26 Moses Lake 1953 Christmas Crash
On December 20, 1953, a U.S. military transport plane carrying 87 American soldiers home from the Korean War crashed near Moses Lake, Washington, killing everyone on board. The men were on a Christmas flight back to the United States after serving in a brutal conflict, but their journey ended in a frozen field instead of at family homes. For decades, their sacrifice drew little public attention and no national monument. It took about 60 years before local efforts finally produced a memorial to honor the 87 soldiers who died on that overlooked flight.
27. In November 1951, during the Korean War, British private Bill Speakman of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers faced a human wave attack by Chinese troops after heavy artillery had smashed his unit’s positions. He grabbed as many grenades as he could and led a countercharge, hurling them into the oncoming soldiers until he ran out, then picked up empty beer bottles and kept throwing. His assault, fought largely at close quarters, bought enough time for his unit to withdraw to a safer position instead of being overrun. Despite being wounded in the leg, Speakman continued to fight until he had nothing left to throw, and he later received the Victoria Cross for his actions.
28. In July 1950, during the Korean War, about 200 U.S. soldiers, thought to be dead, unexpectedly reappeared after spending days behind enemy lines. They had been cut off and were trying to find their way back when a 10-year-old South Korean boy guided them through hostile territory. Following his lead, the battalion finally reached safety instead of being wiped out or captured. Grateful for his help, the soldiers made the boy their unit mascot.
29. At 19, future actor Michael Caine served in the Korean War and had a near-death experience that he later said formed his character for the rest of his life. Confronting how close he came to dying, he decided to live every moment as if it were his last. In the years afterward, he has described that episode as the reason he always tries to look on the bright side of life and keep a resilient outlook.
30. During the Korean War, U.S. pilot James Risner chased a Russian MiG back across the border to its base in China. He followed the jet at low level, flying between hangars while anti-aircraft guns tried to shoot him down. Risner stayed on the MiG’s tail long enough to hit it, sending the damaged fighter crashing into parked aircraft on the ground.
31 Eduardo Gomez Grenade Kills Tank
On 3 September 1950, during the Battle of Tabu-dong in Korea, Sergeant Eduardo C. Gomez crawled about 30 yards across an open rice field to attack an enemy tank. He climbed onto the vehicle, pried open a turret hatch, and dropped a live grenade inside, killing the crew and knocking the tank out of action. As he withdrew, he was wounded, but he refused medical attention and returned to his position to keep firing on the attacking force. His actions helped protect his company’s perimeter under heavy fire and later earned him the Medal of Honor.
32. On September 17, 1951, during the Korean War, Private First Class Herbert K. Pililaau stayed behind as a volunteer rear guard while his platoon withdrew under heavy North Korean attack. He covered their retreat with his automatic rifle until he ran out of ammunition, then threw grenades and hurled rocks to keep the enemy back. When the North Koreans closed in, he drew his trench knife and kept fighting hand-to-hand until they finally killed him. After U.S. forces retook the position, they found Pililaau’s body surrounded by about 40 dead enemy soldiers, and he later received the Medal of Honor for his actions.
33. From 1950 to 1953, fighting on the Korean Peninsula killed and wounded millions of people as North Korean, Chinese, and United Nations forces battled up and down the country. Sources estimate that civilians made up a substantial share of the dead and injured in Korea, as front lines shifted through towns and cities and armies fought across densely populated areas. Historians note that the Korean War had a higher rate of civilian casualties than the later Vietnam War.
34. In 1952, during the Korean War, U.S. Navy pilot E. Royce Williams flew a straight-wing F9F Panther on a combat air patrol when seven swept-wing Soviet MiG-15s engaged his section. Despite the MiGs being about 100 miles per hour faster and having better high-altitude performance, Williams fought them alone and shot down at least four in a single running dogfight. Because the United States was not officially at war with the Soviet Union, his feat remained classified, and officials ordered him to keep quiet about the mission. Williams was debriefed by President Dwight Eisenhower, but he did not even tell his wife about the encounter until Soviet archives later confirmed the shootdowns decades afterward.
35. During World War II, U.S. Army nurse Ruby Bradley was captured and held prisoner, where she delivered 13 babies in captivity and smuggled food to keep starving children alive, earning the nickname “Angel in Fatigues.” She risked punishment by hiding extra rations in her clothing and sharing them with the weakest prisoners. During the Korean War, she again served near the front and faced a hospital evacuation while about 100,000 enemy soldiers surrounded the area. Bradley refused to leave her hospital until every patient and staff member had gone, only departing at the very end after she had helped get everyone else to safety.
36 William Dean Captured At Taejon
In July 1950, as the North Korean advance raced south, Major General William F. Dean, commander of the U.S. 24th Infantry Division, tried to hold the city of Taejon. The North Koreans pushed forward so fast that they overran his headquarters and forced Dean into frontline fighting, where he personally acted as a tank hunter and helped knock out several enemy tanks. Cut off from his men and fighting on foot, he continued to resist until North Korean forces captured him. Dean became the highest-ranking United Nations prisoner of war taken during the Korean War.
37. In 1952, during the Korean War, the Chinese army organized an Olympics-style sports meet for prisoners of war held in North Korean camps. About 500 POWs from 11 different countries took part, competing in events while still officially captives of the Chinese and North Korean forces. The organizers also had prisoners work as photographers, announcers, and reporters, so the POWs ran much of the event themselves.
38. During the Korean War in the early 1950s, a supplier produced large quantities of powdered coffee creamer for the U.S. military. When the fighting wound down, they ended up with excess inventory that they no longer needed for wartime rations. To avoid wasting it, they repurposed the surplus creamer by blending it with cocoa and sugar to create the first instant hot cocoa mix, later sold as Swiss Miss.
39. At the onset of the Korean War in 1950, the U.S. Army found itself so unprepared that it lacked enough modern armored vehicles for its forces. To fill the gap, officers ordered World War II–era tanks salvaged from old battlefields and even pulled from display pedestals at Fort Knox. Mechanics refurbished these worn-out machines as quickly as possible so units heading to Korea could field armored support at all.
