Why, then, has the old figure of 54, deaths been used by the Department of Defense 50th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemorative Committee in a newsletter meant to highlight the war's history? Bob White, the committee's historian, said Monday he had been using the old 54, figure until he recently discovered that the Pentagon's casualty statistics had been revised several years ago.
The higher figure also is engraved on the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington apparently because the memorial's organizers wanted to honor all military members who died during the period of the war, not just those lost in Korea. It might not be surprising that there would be confusion over Korean War casualty figures.
The Pentagon made its official revisions over a period of several years, with little or no public explanation. At first, the war was a defensive one to get the communists out of South Korea, and it went badly for the Allies.
Also, it was one of the hottest and driest summers on record, and desperately thirsty American soldiers were often forced to drink water from rice paddies that had been fertilized with human waste. As a result, dangerous intestinal diseases and other illnesses were a constant threat.
By the end of the summer, President Truman and General Douglas MacArthur , the commander in charge of the Asian theater, had decided on a new set of war aims.
Initially, this new strategy was a success. This was something that President Truman and his advisers decidedly did not want: They were sure that such a war would lead to Soviet aggression in Europe, the deployment of atomic weapons and millions of senseless deaths. As President Truman looked for a way to prevent war with the Chinese, MacArthur did all he could to provoke it. For Truman, this letter was the last straw. On April 11, the president fired the general for insubordination.
In July , President Truman and his new military commanders started peace talks at Panmunjom. Still, the fighting continued along the 38th parallel as negotiations stalled.
Finally, after more than two years of negotiations, the adversaries signed an armistice on July 27, The Korean War was relatively short but exceptionally bloody. Nearly 5 million people died.
Almost 40, Americans died in action in Korea, and more than , were wounded. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Korea was split in half after World War II. Japan ruled over Korea from until the end of World War II, after which the Soviet Union occupied the northern half of the peninsula and the United States occupied the south. Originally, they intended to keep Korea together as However, the relationship between the two nations was a tense one.
The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. Officially, North and South Korea are still at war today. Divided families The Korean War resulted in millions of dead, missing, abducted, and refugee civilians. Over a million North Koreans fled south of the border.
Many families were torn apart by the war. Following the inter-Korean summit, the two governments arranged for family reunions to be held in North Korea.
North Korea would not permit the people to leave, so the family members in the south went to meet them. From to , about 21 reunions have taken place in either South or North Korea. Most of the family members in South Korea are now in their 70s to 90s. Although there is strong agreement with the need to continue these reunions before the separate families age and pass away, this has not always been possible due to tensions between the two Koreas.
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