If you wish to listen to some golden oldies from 1940s-1990s, click on the selection on the list below. There are about 80 full-length songs to choose from. (NOTE: Song audio degraded due to space limitations, but adequate for computer listening.)
Some of the awards this site has received. To view our awards, go to Awards.
THE FORGOTTEN WAR:
"This was America's first limited war, a war that the United States and the United Nations officially did not try to win. Without achieving a clear battlefield or political victory, soldiers, politicians, news media, and the American public largely felt that they were denied their accustomed victory....The war was far away for most American people. After early successful counter-attacks, the war settled into mountain and hill trench warfare. ... The sense that the human and material costs of fighting in Korea were worth it was essentially missing. America was not accustomed to military and political stalemates."
"...American service men and women came home without a sense of victory. Korean war veterans faced unheralded return homes. The Korean War became "The Forgotten War" in the consciousness of the American public."
--American Images of Korea, Craig S. Coleman, Ph.D.
Korean War Memorial dedicated in 1995... after so many years...
Joint Korean War-Vietnam Memorial on the Grounds of Iolani Palace in Honolulu, Hawaii Dedicated July 24, 1994
To Rhode Island...
Korean War Memorial in Providence, Rhode Island Dedicated November, 1999
We will not forget...
HE UE NO KA 'AINA HANAU HAKU'I E HO'OPAU A Cry for the Homeland, Echoes now Complete
In memory of the Slain in the Korean and Vietnam Conflicts
by John Keolamaka'ainanakalahuiokalaninoKamehameha'ekolu Lake
Aloha wale o'u hoa, e o'u mamakaua Affections for my companions
I ha'ulehia for my fallen comrades,
Mal Hawai'i nui, Hawai'i iki From great Hawai'i, small Hawai'i,
Aia ia 'oukou e haku'i i mau 'aina 'elua e There you are, echoing from two distant lands,
He wahi e, po'ipu i ke kapa o Poli'ahu, A distant place, blanketed by Poli'ahu's mantle, (Korea)
I ka 'aina e ho'a'a i ke ahi i ka nahele A distant land, fire is kindled in the forest,
A 'e 'ena'ena ai. Scorched. (Vietnam)
He ue,'O kua'ana! He ue, 'o Kuahine! Cry! Oh Brothers, Cry! Oh Sisters!
He ua I pono, e pono ia ua Let rain fall, for rain is good,
Makai mai ho'i kekahi ua Rains from the lowlands,
Ma na 'e mai ho'i kekahi ua Rains from the East
Malalo mai ho'i kekahi ua, Rains from the South,
Maluna mai ho'I kekahi ua, Rains from above,
Malalo mal ho'i kekahi ua, Rains from below,
A he ua i halaka, he mahala, It patters down, it pelts down,
Pehi hewa i ka nahele, It crushes the forest,
Kua'oa kanikani i ka pua lehua It plays musically through the lehua.
Ka lehua hala, The yellow lehua (Eastern lands)
Ho'opuehu ka ua I ke kai 'ewalu Rains scattered across the eight seas
Ua ka ua, kahe ka wai, Let the rain fall, let the waters flow,
Ho ola hou ke kanaka. Man will live again.
Kuili ia i pa'a! Lift up your prayers!
Ua ho'oko 'ia ka haku'i a'e nei! That they may be approved!
E pa'a i ka lani! Approved in the heavens!
A Mana i ka lani! Have power in the heavens!
A ulu i ka lani! Flourish in the heavens!
A lu i ka lani, lani ku! Scatter blessings from the heavens, the highest heavens!
Oilika pule! Kuili! The prayer unrolls itself! Uttered!
Hano ke Akua! God reigns over all!
He mea wahi ho'omana'o, A memorial,
He mea wahi ho'ano A hallowed place,
I ka 'ihi lani! With heaven's splendor!
He lani pakaua kukahai, A heaven is a walled stronghold,
Ua noa! E hui ka pule! It is free! The prayer is finished!
Ho'opau ka haku'i! The Echo is answered!
From the Dedication of the Hawaiian Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials July 24, 1994.