40. During the Korean War, U.S. officer Dave Teich learned that about 65 American soldiers were under attack by an estimated 300,000 Chinese troops. Despite being ordered not to go, he took command of four tanks and drove them toward the embattled position. Teich used the small armored column to fight his way to the trapped men and load them onto the tanks under fire. He then led the group back through the chaos, rescuing all 65 soldiers from a position that had been considered lost.
41 Winston Churchill Secret Napalm Opposition
During the Korean War, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill opposed the American use of napalm but still allowed the United States to publish claims that Britain supported those napalm attacks. While U.S. forces used the incendiary weapon extensively in Korea, Churchill did not openly challenge Washington’s public line.
42. In the British Army, “gunfire” is a traditional drink of black tea mixed with rum, which officers serve to lower ranks on Christmas. During the Korean War, some British soldiers shared gunfire with American military police who were not used to the potent mix. After drinking it, the MPs tried to drive an ARV and several Jeeps and ended up crashing them into a fence.
43. When he became president, Dwight D. Eisenhower allowed his son, Army officer John Eisenhower, to serve in the Korean War only on the condition that he promise never to be captured alive. John deployed to Korea during the final phase of the conflict and served his tour while his father directed the war from the White House. He completed his deployment and survived the war.
44. During the Korean War, Master Sergeant Gilbert Zamora served as the youngest American soldier in the conflict, having enlisted in the U.S. Army at just 13 years old. He managed to join because, even at that age, he already stood 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed about 195 pounds, which made him look like a full-grown adult to recruiters. Zamora then went to Korea as a soldier in uniform.
45. Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams missed almost five full baseball seasons because he served as a fighter pilot in both World War II and the Korean War. Called away from Major League Baseball for military duty twice, he spent those years training and flying instead of standing in the batter’s box. Even with that long interruption to his career, he still finished with 521 home runs.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
46 Korean War North Korea Bombing
During the Korean War, after U.S. forces failed to weaken Chinese troops through ground attrition, Washington turned to an all-out air campaign against North Korea. The United States then carried out what was described as the most concentrated bombing campaign in history, killing over 20 percent of North Korea’s population and wiping out “every city, town, village” in the country. By the end of the war, bomber crews had hit so many targets so often that they sometimes had to jettison their bomb loads at sea because they had run out of things to bomb on land.
47. In 1950, when North Korean forces invaded South Korea, the United Nations Security Council met to decide how to respond. The Soviet Union, which held a permanent seat and veto power, could have blocked any resolution authorizing action in Korea, but its delegates were boycotting the UN over a dispute about China’s representation. Because the Soviets stayed away, the council passed resolutions calling for members to assist South Korea without facing a Soviet veto. That absence allowed a U.S.-led UN coalition to intervene in the Korean War under the UN flag.
48. On June 5, 1951, during the Korean War, Master Sergeant Benjamin F. Wilson was already wounded and lying on a stretcher when Chinese troops attacked his unit’s position. He got off the stretcher, grabbed his rifle, and launched a one-man assault that killed 33 Chinese soldiers before the enemy wrestled the weapon from his hands. Wilson then kept fighting at close quarters with his entrenching shovel until he collapsed from his wounds. His solo attack broke up the assault, helped his company hold its ground, and later earned him the Medal of Honor.
49. In the 1950s, engineers building Tokyo Tower in Tokyo, Japan, sourced much of its structural metal from scrap left over after the Korean War of 1950 to 1953. About one-third of the steel that went into the tower came from damaged American tanks that had fought in Korea.
50. On Second Street in Silvis, Illinois, a stretch of only one and a half blocks produced six men who died in World War II and two who died in the Korean War. Families from this tiny neighborhood sent sons into the U.S. military starting in the 1920s, and by the late 1960s more than 100 residents had served. In 1968, the town officially renamed the street Hero Street to recognize that extraordinary record of sacrifice.
RE: Fact #5 (Sergeant David Bleak Barehanded Rampage) – I’ve read tons of stories about Medal of Honor recipients over the years, and they’re all incredible.
It’s rough, but the Korean War actually has a lot of cool facts, especially since so many people and the war itself got overlooked. Here are some noteworthy stories not included in this article:
* A special company of elite Army Rangers was made up entirely of Black soldiers.
* Tibor Rubin, a Holocaust survivor who became an Infantryman in the Korean War, was taken POW because his sergeant hated Jews and sent him on dangerous missions.
* Nelson Vogel Brittin sacrificed himself to take out 20 enemy troops and destroy several machine gun nests.
* George Andrew Davis Jr., a top fighter pilot, died saving a squadron of bombers by fending off 15 MiGs.
* Clair Goodblood was found dead with 100 enemy fighters caught in his line of fire.
* Emil Joseph Kapaun, a POW Chaplain, inspired fellow prisoners, rescued many wounded, shared his food with soldiers, and has been recognized as a “Servant of God” by the Catholic Church.
RE: Fact #21 (North Korea Keeps Forgotten POWs) – My grandfather was a POW in North Korea for three years when he was just 17. He still has nightmares and needs to keep CSPAN on TV to remind himself he’s here in America. He was released during a POW trade, but he honestly thought they were taking him to his execution. He ate rotten eggs, has frostbite, and was tortured so badly he won’t talk about it. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like—three fu*king years and only 17. You will never be forgotten.
RE: Fact #23 (Korean Spam Army Base Stew) – So I went to this Korean noodle place with a buddy who used to live in Korea. He ordered this dish with noodles, big chunks of hamburger, hotdog, and spam. He told me it’s basically Korean comfort food.
When I first got out of school and money was tight, spam and ramen noodles felt like a real treat. They’re super salty, but I still make them for myself about once a year.
I totally get you, I always end up with the low-sodium spam too! It’s pretty good with white rice or made into a rice ball, which really helps balance out the salty flavor.
That’s buddae jjigae, one of my favorite Korean dishes! It literally means “Army Stew.” You’ll often find things like slices of American cheese and baked beans in it, too! The first time I tried it, my Korean friend told me I was getting soup with sausage and ham. I wasn’t exactly excited when I learned it actually had hotdogs and Spam. But I ended up loving it, surprisingly!
