;an Air Medal with three Silver Stars and two Oak Leaf Clusters;and an Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one Bronze Star.He also received two Presidential Unit Citations,one for the United States and the other for Korea.
As well as orbiting the earth three times in a Mercury space capsule in February,1962,Senator Glenn became the oldest astronaut to fly in space when he joined the crew of the space shuttle Discovery in 1998 at age 77.On that flight,he was the subject of a biomedical evaluation of the effect of spaceflight on the elderly,with his 1962 space flight serving as a baseline for the study.Initially opposed to women being astronauts,he changed his mind about that and delivered a stirring tribute to Mission Specialist Judith Resnik,the second American woman in space,who tragically died in the space shuttle Challenger disaster on 28 January,1986.
For his storied accomplishments,Senator Glenn was also honored with the Congressional Gold Medal and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Early Edition:Naval Exercises To Continue

Naval exercises in the Yellow Sea off the Korean peninsula by South Korean and U.S. forces will proceed in spite of North Korea's violent outburst Tuesday.The aircraft carrier USS George Washington(CVN 73) left its homeport in Japan as scheduled on Tuesday and will join the maneuvers shortly.
North Korea had opened fire with K-9 155mm Howitzers on Yeongpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea,7 miles off the coast of South Korea,killing 2 South Korean Marines and injuring 3 civilians and 16 military personnel.The attack lasted about an hour.
Fires from the barrages were still burning at nightfall.Thousands of civilians were being evacuated from a chain of 31 islands.South Korea had responded to the aggression with barrages of its own.The Pentagon said it had no plans to attack the north,and U.S. forces were not put on alert.
In March,a North Korean submarine sank the South Korean warship Cheonan in the same area,killing 46 South Korean sailors.The north doesn't recognize the western maritime border established by the U.N. in 1953,at the truce of the Korean War,which was never formally ended.Several clashes have occurred over the disputed maritime border and along the Demilitarized Zone on land.
President Barrack Obama was awakened at 3:55 am and told of the incident,which he later condemned.North Korea is in the midst of a transition of power from Kim Jung Il to his son Kim Jong Un,who was recently made a four star general,and many observers see the attack as the son's baptism of fire,gaining him credibility with North Korea's powerful army.
The USS George Washington carries about 80 aircraft.Powered by two nuclear reactors,it can cruise at 30+ knots.Around 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea.
Update:The bodies of two construction workers were found buried in the rubble left by North Korea's artillery barrage on Tuesday,raising the death toll to four.The USS George Washington and her carrier battle group should arrive on scene by Sunday to conduct four days of naval exercises with South Korea.North Korea has threatened more attacks if the exercises violate even a millimeter of its perceived territory.
An angry protest against the North Korean aggression took place in Seoul,South Korea.
Update 2:South Korea has reinforced Yeongpyeong Island and other islands nearby with 4,000 more of its marines.General Walter Sharp,commander of U.S. forces in Korea,has toured the devastated island,describing North Korea's attack as being in clear violation of the armistice agreement of 1953.South Korean veterans bitterly criticized the government's response to the aggression,considering it weak and slow.Fire was not returned for 13 minutes.
U.S. and South Korean naval exercises will begin in the Yellow Sea around noon on Sunday,a U.S. Navy spokesman said.They will not be live fire exercises because they are being held in a high traffic area.The maneuvers were planned in advance of the North Korean attack.

Korea Update

The naval exercises off the South Korean Coast have been concluded after four days of gunnery and anti-submarine warfare practice,along with airpower displays.North Korea's shrill rhetoric had been toned down by the end of the exercises.U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew to Seoul to meet with his South Korean colleague in recent days.They agreed to conduct an additional series of meetings and exercises over the next few months to reinforce their message of determination to counter any further aggression by Pyongyang,a Pentagon source said.Mr.Gates also visited the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas and U.S. troops at Camp Casey nearby.
Pynogyang has denied sinking the South Korean warship Cheonan in March,which led to the show of force by the U.S. and its ally Seoul.The Korean War raged from 1950-53,and remains in an uneasy truce that has been punctuated by various deadly crises.