Note: 1. Poli'ahu - is the goddess of snow 2. Rain - Figuratively and poetically in Hawaiian is symbolic for love, compassion, blessings, cleansing, purification, growth, and memories.
Excerpted from Hawaiian Chant from the Korean War Project website.
In Rememberance of PFC Theodore Takafuji (d. December 2, 1950) Listed as MIA until he was finally brought home to Hawaii
Presented by Bruce Milne 25th Infantry Division "A" Battery 7/11 Field Artillery Tay Ninh, RVN 1968-69
In Remembrance of a Young Soldier
Patch of the 7th ID (Click on to enlarge)
PFC Theodore Takafuji (1932-1950)
As a youngster in the late 1950s, I remember standing at the graveside in Punchbowl National Cemetery as a soldier was laid to rest. I remember the flag-draped casket. But these were only symbolic as those lost in North Korea were simply left behind. According to the records, Teddy was assigned to the 32nd Inf Regt, 7th Inf Div.
I remember the cut grass sticking to my new black-and-white shoes from the morning dew. I remember the faraway look in my mother's eyes and hearing her comment on how bright he was...with a future. But it was a moot point. We were here to pay our last respects.
Though he was my first cousin, I never knew him. I was still a baby when he went off to fight in the Korean Conflict. His name was "Teddy" Takafuji, a Japanese-American boy from Hawaii. He had been too young to fight in the "Big One" (World War II), thus when he was called up from the Hawaii National Guard, he was so proud and excited. He had volunteered to serve his country. He was just 18 years old. However, with the confidence of youth, he boasted to his family that he would be back by Christmas. Wasn't he part of the best fighting machine in the world -- the U.S. Army?
No one knows the circumstances of his death. PFC Theodore Takafuji was simply listed as Missing in Action for many years. In the late 1950s, he was declared KIA and his marker says he died on December 2, 1950. Yes, his service to his country was honored with a marker in Punchbowl National Cemetary, but it all rang hollow as the silent tears formed in his father's eyes.
Though I had proudly cherished his sacrifice all my life, I was under the mistaken impression that he was with the 25th Infantry Division -- Tropic Lightning. However, from the web sources, I now know differently.
I also distinctly remember my Aunty Natsuyo telling me that she had visited the reservoir where Teddy died in INCHON. This conflicts with the information on the web. It states that Teddy was part of the 35th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division and killed in North Korea. However, those killed in North Korea were simply left behind. This is very confusing. Later on I talked with Teddy's sister, Maryanne, and she confirmed that he was shipped home about five years after the war. At the time, these questions of which unit he was assigned to never surfaced and after all these years, it is rather tasteless to resurface these questions. His parents are long passed on, but his brothers and sisters are still alive...and the pain over the loss of a loved one still remains.
Regardless my cousin Teddy has a marker to commemorate his death in the service of his country, while a lot of other soldiers don't. They are still listed as Missing in Action. To the American public, the Korean war tragically has become the "forgotten war." One for which few monuments were erected, though thousands of soldiers -- from all the allied forces -- are still unaccounted for and still listed as MIAs.
TAKAFUJI THEODORE Rank=PFC Serial Number=RA10104092 Branch=Infantry
Military Occupation Specialty=04745 Year of Birth=30 Race=4
State of Residence=HI County of Residence=000 Unit=32nd Inf Regt Division=7th Inf Div Type of Unit=Inf Regt Place of Casualty=North Korea Date of Casualty (yymmdd)=50 12 02 Type of Casualty=Killed in Action Detail of Casualty=MIA/Missing in Action Group of Casualty=Killed in Action
Visit to Imjingak Korean War Memorial Japanese-American Korean War Veterans (JAKWV) Monument Sept 26, 2002
With deep appreciation to the Japanese American Korean War Veterans (JAKWV) in Los Angeles, CA.
Sgt Major Paul T. Ono, USAR (Ret) wrote, "We dedicated our Korean War Memorial Wall on May 24, 1997, which has the names of the 247 Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJA) that sacrificed their lives for our Country in the Korean War. This wall has your first cousin's name engraved on the black granite wall with the other 198 AJA from Hawaii and 49 from the Mainland killed in the Korean War."