In Korean, “hotdog” basically means “American sausage.”
Yeah, spam gets a bad rap and it’s not the healthiest, but honestly, it’s so good when it’s all cooked golden brown. I love throwing it in fried rice.
RE: Fact #45 (Ted Williams Fighter Pilot Slugger) – Wow, can you believe someone out there doesn’t know who Ted Williams is?
So, get this – last year, I found out two of my friends, both 19, had no idea who Wayne Gretzky is. I was totally speechless!
RE: Fact #9 (James Hong Korean Camp Entertainer) – This actor has been playing the same “old Chinese Guy” role in Hollywood for ages, like since the 80s! Seriously, was he just born looking old?
RE: Fact #36 (William Dean Captured At Taejon) – Man, that guy was incredible. He was actually stopping to help injured soldiers he found while being chased by the enemy, which is how he got captured. But get this – he was out there for over a month, trying to escape in enemy territory, all while hurt and with no way to treat his own injuries. Seriously a beast.
RE: Fact #22 (Luxembourg Forty-Four Soldiers Korea) – I knew that because MASH had an episode with a soldier from Luxembourg.
RE: Fact #6 (Korean War Death Toll Error) – If the government can be that wrong about something like that, it makes you wonder how accurate any of the data they put out actually is.
RE: Fact #24 (John Raymond Rice Arlington Burial) – Wow, they really stopped the burial because of that?
it’s interesting how people, like animals, tend to stick with their own kind
Humans are animals, plain and simple. Distrusting folks who are different from us isn’t some weird, foreign concept. It’s just part of our nature that we need to work past.
RE: Fact #25 (Bak Du San Saves Busan) – Having the right person in the right spot can totally change things. So, it’s a good thing it all worked out the way it did, otherwise we’d have all of Korea stuck with that awful family ruling them.
It’s wild to picture a world where Korea was communist.
In that alternate reality, maybe the Kim dynasty wouldn’t even be a thing. They kind of solidified their power after the war by blaming others for the loss, and then for decades, North Korea acted like it was under a constant threat from South Korea existing. But that wouldn’t be an issue if they controlled the whole peninsula.
Japan’s security situation would be completely different too. They might have started rebuilding their military way sooner after WWII, or maybe Japan itself would have faced internal struggles with communist groups gaining influence.
China could have shifted its attention to Taiwan instead of Korea, potentially sparking a conflict there. Plus, Mao Zedong’s oldest and favorite son would still be alive.
Honestly, East Asia and the entire world could look so different, with Korea’s fate setting a totally different vibe for the Cold War. And what if South Korea had ended up taking over the whole peninsula during the war? It’s fascinating stuff to consider.
RE: Fact #16 (Ferdinand Demara Fake Korean Surgeon) – Catch me if you can 2: The Surgeoning.
RE: Fact #39 (Fort Knox Display Tanks Recalled) – It’s wild how quickly democracies can become complacent when things are peaceful.
RE: Fact #1 (MacArthur Gore Korean Nuclear Plan) – It seemed to me like the top brass in the military back in the 1950s were kind of obsessed with nukes and eager to use them. While the decision to bomb Japan was a huge deal with a lot of tough factors involved, not everyone in the US military approached every post-WWII situation with the same mindset. Keeping the more reckless folks in check likely saved us from nuclear disaster a few times.
RE: Fact #11 (Chosin Reservoir Tootsie Roll Misdrop) – So basically, we were asking for ammo and stuff, and some folks in the background were joking around, yelling, ‘send us more Tootsie Rolls.’ Kot clarified that “Tootsie Rolls” was actually code for mortar shells at that point. He said when they did a parachute drop later, everyone was super confused, asking “What the hell is this?” But hey, he managed to survive for two weeks just on Tootsie Rolls!
As a 105mm howitzer crew member, we still call them that.
Yep, I’m a 105mm section chief, and we definitely call them tootsie rolls.
RE: Fact #4 (GI Heaven Korean Camptown Women) – It’s really annoying how some people slyly present this as if only the South Korean government did it and the US was just reluctantly involved. The US was actually a major player in this whole thing.
This part always gets to me:
“Determined to stamp out any chance of GIs contracting diseases, the U.S. military began asking troops to identify sex workers they suspected of carrying STDs. The women were then rounded up and taken to buildings like the Monkey House, where they were forcibly examined and given heavy doses of penicillin often administered by U.S. military medics.”
RE: Fact #9 (James Hong Korean Camp Entertainer) – This article had a great quote! It made me think about whether I would have wanted to go to war in Korea. I mean, if I showed up with a G.I. cap and this face, the Korean army would probably try to take me out. But then, if I turned and ran, the Americans might try to shoot me too, thinking I was some enemy pretending to be a deserter. Yeah, I’d probably get shot from both sides.
RE: Fact #16 (Ferdinand Demara Fake Korean Surgeon) – If you can level up Bluff enough, it’s the only skill you’ll ever need.
RE: Fact #44 (Thirteen-Year-Old Soldier Gilbert Zamora) – It really makes you think about how lax the ID checks must have been for people signing up back in the day. During both World Wars and the Korean War, it was super common for folks younger than the required age to join up by just fudging their birthdate. I can’t imagine that would fly these days.
RE: Fact #3 (Gloucestershire Regiment Imjin River Stand) – Things were a bit tricky, you know? I don’t get how he could have explained it any better. Telling them it was getting rough would have been an exaggeration, honestly.
RE: Fact #7 (Syngman Rhee Bodo League Massacre) – It’s wild how major things can happen without most people even noticing. Makes you think about all the terrible stuff that might have gone down that we never even knew about.
RE: Fact #4 (GI Heaven Korean Camptown Women) – Yeah, they did something similar over in Japan. I guess that’s where the whole “sex worker” stereotype about Asians really took off, with guys actually marrying prostitutes, which kinda cemented that image.
