Korean War

[bondi.boy]

25 June 2020 today.
Korean war started 70 years ago.
5 million soldiers and civilians died.

It was the Korean War. ... From 1950-53, 17,000 Australians in the Army, Navy and Air Force fought as part of the United Nations (UN) multinational force, defending South Korea from the Communist force of North Korea. After the war ended, Australians remained in Korea for four years as military observers.


340 Australian troops killed.
1000+ wounded.

Nice memorial...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean...morial,_Sydney

The memorial is circular in plan, with a curving path through it forming the shape of the taegeuk, the symbol at the centre of the flag of South Korea. The pathway carries the names of the twenty-one countries of the UN task force. At the centre of the memorial are two granite stones quarried at the location of the Battle of Kapyong. They represent the divided Korean Peninsula. 136 steel and bronze flowers, based on the Rose of Sharon, the national flower of South Korea, represent the fallen troops from New South Wales. Eleven jagged pieces of concrete, depicting the rugged Korean landscape, carry the names of the battle in which Australians were awarded battle honours.^[3]

The Korean War Memorial is located in Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is a tribute to the 17,000 Australian troops who served in the United Nations contingent during the Korean War. It was dedicated in 2009. It was declared a Military Memorial of National Significance on 23 April 2013.


Address: Corner South Dowling Street And, Anzac Parade, Moore Park NSW 2021


Images of 8 Australian [Korean War] soldiers will be shown on the sides of Metro train carriages until 26 July.

Lest We Forget

[Paddo Colt 61]

The Korean War is another chapter in our lemming like toadying to the US. Divided after WW2, North and South Korea were one Party "States", the more populous South an American puppet set up. There are conflicting accounts of who began the conflict but it would seem that the South instigated the first cross border incursions which led to a Northern cross border offensive.
The United Nations Security Council voted to intervene but at the time Russia was boycotting the Council because, laughably, Taiwan was recognised by the US as "China" and had a vote. The US had, therefore, a free hand and led the UN action providing 90% of the military contribution.
Menzies, that old Imperialist buffoon, rushed in as he would do years later in that other racist war in Vietnam. Australia then was not dissimilar to the Australia of today - a monopoly right wing media (Packer, Fairfax and Murdoch) had ordinary punters shit scared about Communism which was also linked with that old standby the Yellow Peril. The education system was also abysmal with most leaving school at 15 so there was not much of an Australian intelligentsia. Not that they would have had much sway, the media had already made us, pretty much, anti intellectual. Anyway, as a result 300+ mugs - regulars, there was no Conscription thanks to the Union Movement, lost their lives in the cause of American hegemony.
The war ended when the UN forces crossed the Yalu River, despite insistent warnings from the Chinese, and for their trouble got their arses kicked all the way back to the 49th Parallel. American bombing, Napalm and defoliation practically destroyed the North and that legacy has endured to the present. And we're still at it conned by the rich who rule over us.

[zac]

hard to see what we got from fighting in that war. maybe we were shell shocked from near invasion in ww2 and thought it best to keep the u.s. onside.

the war memorial is a bit ugly but it's right that we respect those who fought for the country. i was walking by it one time after work and a woman was doing stretching exercises inside and i suggested she stop (but didn't feel strongly enough to turn around to see if she did stop)

[Paddo Colt 61]

First, Zac. There was no Japanese strategy to invade Australia though, to be fair, that wasn't known until after the war. As for the "we", official opinion at the time was that the populace was insufficiently war conscious. Life proceeded quite exuberantly - work was back after years of the Great Depression. The "we" that you refer to was (and still is) the Anglophile elite that is joined at the hip with the US in matters of foreign policy. At the time sections of that elite clamoured for the Government to enquire as to the Japanese terms for our surrender to protect their own interests.
The military personnel who took part in the Korean War were not fighting for their country in any existential sense, they were regulars for the most part - economic conscripts - who had to go where ever they were sent.
My daughter went to an exclusive Eastern Suburbs school and, one evening, at a parent/teacher night, the library was festooned with images of the school from the past - there was full enrolment during the Depression and there were pics of tennis and hockey teams and of groups travelling abroad on "cruises". At the same time scores of the grandparents of folks on this site had to leave school at 12 or so in order to augment the family income. It was that private school class that took us into the Cold War and which still acts only in its own interests.
We are not all in this together whatever "this" is. Most of us are sheeple in thrall to the media dream factory.

[zac]

sometimes there's a we and a common purpose (say keeping the planet inhabitable), sometimes there isn't (gdp growth doesn't mean much if you don't have a job). sometimes there's a bs we and a bs common purpose (monarchists arguing for not this republic in the referendum). sometimes there's more of a we than people give credit for (what's wrong with believing in the brotherhood of man?)

[Paddo Colt 61]

Interesting thoughts Zac and no doubt true - "we" are a fragmented species. My resentment is directed at the media manufactured "we" which, in Oz, is trumpeted whenever there is a war or other propaganda exercise that favours the ruling class but never in the interests of any real community benefit such as action on climate change, the Republic that you mentioned or a more equitable sharing of the GDP pie.