Mahalo nui loa to the JAKWV for honoring Teddy... Kalani O'Sullivan
Paul T. Ono, Sgt Major, USAR (Ret) wrote: "Kalani, I would like to ask you a favor--if you would write something for the JAKWV Newsletter, some of your thoughts as a family member, as you, your wife and daughter, visited the memorial, placed the plant and paid tribute at the monument, and made a pencil tracing of Teddy's name. The newsletter is printed quarterly and is mailed to approximately 850 members and supporters." The following is the story written in response to his request.
Over three years ago, Paul Ono invited me to attend the dedication ceremony
at this memorial for the Japanese Americans of the Korean War. He asked me
to attend as a representative of my family for PFC Theodore Takafuji whose
name was etched on the slab. Unfortunately, the pressures of my teaching
schedule prevented me from attending.
Over the years, I've always thought of visiting the area, but one thing or
other always intervened with us heading in the opposite directions. Even
when we were in the area, we were tangled in traffic jams making any
side detours impossible.
Finally, this year my cousin, Sgt Kahakauwila Sham, was stationed at Camp
Gary Owens up in Musan -- a short distance from the Memorial. Thus we
decided to visit him AND visit the site at the same time. We wanted to have
Kahakauwila join us as he grew up across the street from where Teddy's old
home was. In 1950, Teddy boasted to his family that he would be back by
Christmas as he headed off to Korea -- and never returned. Now Kahakauwila
was defending Korea at Camp Gary Owens. Both young men started their trek
to defend Korea from the same spot in Hawaii.
Unfortunately, when we finally found the right time to fit our schedule on
25-26 September, Kahakauwila was off on a month-long field exercise at the
Korean Training Center (KTC) above Tongduchon and wouldn't be back until the
next month.
We headed to the memorial by ourselves. We bought a small potted plant at
Tongduchon and followed Paul's instruction to Imjingak Tourist Park with no
problems. There was marathon that ended at the park that day, so it was a
little congested at the time as we neared the area...and we had to wait a
half-hour as they blocked off the roads.
A lot of Koreans were visiting the area with their children because of the
new feelings of openess between the North-South. There had just been an
North-South agreement in September to clear the DMZ landmines in order to
complete the railway connecting both countries. The country was again
optimistic that Kim Dae-jung's "Sunshine Policy" might work -- despite all
the setbacks in the past. Thus there were a lot of other folks there to
view the area where the peace process between the countries would start.
In the park we followed Paul's directions and had no problem locating the
memorial. As we approached the memorial, we could see the Korean people
casually strolling by and some reading the inscriptions on the various
monuments.
As I watched Koreans with their young children in tow pass the monument
ahead, some thoughts crossed my mind. In Korea recently there is a
resurgence of the "Hate Japanese" campaigns of the past. Statues of Korean
"collaborators" of the Japanese occupation are currently being torn down at
schools and parks -- even though these people served South Korea as valiant
soldiers during the Korean War or were distinguised political figures
afterwards. It is the strange convoluted logic of the Korean "revisionist"
historians who intend to rewrite Korean history to their vision.
This revulsion of things Japanese sometimes clouds the Korean minds. I
myself have been the object of this "Hate-Japanese" syndrome when I've told
some of my college-age students in the past that my mother was Japanese from
Hawaii. They only heard "Japanese" -- and equated "from Japan." My mother
was born in Hawaii -- but to them, she was from Japan.
To many Koreans there is no distinction between Japanese and
Japanese-American. To some this may seem strange, but try to remember how
the first Japanese immigrants to America never really thought of America as
their home. Their sons and daughters -- the ones who went to war in the
WWII and the Korean War -- WERE American. The Koreans in America who
arrived in the 1970-1980 wave are going through this same identity crisis
now. Korea town is filled with "Koreans who have American citizenship" --
but with children who are "Americans of Korean descent."
Hopefully after a few more years, as more "Americans of Korean descent"
revisit Korea and stop by the site, they will reflect on the sacrifices of
these Japanese-American men who gave their lives for Korea and will not see
them as a curiosity, but with the same pride that I do when thinking of my
Asian heritage.