RE: Fact #24 (John Raymond Rice Arlington Burial) – It’s kind of ironic that the bigots wouldn’t bury a Native American in a town named Sioux City! Bless Harry for sending a message that even those misguided folks probably got. For whatever reason, maybe his decision to use nuclear weapons, Truman doesn’t get enough credit. In my opinion, he’d look great on a $20 bill.
I was so confused at first. I thought it was a Sioux cemetery that wouldn’t let someone from another tribe be buried there. Then I was wondering why he wasn’t buried with his own tribe instead of in this Sioux City. But either way, it’s good that Truman did the right thing.
RE: Fact #35 (Ruby Bradley Angel In Fatigues) – Wow, she managed to hop onto the plane right as her ambulance blew up from a shell! That’s pretty wild.
RE: Fact #6 (Korean War Death Toll Error) – I can see being a few percentage points off, but how in the world are you off by 18,000?
So, basically, this government guy at the Pentagon was figuring out the total number of US military deaths from the Korean War. He added up the 20,617 people who died for other reasons besides combat (like accidents or sickness) to the 33,000-plus who actually died in action. Turns out, only about 3,275 of those non-combat deaths happened in Korea itself, bringing the grand total to 36,940.
In short, he just added up all the US military deaths during the Korean War, even the ones that happened far away from the fighting, like in training accidents elsewhere or even from things like heart attacks or stuff in Pearl Harbor.
I’m reminded of a song by Corb Lund called Student Visas, which mentions covert operations in Nicaragua. The lyrics say, “I never did heal up right from the injuries sustained. Officially in Germany. Officially while we trained.”
Hold on, 20,000 servicemen died of natural causes? That sounds like a really high number.
RE: Fact #38 (Swiss Miss From Korean Surplus) – Yeah, it’s funny, people sometimes give me weird looks when I bring up Swiss Miss. Turns out, it actually came out of Wisconsin, not Switzerland!
Ha, I had no idea! I totally thought it was some fancy Swiss food too.
Nah, the Swiss actually use chocolate, not that Swiss Miss stuff. For most Europeans, drinking it is a one-and-done thing. Like, once you taste it, you’re never going back. It’s like 60% sugar, 25% artificial plastic-flavored fake milk, 10% vanillin, and 5% vomit.
RE: Fact #6 (Korean War Death Toll Error) – As someone who works in government clerical jobs, this is one of my biggest worries.
RE: Fact #26 (Moses Lake 1953 Christmas Crash) – I wasn’t sure why they crashed taking off in Washington if they were heading out from Korea, but I saw a story about it. It sounds like a really rough situation. I’m from Washington, and the Moses Lake runway is super long, over 2.5 miles!
RE: Fact #28 (Lost Battalion Guided By Boy) – Losing two hundred troops is pretty serious, almost like a whole battalion’s gone.
RE: Fact #43 (John Eisenhower Korean War Vow) – This is basically blackmail bait. It’s tough to think about, but this guy really wanted to go, and by taking that chance, he had to know he’d be a big target. Ike was all about the military and wouldn’t use a ton of resources to get his son back if he was captured, nor would he put the country in an embarrassing position.
RE: Fact #20 (John Thornton Imaginary Motorcycle Confiscated) – That thing must have gotten amazing gas mileage.
RE: Fact #21 (North Korea Keeps Forgotten POWs) – Yeah, for a really in-depth look at the family and descendants of a South Korean POW who became a coal miner and citizen of North Korea, I’d suggest checking out “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea” by Barbara Demick.
RE: Fact #23 (Korean Spam Army Base Stew) – When I was working in Korea, my boss and his family gave me a beautifully decorated box for my first Christmas there. I opened it up, and it was full of 16 cans of Spam! They all had huge smiles on their faces, and I was totally confused because I didn’t realize how big of a deal Spam was in Korea back then. It was a really sweet gesture though.
Yeah, if that was real SPAM and not just a Korean knock-off, the import taxes alone would’ve made it super pricey. So it was really decent of them.
RE: Fact #24 (John Raymond Rice Arlington Burial) – Harry Truman definitely showed growth over time. It’s interesting to see how he evolved from his earlier, prejudiced views, like those expressed in letters to Bess, to becoming a strong advocate for civil rights later in his life. The fact that he was so moved by the plight of Black WWII veterans in the South and declared “We’ve got to do something!” really highlights that transformation.
RE: Fact #18 (Mao Anying Egg Fried Rice) – Apparently, Mao Anying was with General Peng Dehuai in Korea during the war. One morning, he overslept and, instead of following orders to only cook at night because of air raids, he apparently made himself some fried rice. The story goes that he was killed by a napalm strike, which was drawn to his cooking fire.
Even though some people question if this story is true, people on Chinese social media post egg fried rice recipes every year around October or November to protest the Chinese government.
When would cooking at night, when you can see the fire better, be an advantage over cooking during the day?
During the day, smoke from a single campfire is visible for miles, but at night, a fighter wouldn’t easily spot the campfire itself.
As another Chinese person, I get that this makes for a good political story, but I do want to point out that we can’t be totally sure if the story is true. It’s based on just a small part of a memoir from a military officer. When his book came out in the early 2000s, censorship wasn’t as strict, so it’s not like other people could have backed him up but stayed quiet out of fear. Also, this story has really only gotten popular lately. It seems like when censorship gets tighter on something, people find new ways to criticize it. So, I’d personally take this story with a grain of salt. It’s possible, or even likely, that the cooking happened, but I personally wouldn’t say for sure that it caused his death.
Yeah, I saw that in his background too – he was in the Red Army during WW2. That definitely doesn’t fit the pampered prince image the story tries to paint.
RE: Fact #20 (John Thornton Imaginary Motorcycle Confiscated) – Can you even picture how that conversation went? The officer asks if he’s Lt. John, and Lt. John makes motorcycle noises in response. Then the officer tells him to park it, and Lt. John mimes turning off the engine. The officer says they have to take the bike because having one is against the rules. Lt. John points out it’s not real, but the officer doesn’t buy it and pretends to take the imaginary bike, making engine noises as they leave.
Yeah, I pretty much figured this was the only way it could have happened.
It would have been funnier if LT John was totally bummed that they took it.
