very nice write up...there was a little furor over this memorial, but I guess it passed. I keep saying I want to go by there..but too big a hurry, I guess.

This is our Polk county hero..

http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1940_wwii/mills.html

I fear Memorial Day is going to become a 'crybaby's holiday' what with all the real time reporting going on...instead of keeping our eyes on the prize, so many are looking at the crap we're standing in.

(my Grandaddy made me go get something in a hog pen once...halfway back, I started wiggin' out...he said, "Don't look down Spraddley".."look
at the gate...it's easier" I have used that logic now for everything from burying the dead, to buying a house)

What's funny is..Korea cost us so much more than Vietnam, yet it is laughed at by many.

What was the furor? Looking at the pics, I think it was nicely done. I could see right away what the symbolism was. Having the broken part of the circle inscribed with the names, and the helmet and rifle in the line of sight of the the empty space were good ideas.

I was looking at Mills last night. He's in the curriculum for the Florida WWII teaching. I tend to focus on MOH recipients on Memorial Day, but this time I wanted to look at the regular guys, and at a forgotten war. Still could not manage to keep myself away from the MOHers though.

Of the three, Korea was my dad's least favorite war. It was just too cold.

My 'mover' is 'be first, unhook your brain, and go.' I breezed through all the confidence stuff in Basic because my brain was nowhere to be found. ; It wasn't that I was actually confident, I was just mentally disassociated.

roger the unhooked brain deal..

'The furor' I don't exactly recall..something along the lines of the usual opposition..

So I live within artillery range of the DMZ and for those who don't know what that acronym is, just think of it as the one and only border in the world that the United States protects.

On this side of the DMZ there is a quagmire that has prevailed since the day the war started in 1950. Sure, the mission was accomplished, so to speak, when the Communists agreed to an armistice but the war is not over. We're still here - I'm back for the third time in seventeen years - and with more troops than we have in Afghanistan.

There are some other things here:

There is democracy - in fact, the Republic of Korea is in the midst of a very noisy and vigorous election. I hear the loud speakers every day - campaign pledges and promises shouted in Hangul - "Two squids in every pot and a Hyundai in every garage!" Or something like that because not only do they copy the good things we do, like baseball, they got the rest of the enchilada too.

There is resentment - some people here blame us for keeping the country divided. They may riot when there is a traffic accident involving Americans and a Korean fatality. Local and national politicians prey upon that sort of thing and it sells in the media. By the way, they have freedom of speech here.

There is freedom of religion - It’s largely a Christian nation with just about as many Buddhists to count but I also happen to live within spitting distance of a very large and busy mosque. Not to besmirch anyone's religion, there is also a fair amount of worship for money and material things. Religion, tolerance, tradition, and diversity, in an otherwise homogenous nation, have not held it back.

The point is that all of this has been achieved, in a quagmire, of course, where nothing like it had ever been considered a possibility. This peninsula had been harshly ruled over by the Chinese and Japanese for most of its history and its people had never known democracy or prosperity before. Yet one half of it still suffers that traditional fate and even lives up to the old "Hermit Kingdom" title in a twisted way.

The Korean War was not popular at home; there were mistakes, claims of atrocities, and domestic politics distorted the conduct of the war. Well over 50,000 Americans died here alongside a far greater number of ROK troops just to bring us to this current halt to open warfare on the peninsula. More than 60 Americans and many more ROKs have died since the armistice. Yet no sane politician or media outlet here or in the United States will suggest now that it has not been a fight worth seeing through to the end.

So we celebrated Memorial Day here and most of us were at work at some point during the long weekend. If troops here ever question why the US is still on the peninsula, it is usually in the context of how far the ROK has come since the start of the war. What puzzles me, in the context of all our wars, is how the Murthas, Sheehans, and Moores, all old enough to know better, can continue to deny the worth of those that risk their lives today and the accomplishments made possible by those that have made the ultimate sacrifice.

donnah, you served? where, what, how, when? come on, dish!

Ritchie,
Where: S. Carolina/Monterey, CA/ San Angelo, TX/ Ft. Devens, MA/Wiesbaden, Germany/Saudi Arabia/Wiesbaden, then home to Ft. Livingroom.
What: Russian linguist.
How: Just lucky, I guess.
When: 5 years, ending in Aug of '93.

Great comment, tfhr.

tfhr...Happy Memorial day..

Sheehan..Moore..they're just toopit.

I am in the same quandry as you (sort of) with the Murtha (Wes Clark) deal..the only thing I can figure is..

Remember in basic, there were a few who made the grade, but you just wondered ..WHY ?
I'm saying, a) they talked the talk b) walked the walk (behind somebody) but c) you *knew*...*KNEW* they had a different motor than yours ??

Those are the Murtha's..the Clark's

One of the worst comments I have ever heard reported by ANY news media was Howard Dean's comments regarding Vietnam losses. A couple months ago, he was commenting on Bush or Rummy's
policy...(seems like he was in Texas)and he said
we had 25,000 KIA there.

Now, who is quibbling ? I just figure if your going to comment on American lives..and you are the head of the DNC you should at LEAST count those OTHER 25 odd thousand that died so one could
get it wrong...when its supposed to COUNT !! (btw, isn't Dean supposed to be an M.D. ?? another reason not to work in the medical field..How much of this amiodorone do we push, sir ?)

Some people live their entire lives like it's a dress rehearsal..

I agree (per usuual) with Cracker..great comment

I had two dear Uncles who *endured* Koh reeeeeeahh
and from intent, heartfelt communication from them over the years before they died..Korea was worse than Vietnam ever wanted to be. Clear evidence that its not why the war is being fought that gives it glory, but who is waging the war.

"...not why...but who is waging the war." That is very true.

About Clark - he is worse than you can imagine. I will share a story about how he chased me through the Pentagon's gym and locker room one time but I'll save that for another day.

If Clark were a doctor he'd have been Howard Dean. There is a part of me that says Dean's sorry understanding of history led to his miscount and then there is the part that says to me that in the back of his mind, he's only counting half because probably the other half weren't from his party. While DNC chairmen are supposed to rally the base, Dean and his forerunner Terry MacAuliffe, lacked the common sense to do that without alienating moderates and swing voters.

Both of those guys are not capable of effectively leading the Dems because in the case of Dean, he's too hard to differentiate from the Sheehans and Moores. Clark looks for opportunities because he seems to be incapable of creating them on his own.

Donnah,

um, wow. no wonder you're smarter than the average blogger. thank you for your service, thank you for encouraging me to post/blog and thank you for allowing me to play here in the sandbox with your readers.

five year stint means what? you signed up for that long a hitch originally or you re-upped after 2?

salute,
richard

No, just the schooling was a year and a half in itself, so you sign for a longer initial hitch. Then I had to extend the hitch in order to bring my husband and the dogs over to Germany.

I always wanted to go to Checkpoint Charlie..but never could get it lined up to hop. Have they dismantled it ? Did you ever see it, Donnah ?