I am a retired USAF Captain with distinctly oriental features and feel an
affinity with all the Asian-Americans in the military who went before. My
cousin Teddy has always been a role-model for me in my mind -- youthful
patriotism and willingness to serve his country.
My wife, a Korean whose father was in the ROK Army during the Korean War and seriously wounded on
the Pusan Perimeter, felt pride in knowing that a
member of her husband's family had defended her country.
My daughter, Boram, could have cared less. To her the plaza filled with
monuments was just another tourist spot -- seriously lacking in things
entertaining. However, she's only 11 years old and to her -- like most
Korean kids -- the Korean War is something from the far past. It has no
relevance to her life. She never saw the poverty her mother has seen in
Korea, she has never seen the devastation of a country torn apart by war.
The Korean War and a "poor" Korea are not part of her reality. She realizes
that the conflict is on-going, but the Korean War is only a historical
footnote in her mind. There is a changing perspective of the Korean War
between those of previous generations of Koreans and those of my daughter's
generation.
These thoughts and more went through my mind as I approached the monument a
simple black granite slab with letters listing the 247 names of those who
gave their lives in defense of Korea.
The monument had a personal impact on me when I touched it for the first
time. I remembered long ago standing on the dew-covered grass at the grave
marker ceremony for Teddy at Punchbowl Cemetery back in the 1960s. Now I
was again looking at his name on a different marker. I never knew Teddy as
I was still a baby when he went off to war...but he has touched my life.
The area around the marker was well-maintained and the setting perfect for
one to reflect on the sacrifices of those who served. We took pictures to
send back to the family back in Hawaii and I got my daughter to make a paper
tracing of Teddy's name to include in the packet. As I looked at the small
potted plant, I somehow felt that the small plant seemed too small to
recognize the ultimate sacrifice of these men.
After that we quickly toured the rest of the facilities as it was getting
late and we had to drive back to Kunsan. I thought it strange that the
court of flags has 40 flagpoles to memorialize the U.S. forces
participation -- were there eight states that didn't send people???
At the gift shop just outside the Memorial Plaza they were selling postcards
of the JAKWV monument -- as well as NORTH KOREAN Soju (whiskey). Bought
some souvenirs. Outside there is an old train where we took some pictures.
To the Koreans, this train symbolizes the linking of their country with the
North -- and reunification.
At a lower level the Amusement Park sits next to the parking areas. Rode
the Viking ride to satisfy my daughter's boredom -- and looked over the DMZ
fence line from the ride into the North across the river. The ROK soldiers
in trucks could be seen driving along the fence. I wondered what the future
will bring.
We then headed home. As we drove down the wide highway past Ilsan, a newly constructed city with its highrise buildings, and
looked across the barbed wire fence -- with ROK soldiers in towers at
intervals -- and the river to the DMZ, the stark contrast of modern affluent
South Korea and primitive starving North Korea struck me in my face. It
also struck me as to how close to Seoul the DMZ really is. A North Korean
breakthrough could put them in Seoul in a blink of a eye using the modern
eight-lane highway.
It is now October and all the high's of September with all its hopes for the
"Sunshine Policy" has been somewhat deflated by the North's admittal that
they have continued to pursue nuclear weapons technology -- despite the
accord they signed in 1994. The future of Korea is again clouded.
When the Korean conflict erupted in June of 1950, the 7th was under the command of Major General David Goodwin Barr. Barr assembled his Division at Camp Fuji, the tent city on the lower slopes of Fujiyama, and put tlrem through a rigorous training schedule. The Division, which had sent several levies of replacements to the fighting front, was woefully understrength; consequently, 8,000 Republic of Korea soldiers were integrated into its ranks. This was a far from an ideal solution, but it was the best that could be reached undcr the circumstances. The ROK soldiers were willing and resourceful--and later they showed themselves to be courageous as well. But the language barrier was too much to overcome completely. They had to be taught not only to obey commands, but also to understand what the commands meant. Each 7th soldier was given a Korean "running mate" with whom he was supposed to "buddy" both in training and in combat.