I oscillate between Sartre's "Hell is other people" and a collective high minded "we" that I know does not really exist. Lamentably, I think Thatcher was probably right when she talked about there being no such thing as society, just a collection of individuals, at least generally speaking. Of course there are large accumulations of individuals with a common belief as you say and perhaps the largest of those in any society is, ironically, the one comprising the purely self interested. It ranges from the1% who seem unconscionably greedy (the Gina's of this world - what's she all about? Does being a fatso make one hate people including one's own family?), to the countless mugs who dream of joining them ( I recently watched a depressing doco on the disgusting opulence on offer at Harrod's complete with fawning commentary) to the even more numerous ignoramuses, with no wider sense than their own petty self interests, who simply want to be left alone to pollute, cheat, rip off the taxpayer and, generally just hate the "other". It includes that vulgar lot who adore money, their McMansion, the speedboat hooked up to the SUV and the Gold Coast holiday but don't have a book in the house. The same lot who hate paying tax, never seeing it as a contribution to the common good and whose greedy aspirations were encouraged and catered to by little Winston Howard and his GST.

[King Salvo]

To stop the spread of reds under the beds was the reason for the Korean war - If they followed what Macarthur wanted to do in Invading China (who joined the North Koreans) it could have been WW3.

Not sure If the Soviets would have fully joined in though as they were still "rebuilding" after WW2- they provided tactical , strategic and air support etc - Mao wanted Stalin to fully join in but didn't so they had a falling out over it (Soviet Union and China)- Soviets also provided similar support to the North Vietnamese in the Vietnam war

[King Salvo]

hard to see what we got from fighting in that war. maybe we were shell shocked from near invasion in ww2 and thought it best to keep the u.s. onside.

the war memorial is a bit ugly but it's right that we respect those who fought for the country. i was walking by it one time after work and a woman was doing stretching exercises inside and i suggested she stop (but didn't feel strongly enough to turn around to see if she did stop)

North Korea started it by invading South Korea for the purpose of uniting Korea under communist rule - The Korean war was a UN Security Council sanctioned War when North Korea refused to adhere to the UN resolution 82 and end it's invasion of South Korea. - 11 members on the UN Security council at that time - 5 permanent members and 6 Non Permanent members - vote was 9 in favour of the resolution and 2 not voting (1 abstained and 1 Absent - i.e China and USSR).

It had to occur as otherwise any country could invade any other one and not be stopped. - If they stood up to Hitler in the Mid 1930's WW2 may not have occured - ceding land to him and doing nothing in stopping him occupying the demilitarised zone and as any one could see they were re-arming at an alarming rate in violation of the Versailles on demobolisation.

Von Hindenburg(German President) was convinced by his advisors to make Hitler chancellor thinking they could control him and hoping he would stuff up as well and that would be the end of the Nazi party whose support was declining . When Hindenburg died Hitler banned all other political parties and took full control and the rest is sadly a page of history which should never be forgotten.

[zac]

North Korea started it by invading South Korea for the purpose of uniting Korea under communist rule - The Korean war was a UN Security Council sanctioned War when North Korea refused to adhere to the UN resolution 82 and end it's invasion of South Korea. - 11 members on the UN Security council at that time - 5 permanent members and 6 Non Permanent members - vote was 9 in favour of the resolution and 2 not voting (1 abstained and 1 Absent - i.e China and USSR).

It had to occur as otherwise any country could invade any other one and not be stopped. - If they stood up to Hitler in the Mid 1930's WW2 may not have occured - ceding land to him and doing nothing in stopping him occupying the demilitarised zone and as any one could see they were re-arming at an alarming rate in violation of the Versailles on demobolisation.

Von Hindenburg(German President) was convinced by his advisors to make Hitler chancellor thinking they could control him and hoping he would stuff up as well and that would be the end of the Nazi party whose support was declining . When Hindenburg died Hitler banned all other political parties and took full control and the rest is sadly a page of history which should never be forgotten.

where'd you cut and paste this from?

not sure our involvement was crucial but sure, like i said, we had some reasons to go over.

no doubt hitler should have been confronted earlier, but people who wanted us to go into vietnam cited the failed policy of 1930s appeasement as one of their reasons but vietnam's a war that we would have done better to stay out of.

[King Salvo]

where'd you cut and paste this from?

not sure our involvement was crucial but sure, like i said, we had some reasons to go over.

no doubt hitler should have been confronted earlier, but people who wanted us to go into Vietnam cited the failed policy of 1930s appeasement as one of their reasons but vietnam's a war that we would have done better to stay out of.

No cut and paste - factual info- Korean war was a UN sanctioned one- Australia was one of 21 countries involved as part of the UN forces- Poor Tactics / Under estimating the Enemies military capabilities /low morale and public disdain for the Vietnam was what lost that war .

They needed to invade the North as they did in the Korean war which would then have forced the North Vietnamese and Vietcong to return to the North to stop the invasion . Once back in the North they could have negotiated an ending to the war and a have a similar outcome to the Korean war - A North and South Vietnam- not ideal but would have shortened it - I remember as a Kid watching it on TV - must have been the first televised war(Vietnam war).

[zac]

not many people think of the vietnam war as the one that got away. there's a good doco by ken burns on it

[King Salvo]

not many people think of the vietnam war as the one that got away. there's a good doco by ken burns on it

I like his Doco's - American Civil war (1860 to 1865) was his first one i think and other ones on Baseball / Country Music /National Parks / Roosevelt's and Vietnam war as you mentioned.