I’d love to see a comic based on your story!
Lt. John sighs, pulls something from his pocket, inflates his invisible bike, and rides off. The 2nd Officer mutters, “Imperialists…”
RE: Fact #20 (John Thornton Imaginary Motorcycle Confiscated) – So, I heard from a guy who was a POW in Vietnam, and he mentioned he’d play imaginary pool every day. Apparently, figuring out the shots and keeping track of where all the balls were was a way for him to keep his mind busy and escape.
This sounds like a similar situation. My friend, who was in prison a few years back, used to have imaginary sex with Scarlett Johansson every day. And then, of course, he’d have actual sex with his hand. Oh, and by “prison,” I actually mean he was living with his parents, and by “friend,” I mean it was me.
RE: Fact #17 (Mao Zedong Redirects Taiwan Invasion) – I figured the main idea was to stop the US from having a military base right next to China and Russia. And, you know, all the past alliances.
Yeah, pretty much. This fact is pretty bad. Mao didn’t enter the Korean War for just one reason. A big part of it was that Stalin had told Mao that Russia would send in troops if the situation got tougher. Stalin had also promised Kim-Il-Sung the same thing, and that’s what got Kim to invade South Korea to begin with.
RE: Fact #34 (Royce Williams Soviet MiG Dogfight) – So, American and UN pilots actually thought the Migs were flown by Koreans who’d been trained by Soviets. The Soviets managed to keep it pretty quiet that they were the ones actually flying the jets, which helped avoid starting WW3.
Yeah, it was pretty obvious since US pilots could hear the “North Korean” pilots speaking Russian on the radio. Honestly, the US probably didn’t want to make a big deal out of it because it could have just made the conflict worse.
RE: Fact #14 (Outpost Harry American Greek Defense) – The Korean War is super interesting because of all those battles where the odds were stacked against the US allied troops! It’s pretty amazing how they managed to succeed against huge numbers of Chinese and North Korean forces, even though there were some times the communist forces were more successful too, just not as often.
US troops definitely had a tech edge, and individual soldiers had a solid support system. But I’ve always thought a big reason for success was the number of veterans from World War I and even World War II leading the charge, both as officers and in the ranks.
My guess is that for those three years on the Korean peninsula, you had a massive concentration of super experienced combat soldiers, sailors, and future airmen. Combine that with the significant technological advantage, and you had a recipe for these kinds of intense battles. The communist forces basically just used their one real advantage, which was numbers.
RE: Fact #13 (Sergeant Reckless Korean War Horse) – This horse is amazing.
RE: Fact #25 (Bak Du San Saves Busan) – It’s pretty wild to think about the South Korean navy’s incredible growth. They went from barely scraping together enough money to buy a used training ship from the US to becoming the 8th largest navy globally, even building their own aircraft carrier now.
This ROKS Baek Du San story really highlights that. It was the *only* ship the South Korean navy had at first, a recently acquired former US training vessel. They actually had to fundraise to get it – top officers, cadets, even midshipmen selling scrap metal, and their wives doing laundry and sewing. They raised $15,000, but still weren’t close to buying a ship. The government then chipped in another $45,000 to reach $60,000, and they finally got the Ensign Whitehead in October 1949.
This ship arrived in South Korea just two months before the war broke out. They even managed to outfit it with a main deck gun in Hawaii and bought ammo in Guam. The crew had only practiced with the gun and never fired it until they ran into that North Korean steamer eighteen miles from Busan.
During the invasion, this North Korean ship, a 1,000-ton steamer armed with machine guns and carrying 600 soldiers, was trying to land troops. The Baek Du San spotted it, signaled, but got no response. When the searchlights came on, the North Koreans opened fire, hitting the Baek Du San’s bridge and killing the helmsman. The Baek Du San fired back with its 3-inch anti-aircraft gun and machine guns. The North Korean ship tried to escape but was chased, and the Baek Du San sank it near Tsushima Island, with heavy casualties for the enemy.
RE: Fact #32 (Herbert Pililaau Last Knife Stand) – He went 40 to 1, which is pretty solid!
RE: Fact #46 (Korean War North Korea Bombing) – Most Americans don’t realize how extensive the Korean bombing campaign was.
RE: Fact #35 (Ruby Bradley Angel In Fatigues) – I’d totally pay to see movies about people like her.
RE: Fact #14 (Outpost Harry American Greek Defense) – Greek soldiers were fighting the Chinese in Korea. No writer would ever get away with a story like that unless it actually happened.
RE: Fact #10 (Chesty Puller Surrounded And Calm) – My wife used to work at an assisted living place, and one of the residents was a Marine. Since I served in the Marines too, I had to go meet him. My wife introduced me to this older guy, Jack, and he was super pumped because she’d told him I was a Marine too and he wanted to meet me. Jack took me to his room and started telling me all about his time in Korea. He went through a lot, and you could tell it affected his health.
I shared some stories about Afghanistan and what the Marine Corps is like nowadays. After we talked for a few hours, he looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Do you know who Chesty Puller is?” I just stared and said, “We still do pushups for Chesty every day!” Then he pulled out an old photo album with pictures from Korea and other places he served. He flipped to the back and said, “This is my favorite photo ever. It’s me and Chesty in Korea right before some sh*t went down.” And sure enough, there he was with the legend himself, Chesty.
It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had meeting someone who served. He had a photo with Chesty in Korea, and that’s just amazing. I didn’t meet Chesty, but meeting someone who knew him and served with him back then is pretty special to me.
I wish I could give chesty another upvote. Semper fi.
Chesty memes would be way better than Chuck Norris ones. A lot of his real-life quotes are more awesome than the Chuck Norris jokes. One I really like is when Chesty saw a flamethrower demo and asked, “Where do you put the bayonet?”
RE: Fact #41 (Winston Churchill Secret Napalm Opposition) – So, it sounds like Churchill was totally for using poison gas on “uncivilised tribes.” He even apparently called his colleagues “squeamish” about it in a memo.