While the 7th trained to a fine edge in Japan, the "police action" in Korea started to assume all the earmarks of an infantryman's shooting war. The U. S. Japan garrison was stripped bit by bit as divisions were rushed across the Sea of Japan in an effort to halt the North Koreans who were riding the crest of aggression behind a vanguard of Russian-made T-34 tanks. The Eighth Army was fighting with its back at the sea when General MacArthur decided on an amphibious invasion of Korea's west coast, designating the 1st Marine Division and the 7th Infantry Division to do the job.
Soon the 7th Division--code-named "Bayonet" for its movement to Korea--was to board troop transports. A day later the shoreline of Korea was ahead. The old-timers among the men grimaced knowingly long before the embattled peninsula became visible. As many of the GIs expressed it in the letters they wrote home. "You could sure smell Korea a long time before you saw it!"
The amphibious venture was a classic. It put U. S. forces on Korea's west coast while the active front was still on the Naktong perimeter far to the southeast. The landing at Inchon sent the North Koreans reeling, and soon the Gl's and Leathernecks were moving in on the South Korean capital city, Seoul. The Division's 32nd Infantry boldly seized Angyang-ni and South Mountain, terrain features dominating Seoul. Then, with the capital in the bag, the Division turned its attention to the south. The 17th Infantry, yanked out of Eighth Army reserve, rejoined the Division in time to fight a fierce 12-hour battle for two vital hills southeast ot Seoul. Soon Barr's soldiers were in command of all terrain southsouthwest of the Han River; they continued to drive toward the southeast to seize key terrain, and also to cut off possible enemy escape routes. The Division then marched 25 miles east to Suwon to capture the important rail juncture of Ichon.
Suwon was taken by the 31st Infantry Regiment fighting under its battle flag for the first time since its surrender to the Japanese on Bataan. The 31st pushed below Suwon and after a stiff fight cleared a tank-supported enemy pocket near Osan, site of the Commmrist tank breakthrough against the 24th Division some sixty days earlier. Here the Division linked up with the flying column from the 1st Cavalry Division, which had raced 102 miles from the Naktong, through enemy-held country, to clear the way for the joining of the two U. S. forces. With the arrival of troops from the Naktong perimeter the mission of the Inchon landing force was complete, and the 7th started a long overland truck march to the east coast of Pusan. Here training was renewed, and harried troop commanders attempted to get replacements for their combat-thinned ranks.
Soon the Bayonet soldiers were again loading into troop transports. This time the target was the east coast village of Iwon. Their orders were: "Advance to the Yalu!"
The Yalu was the river boundary between North Korea and Manchuria. To its north was the "privileged sanctuary" which supplied the North Korean Army, and which was to play so significant a role in the ultimate fate of the Bayonet soldiers who came ashore at Iwon on the last day of October in 1950.
After an unopposed beachhead landing on the last day of October, 1950, the Division started driving north. Along the way they met a sharp skirmish at Pungsan and a harsh firefight at Kapsan. The push continued in arctic-like cold weather, and on November 20, Colonel Herbert B. Powell's 17th Infantry slogged into Hyesanjin-on-the-Yalu--the first U. S. unit to reach the Manchurian border. Hyesaujin, which means "ghost city of broken bridges" was the northernmost point of advance by the United Nations' command in three years of bitter warfare.
"We swept through the city," related Colonel Powell, "and took a good look around. Then we dropped back to a good hill position to wait for something to happen." They didn't have long to wait.
The Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) intervened in the war on November 27, striking twin blows against Eighth Army in western Korea and X Corps in the east. The enemy attack caught the 7th strung out, with some elements as far as 250 miles apart. The 17th was northwest of the Chosin at Hyesanjin. Neither of the other regiments was intact at the time the action started, nor were they able to get together during the furions action that followed.