Naval Exercises:Allies Send Stern Message

Since Sunday,naval exercises have been occurring off the South Korean coast,conducted by the U.S. and its South Korean ally.The war games are a clear warning to North Korea that further aggression will not be tolerated.On 26 March,a North Korean submarine attacked and sank the South Korean warship Cheonan with a torpedo,killing 46 South Korean sailors.It was the worst incident since the Korean War was paused in 1953.The war was never formally ended.A group of U.S. sailors bowed their heads in silence as they visited the wreckage of the Cheonan at a naval headquarters south of Seoul.
In response to the deadly attack,the U.S. dispatched the USS George Washington(CVN 73),a nuclear aircraft carrier,from its home port in Yokosuka,Japan,along with its Carrier Strike Group,which is a flotilla of smaller warships plus a nuclear submarine.Included in the CSG were three Arleigh Burke class destroyers.South Korea sent its Landing Platform Helicopter ship Dokdo.The U.S. Air Force contributed F-22 Raptor stealth fighters,their first participation in such an exercise.In total,200 aircraft,20 warships and 8,000 troops took part in the show of force.North Korea bitterly criticized the display,but so far has taken no concrete action against it.
The war games took place mainly off the east coast of South Korea.Plans to exercise in the Yellow Sea as well,off the west coast and closer to China,were protested by Beijing,and have possibly been scaled back in consequence.It is unclear how long the activity will last,or how many exercises will be staged in which locations.
Occasional outbreaks of hostility have occurred since 1953 along the Demilitarized Zone which separates the two Koreas.Some American troops have been killed in them.There have also been clashes at sea between the two Koreas.The eccentric Communist Pyongyang regime has alternately lashed out at democratic Seoul and sought better relations with it.Pyongyang is believed to possess nuclear weapons,but has so far failed to develop an effective delivery system.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War,in which more than 33,000 U.S. troops were killed as,together with other UN forces,they pushed the North Korean invaders back north of the DMZ.Many other Americans remain missing in action.North Korea is a highly militarized state,devoting almost all its resources to combat preparations.

Platoon Commander and Scholar

Colonel William Joseph Davis,U.S. Marine Corps Retired,PhD,was recently interred in Arlington National Cemetery,having died just before Christmas.Colonel Davis,86,was a veteran of three wars,beginning his service as a Navy enlisted man in World War II.After the war,he earned a BA from Penn State University and joined the Marines as a 2nd Lieutenant.He was a platoon commander in the 1st Battalion/7th Marines during the Korean War,and became Commanding Officer of that unit in the Vietnam War.Colonel Davis was decorated for valor several times,receiving two Silver Stars,a Legion of Merit with Combat V,and the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat V.
Colonel Davis earned his MA at the University of Pennsylvania,where he was a Professor of Naval Science.He also studied at the Air War College in Montgomery,Alabama and was Commanding Officer at The Basic School in Quantico,Virginia. Upon retiring from the service in 1976,he earned a PhD and taught for Pepperdine University at several military bases across the country.The author and publisher of military books,Colonel Davis was known for his swimming and golfing.He is survived by his wife of 63 years,Isabel Anne,a daughter and son-in-law,a grandaughter and two step-grandaughters.

Distinguished Aviator Dies

Captain Allard Guy Russell,U.S. Navy Retired,88,an aviator whose encyclopedic career spanned more than 40 years,has died in Sarasota,Florida.He joined the Navy in 1940 after studying at the University of Washington.Captain Russell flew combat missions off of carriers in World War II and Korea.He flew a dive-bomber in support of the First Marine Division on Guadalcanal.When the USS Saratoga was torpedoed,he flew missions from a Guadalcanal airstrip,living among the Marines.He always considered himself a Marine,as well as Navy,after that experience.
After the wars,Captain Russell became a Navy test pilot,flying 125 different aircraft.He specialized in night flight operations,racking up about 6500 total hours of military flight time.A pioneer in computer-aided carrier landing in all-weather,Captain Russell also accepted exchange assignments with the Royal Navy.He received two Distinguished Flying Crosses,five Air Medals and a Presidential Unit Citation.
After retiring,Captain Russell worked as an administrator for Bell Aircraft,Hughes Aircraft and Boeing.He flew many mercy missions in his later years.A father of four,he was married to Edith Russell for more than 67 years.He was a member of the Navy League and the 1st Marine Division Association of SW Florida.

Three-War Marine Dies

Lt.General Victor H. Krulak,who led U.S. Marines through three major conflicts,has died in San Diego.In poor health for some time,he was 95.General Krulak won the Navy Cross for his actions in World War II.Leading a diversionary raid in the Pacific theater to mask the Bougainville invasion,he declined evacuation despite being badly wounded.In Korea,he was chief of staff to the 1st Marine Division.During the Vietnam War,he was commander of Fleet Marine Force Pacific,championing the cause of small unit tactics to win hearts and minds.He could thus be seen as a precursor to General David Petraeus,whose surge approach bases troops in Iraqi neighborhoods.His son,General Charles Krulak,served as Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995-99.Lt.General Krulak's book "First to Fight" is considered a classic of Marine Corps literature.