What Churchill was talking about back then is what we’d call tear gas today. It’s the kind they use to break up crowds. The notes from back then actually say “lachrymatory gas.” It wasn’t great, for sure, but it wasn’t mustard gas, and it’s less harmful than bullets.
He was also talking about the Amritsar massacre, where British soldiers used machine guns on protesters, killing around 300 people. I know tear gas seems weak to us now, but back then, using tear gas instead of machine guns was actually a pretty big step forward, considering it happened a century ago.
RE: Fact #37 (Chinese POW Olympics Korean Camps) – Mao actually treated prisoners of war really well during the civil war. That was a big reason the communists ended up winning. I can’t find the exact source right now, but I recall reading about a situation where Castro and Che Guevara disagreed. Che thought their limited medical supplies should go to their own injured soldiers, not the wounded from Batista’s government. Castro, however, pointed to Mao as an example. Mao prioritized treating enemy POWs first, which built a strong reputation with them. This encouraged enemy soldiers to surrender more readily and even desert their posts.
RE: Fact #10 (Chesty Puller Surrounded And Calm) – I’m over 50, and back in the early 90s when I joined the Marine Reserve, our company’s 1st Sergeant was a veteran of the Frozen Chosin. He told some truly awful stories about the Chosin campaign, like how some Marines’ M-1 rifles would freeze to their hands because their thumbs got stuck to the bolt when they were reloading.
He also served in Vietnam, but he didn’t talk much about that. He wasn’t a big fan of the M-1 carbine either.
RE: Fact #8 (Kurt Chew-Een Lee Mandarin Ruse) – I think the most interesting bit here is that he was apparently shouting in Chinese while going in alone to not only confuse the enemy, but also draw them out for his guys. It’s a cool story; he was sidelined as a Japanese language instructor early in his career, but he was able to serve his country bravely later on.
Russian Officer: Send these guys to get slaughtered without any weapons so we can shoot at the enemy.
American Officer: I’ll draw the enemy’s fire myself to save my men and totally confuse them.
So, I saw this video with a US Army officer talking about what they learn at West Point about leadership and how they build American leaders. He basically said that leaders should never ask their soldiers to do anything they wouldn’t do themselves, and that leading by example is the best way. He explained that if you want bravery and respect from your troops, you have to show it yourself first. That kind of thing will inspire them way more than just yelling or getting angry.
He also mentioned that leaders should trust their soldiers to be able to improvise and adapt, and not just follow orders blindly. It’s about trusting your NCOs, and those NCOs trusting the soldiers under them.
Whoa, he spoke Japanese too? That’s pretty cool.
Yeah, I’ve seen videos from Ukraine lately that show this too. Guess it’s a tried-and-true method.
RE: Fact #7 (Syngman Rhee Bodo League Massacre) – This is really interesting, thanks for sharing. So much happened in Korea that most people aren’t aware of. Plus, folks often don’t realize how much the US supported Rhee and other Korean dictators in the name of capitalism.
RE: Fact #13 (Sergeant Reckless Korean War Horse) – She was also given a red and gold blanket with insignia. Reckless was promoted again, to staff sergeant, on August 31, 1959, at Camp Pendleton, California. This promotion was also awarded by Pate, then the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Pate personally presided over the ceremony, and Reckless was honored with a 19-gun salute and a 1,700-man parade of Marines from her wartime unit.
She served in numerous combat actions during the Korean War, carrying supplies and ammunition, and was also used to evacuate wounded. Learning each supply route after only a couple of trips, she often traveled to deliver supplies to the troops on her own, without benefit of a handler. The highlight of her nine-month military career came in late March 1953 during the Battle for Outpost Vegas when, in a single day, she made 51 solo trips to resupply multiple front line units. She was wounded in combat twice, given the battlefield rank of corporal in 1953, and then a battlefield promotion to sergeant in 1954, several months after the war ended. She also became the first horse in the Marine Corps known to have participated in an amphibious landing, and following the war was awarded two Purple Hearts, a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, was included in her unit’s Presidential Unit Citations from two countries, as well as other military honors.
The Marines, especially Latham, taught Reckless battlefield survival skills such as how not to become entangled in barbed wire and to lie down when under fire. She learned to run for a bunker upon hearing the cry, “incoming!” The platoon called it her “hoof training” and “hoof camp”. The horse was initially kept in a pasture near the encampment. Reckless had a gentle disposition and soon developed such a rapport with the troops that she was allowed to freely roam about the camp and entered tents at will, sometimes sleeping inside with the troops, and even lying down next to Latham’s warm tent stove on cold nights. She was fond of a wide variety of foodstuffs, entertaining the platoon by eating scrambled eggs and drinking Coca-Cola and beer. Food could not be left unattended around her. She was known to eat bacon, buttered toast, chocolate bars, hard candy, shredded wheat, peanut butter sandwiches and mashed potatoes. However, Mitchell advised the platoon that she not be given more than two bottles of Coke a day. Her tastes were not confined to foodstuffs; she once ate her horse blanket, and on another occasion ate $30 worth of Latham’s winning poker chips.
Reckless’s baptism under fire came at a place called Hedley’s Crotch, near the villages of Changdan and Kwakchan. Though loaded down with six recoilless rifle shells, she initially “went straight up” and all four feet left the ground the first time the Recoilless Rifle was fired. When she landed she started shaking, but Coleman, her handler, calmed her down. The second time the gun fired she merely snorted, and by the end of the mission that day appeared calm and was seen trying to eat a discarded helmet liner. She even appeared to take an interest in the operation of the weapon. When learning a new delivery route, Reckless would only need someone to lead her a few times. Afterwards she would make the trips on her own.
Reckless’s entry into the United States was not without its challenges. The Customs Bureau was not much of a problem but the United States Department of Agriculture insisted a medical check and lab tests be completed before she disembarked from the ship once it reached San Francisco, which would make her late for the Marine banquet where she was to be the guest of honor. The Marines contacted Agriculture Department officials in Washington, D.C. who agreed to allow her off the ship after her blood was drawn for lab tests, with the understanding that if she had glanders or dourine, she would be destroyed or sent back to Japan. Many of the Marines who actually knew her were incensed at what they considered an affront to her honor when they learned that dourine was an equine sexually transmitted disease. The night before she arrived, she once again ate her blanket, but a new one with ribbons and insignia was made just in time for her disembarkation. She was led off the ship by Lieutenant Pedersen and set foot on American soil in San Francisco on November 10, 1954, coincidentally the birthday of the Marine Corps. For the Marine Corps Birthday Ball held that day, she rode an elevator, and then ate both cake and the flower decorations.