Captain Charles Peckham's Company B, 31st Infantry, had been on special detail, and was nearing Koto-ri en route north to rejoin its outfit, the 1st Battalion, which was supposed to reinforce the 3d Battalion on the northeast shore of the Cliosin reservoir. The 2nd Battalion was at Majong-dong awaiting orders. Peckham didn't get through. At Koto-ri his Company was impressed into a hurriedly organized special column called Task Force Drysdale. Composed of Peckham's Company, a company of Marines, and the 41st Commando (Royal Marines), Task Force Drysdale fought its way up the main supply route to crash the Chincse road blocks and bring much-needed supplies and ammunition to the sorely-pressed defenders of Hagam-ri. They sustained heavy casualties en route.
Furthest north at this time was the 1st Battalion of the 32d Infantry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Don Carlos Faith, Jr. Faith's command, beyond the northeast shore of the reservoir, engaged in five days of hellish combat. Fighting in the cruelest weather, surrounded, vastly outnumbered and outgunned, knowing full well that no help could come, they fought to the end.
Behind them was the task group headed by Colonel Allan D. MacLean, commander of the 31st Infantry Regiment. MacLean had with him his 3d Battalion, his heavy mortar company, the 57th Field Artillery battalion, and a fcw self-propelled automatic weapons. In the five days that followed, MacLean's battalion of the 31st suffered nearly as many casualties as the entire 31st had suffered on Bataan.
In one particularly vicious attack the Chinese drove a wedge between Faith's and MacLean's forces. MacLean was conferring with Faith at the time, and was thus cut off from his command. Furthermore, both outfits were completely surrounded. Knowing it was essential for them to link up again, MacLean and Faith decided to mount an attack to demolish the Chinese block between their outfits. In the firefight that followed, MacLean disappeared, never to be seen by his men again; much later they learned he had been taken prisoner.
Faith's soldiers reached MacLean's command just as the Chinese were getting set to launch an attack on the artillery batteries, hit the Communist soldiers from the rear, and drove them off, killing more than 6o of them. Then Faith combined the two U. S. forces, and decided to attack to the south in an effort to reach the base at Hagaru-ri.
His tattered frost-bitten soldiers were in miserable condition. Most of them were walking wounded; some were forced to use their weapons for crutches. Faith rallied the dispirited men and led them down the road toward the enemy strong point which threatened to wipe them out. He called the shots all the way as his men, near the point of collapse after five days of savage close quarters' fighting, followed him to the roadblock. Faith was in the lead, and was finally knocked down; but his men overran the enemy position and found themselves momentarily out of contact with the enemy.
Practically none of the officers or key noncoms were left. The remains of the task force dissolved into small groups for the last ten miles down to Hagaru-ri. It was only ten miles, but it might as well have been ten thousand for some of them. That night, December 1, the dazed and bloodied survivors started straggling in. When the last survivors of Task Force Faith reached the lines at Hagaru-ri on December 4, the 1st Battalion, 32d Infantry, which had started its march north on November 25 one thousand strong, was able to muster only 181 officers and men.
Nor was the ordeal over. In column with the Marines, the elements of the 7th Division which were in or around Koto ri had to fight their way south to the Hamhung perimeter in a blinding snowstorm with the enemy dogging at them all the way, sniping at them from the ridgelines, and getting closer with each passing hour.
Not all of the 7th Division had suffered the terrible toll inflicted on Faith's Battalion and MacLean's Task Force. A number of units redeployed to the Hungnam port area intact, still fit to fight. But the last days of 1950 were mostly sad ones for a Division which had once been known as the "Lucky Seventh." It had barreled up to the Yalu River, the only U. S. Division to achieve that high water mark, and then had been set upon by the massed divisions of a new enemy and forced to retrace its steps, fighting every inch of the way. Phase II of the Division's combat career in Korea ended with the bitter campaign of the Chosin Reservoir.
NOTE: The Division went on to fight in some of the most famous battles in Korea. It was deactivated in 1994. Today the 7th Infantry Division has been reactivated and is comprised of 3 Separate Infantry Brigades as one of the US Army's enhanced Divisions. The 39th, 41st, and 45th Separate Infantry Brigades, all National Guard Units, stand ready to come together should America need a sharp Bayonet! on the tip of the spear. (Go to Grunts for the full 7th ID history.)
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