RE: Fact #12 (Lewis Millett Last Bayonet Charge) – He really took charge when his platoon got pinned down, leading another one to join them and push up the hill. He apparently fought hand-to-hand with his bayonet and grenades, cheering his guys on the whole time. And even though he got hurt by shrapnel, he stayed put until the top of the hill was totally secure. Major respect!
Did they have trouble running up that hill with huge balls of steel?
imagine them being in charge. Having someone with a hot temper like that leading you would be awful. The choices they make might not be the safest or smartest, but they could be the bravest and most dangerous. All you really want is to get through your shift and go home, not be stuck with Captain America.
RE: Fact #33 (Korean War Civilian Casualty Rate) – As a big history buff, the Korean War really grabs my attention. The ROK almost ended up with nothing and under Soviet control. Then they got pushed back so far, only for hundreds of thousands of Chinese Communist Forces to pour down and force them back to the current border. I just saw this huge display of images and documents in City Hall that really showed how terrible things were.
Plus, think about it: Korea went from being isolated, to being colonized, into this war. Both sides had dictatorships, and now Hallyu stars are everywhere in popular media. It’s wild.
Douglas MacArthur definitely deserves credit for the Incheon landing that pushed the North Koreans back. But if he had just stopped at the Yalu River, Korea probably would have been unified.
RE: Fact #39 (Fort Knox Display Tanks Recalled) – So, about 25 years back, my crew and I were invited over for dinner by this older dude who lived next to a place we were working on. I just remember him as “Joe.” After we’d had a good bit of spaghetti and a few beers, Joe started sharing stories about his time in Korea. He was stationed in Japan organizing USO shows when the war kicked off. He said they basically took a banjo out of his hands, shoved him into a tank, and gave him a week to learn how to operate it before heading to Korea. The tank he was put in was apparently super old, like pre-WWII tech, and just wasn’t up to the job. He mentioned it got taken out by machine gun fire within the first week, and then he was just an infantryman.
RE: Fact #5 (Sergeant David Bleak Barehanded Rampage) – What’s most impressive to me is how he worked his way up from janitor to chief hot cell technician at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, managing spent nuclear fuel rods until he retired in the mid-90s.
I didn’t know there was a way to move up from being a janitor to handling nuclear waste. But it makes sense, since he was already forging his own path by then.
Think of both as ways to get rid of waste. Being a chief hot cell technician is basically being the top-tier janitor.
RE: Fact #13 (Sergeant Reckless Korean War Horse) – So, picture this: you get drafted, sent off to Korea, and there’s a horse that’s, like, higher up in the ranks than you are.
RE: Fact #11 (Chosin Reservoir Tootsie Roll Misdrop) – Yeah, the Brits had something similar happen when they were trying to get cigarettes.
RE: Fact #45 (Ted Williams Fighter Pilot Slugger) – Seriously? He was arguably their most famous player ever too?
RE: Fact #19 (Kagnew Battalion Ethiopian Korea Legend) – The Italians didn’t mess around when they tried to take Abyssinia during WW2 either.
Ethiopia is also pretty unique as it’s one of the only African regions that wasn’t taken over by any European country during the Scramble for Africa. That said, the Italian invasion and their six-year occupation did lead to hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians dying.
RE: Fact #27 (Bill Speakman Grenades And Bottles) – He ended up calling them names like “wanker” and “bellend.” The Chinese soldiers were really embarrassed.
RE: Fact #19 (Kagnew Battalion Ethiopian Korea Legend) – My boyfriend’s great uncle, who’s still alive, used to be a general in the Ethiopian army and was a leader in that battalion. His wife was a nurse. To this day, the Korean government hand-delivers their Korean pension checks to them in Ethiopia every month as a sign of respect and thanks.
So, they hand-deliver it? And a Korean representative travels to Ethiopia every month to do this? Ah, and the embassy, I forgot about that. Now I see how that could work.
If I had to take a wild guess, I’d say someone from the embassy probably visits around the country once a month. Or maybe it’s a few different people. I mean, the whole country is only about as big as Texas and California put together. Plus, our Korean War veterans are passing away pretty quickly these days.
RE: Fact #21 (North Korea Keeps Forgotten POWs) – It sounds like even after being released, the former South Korean POWs weren’t treated like full citizens. They faced a lot of prejudice, especially with jobs and where they could live. This discrimination also hit their kids, making it tough for them to get into college, join the Workers’ Party, or even serve in the military. One former POW mentioned that military service is seen as being treated like a person, but their children were turned away just for being POW kids, forcing them into coal mining like their parents. Another escapee also wrote about facing discrimination and being watched closely.
There was also a New York Times report back in 1996 about the possibility of American POWs still being in North Korea. Declassified documents apparently showed that the U.S. Defense Department knew over 900 American soldiers were alive after the war but weren’t released. The Pentagon didn’t confirm it but said they’d keep looking into stories from defectors and others who claimed to have seen American prisoners there. North Korea’s government has stated they aren’t holding any Americans.
On a related note, Lt. Cho Chang-ho was the first South Korean POW to escape from North Korea after the war, doing so in 1994. Since then, up to June 2009, a total of 79 prisoners of war have managed to escape the North.
RE: Fact #30 (James Risner Chases MiG Home) – On September 15, 1952, Risner’s flight was escorting F-84 Thunderjets that were hitting a chemical plant by the Yalu River, close to the East China Sea. Risner’s call sign that day was “John Red Lead.” He fought a MiG at almost supersonic speeds close to the ground. Risner chased it down a dry riverbed and over some hills, all the way to an airfield 35 miles inside China. The MiG pilot must have called ahead though, because the airfield’s anti-aircraft guns were ready and shooting. Risner waited for his chance and unloaded his last 50 CAL rounds into the MiG. He got tons of hits, knocked off its canopy, and set it on fire. Risner then chased it between hangars at the Communist airbase, where he shot it down into other parked fighters. Another pilot in the flight, 1st Lt. Willard P. Dunbar, said the MiG pilot was a red-headed Russian who shook his fist at Risner before crashing.
Another pilot on the flight, 1st Lt. Willard P. Dunbar, said that the MiG pilot looked like a red-headed Russian and shook his fist at Risner just before the crash. I bet he was shouting something like, “No spawn killing asshole!!”
RE: Fact #26 (Moses Lake 1953 Christmas Crash) – What a sh*tty way to go. Survive all that bullshit just to die on the ride home.
You go through a war zone, survive something terrible, and then just as you’re about to head home to your family, something happens to pull the rug out from under you. It’s just so heartbreaking and cruel. That kind of tragedy really stays with you, not only because it’s so unfair but also because it’s a reminder of how easily everything can fall apart.
Heard a story about some British soldiers who were captured after Singapore and got the rough treatment you’d expect from the Japanese back then. Anyway, these guys survived their captivity, and on the way home after being freed, they flew in the bomb bay of an American bomber that was being used for transport. The story goes that at some point during the flight, the bomb bay doors opened… can you imagine going through all that as a POW just to die that way? I’d love to share where I read this, but I can’t recall the exact book title. I do remember it was the gunners from the 79th light anti-aircraft battery who this happened to.
RE: Fact #31 (Eduardo Gomez Grenade Kills Tank) – How else are you supposed to take down a tank? I thought that was a pretty common thing people did. Jar Jar even managed it.
RE: Fact #16 (Ferdinand Demara Fake Korean Surgeon) – My new life philosophy is all about finding your own space. Instead of joining an existing group and trying to climb the ladder, which can be a long and difficult road, it’s better to start your own. That way, there’s no competition, no pre-existing standards to live up to, and you get to set your own rules and make your own way. It’s all about expanding into the power vacuum!
You know, a quote I really like that can get twisted is “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” The idea is that if you’ve got a new idea, there might not be a rule for it already. If you ask first, there’s a good chance they’ll say no. But if you just go for it, you haven’t actually done anything wrong.
That might be what it’s supposed to mean, but everyone I know uses it as an excuse for their sh*tty behavior. So yeah, I fu*king hate that phrase.
That reminds me of a story my dad told. When he was a kid trying out for baseball, the coach told them to run out to their positions to field some balls. My dad bent down to tie his shoe, and everyone else ran ahead. When he looked up, no one was at third base. He’d never played third before, but he ended up becoming the third baseman that day.
Basically, this is how every kid gets into being a hockey goalie. And if you’re even halfway decent at it, everyone wants to be your friend.
RE: Fact #37 (Chinese POW Olympics Korean Camps) – That’s a smart move. If prisoners of war have things to keep them busy, they’re probably less likely to stir up trouble. Plus, having a reputation for treating POWs well is a good look for any country heading into another war.
The Geneva Conventions are a thing because if countries don’t follow them, other countries will pretty much do whatever they want with captured soldiers.
When people know you treat prisoners well, they’re more likely to surrender.
RE: Fact #42 (Gunfire Rum Tea Crashes Jeeps) – It’s usually a standard “NATO Fat”cut mix of 50/50 with rum. The colonel wakes up the subalterns with it, and then they stagger off to their platoons to do the same.
The funniest story about Americans drinking: we had some FBI guys come over to give statements about some war crimes. We put them up in the officers mess, and they discovered they liked Port. They each drank a bottle after a formal dinner.
Port hangovers are awful. The next day they were pale and shaking. Maybe we shouldn’t have told them it was “a mildly alcoholic fruit punch.”
RE: Fact #12 (Lewis Millett Last Bayonet Charge) – Yeah, seems like desertion wasn’t really a huge issue.
RE: Fact #41 (Winston Churchill Secret Napalm Opposition) – Whoa, I just learned that Churchill was still Prime Minister during the Korean War.
RE: Fact #31 (Eduardo Gomez Grenade Kills Tank) – It’s always super humbling for me to read these Medal of Honor citations, especially as a former 11B3P. It’s about guys who just do what has to be done, putting their own needs aside for their fellow soldiers and then becoming legends through their actions. Reading these always gets me a little misty-eyed and makes me wonder if I gave it my all when I was serving.
It’s pretty awesome reading these little snapshots of what happened. I just read another MOH citation a few days ago about a Navy diver at Pearl Harbor who saved sailors. So inspiring!
RE: Fact #2 (Operation Moolah No Kum-Sok MiG) – This is a pretty incredible guy. He came to the U.S. in 1954 and actually met Vice President Richard Nixon. He changed his name to Kenneth H. Rowe after moving here. In 1957, his mom joined him in the U.S.; she had previously left South Korea in 1951. He later got engineering degrees from the University of Delaware. He married someone from Kaesong, North Korea, they had two sons and a daughter, and he became a U.S. citizen. He worked as an aeronautical engineer for a bunch of big companies like Grumman, Boeing, Pan Am, General Dynamics, General Motors, General Electric, Lockheed, DuPont, and Westinghouse.
Back in 1996, he wrote a book called A MiG-15 to Freedom about his defection and life in North Korea. Then in 2000, he retired after teaching aeronautical engineering at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University for 17 years.
He was fluent in English, Japanese, Korean, and Russian.
It seems like the idea of “kill all family after one defects” probably came about after this event happened.
If your whole family were super into North Korea and held important political jobs there, and you totally hated it and decided to leave, that would be wild.
RE: Fact #45 (Ted Williams Fighter Pilot Slugger) – So, I just found out this Michael Jordan dude was actually a really good basketball player.
RE: Fact #4 (GI Heaven Korean Camptown Women) – It really bothers me when people call enslaved women “sex workers.” It’s just wrong.
Yeah, it sounds like they’re implying every woman involved was totally okay with everything that happened.