ULCHI FREEDOM GUARDIAN 2012 AND 59TH ANNIVERSARY OF KOREAN ARMISTICE

110819-N-XG305-208 BUSAN, Republic of Korea (Aug. 19, 2011) Gunner's Mate 1st Class Eduardo Soto explains the capabilities of the MK 38 25mm machine gun to Republic of Korea sailors during a tour aboard the U.S. 7th Fleet command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19). Blue Ridge is in the Republic of Korea to participate in Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2011. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Mel Orr/Released)

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE,
Ulchi Freedom Guardian Promotes Stability on Korean Peninsula

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2012 - As the United States and South Korea observe the 59th anniversary of the armistice that brought an unofficial end to the Korean War, their forces are sharpening their defensive capabilities through the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise.

More than 30,000 U.S. and South Korean service members are participating in what Army Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of Combined Forces Command, called "a key exercise in strengthening the readiness" of the two militaries.

Named in honor of a Korean military leader who repelled an invasion by China's Sui dynasty in the 7th century, Ulchi Freedom Guardian 12 kicked off Aug. 20 and continues through next week.

Seven United Nations Command states also are participating: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Norway, officials said.

One of two annual Combined Forces Command peninsula-wide exercises, Ulchi Freedom Guardian is centered on readiness, deterrence and the ability to defend South Korea.

Driven by computer-assisted simulation, it is designed so senior leaders can exercise their decision-making capabilities, U.S. Forces Korea officials said, while also training commanders and staffs from both nations in combined planning, command and control operations, military intelligence, logistics and personnel procedures.

"It is based on realistic scenarios and enables us to train on our essential tasks with a 'whole of government' approach," Thurman said.

Ulchi Freedom Guardian is part of an ongoing focus on strengthening the U.S.-South Korea alliance while preparing South Korea to assume wartime operational control of its forces from the United States in 2015, officials said.

Thurman told the House Appropriations Committee this spring the U.S.-South Korea alliance is "as solid as ever," and said it serves as the foundation for the combined readiness of the two militaries. The general said he and his South Korean military counterparts are guiding military leaders and units of both militaries "to work and train closely with one another on a daily basis, and that effort builds combined strength, faith, and trust -- qualities that are essential for us to successfully accomplish our mission in Korea."

Training exercises like Ulchi Freedom Guardian, carried out in the spirit of the Oct. 1, 1953, ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty and in accordance with the armistice, advance those efforts, U.S. Forces Korea officials said.

"These exercises also highlight the longstanding military partnership, commitment and enduring friendship between the two nations, help to ensure peace and security on the peninsula and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to the Northeast Asia region," they said.

Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2012 comes at a time of transition on the peninsula, with the new and relatively untested North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, continuing Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, told American Forces Press Service he considers North Korea the most pressing trouble spot in Pacom's vast area of responsibility.

"If there is anything that keeps me awake at night, it's that particular situation," the admiral said. "We have to ensure that we maintain as much of a stable environment on the Korean peninsula as we can."

Toward that end, Locklear relies heavily on Thurman's leadership to ensure that South Korean and U.S. forces remain strong. In March, he emphasized the importance of the U.S.-South Korean alliance in deterring aggression and maintaining security and stability and offered assurances of an "unwaverable" U.S. commitment to the alliance.

PACIFIC COMMAND'S FOCUS ON NORTH KOREA

U.S. Marines with 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, launch artillery shells with South Korean counterparts during a bilateral artillery coordination exercise at Camp Rodriguez, South Korea, April 20, 2011. U.S. forces stand side by side with South Korean counterparts to maintain stability on the Korean peninsula. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Kentavist Brackin 　
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
North Korea Remains Key Focus for Pacific Command
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
 CAMP SMITH, Hawaii, Aug. 13, 2012 - Nearly six decades after an armistice agreement established a cease-fire that ended the Korean War, maintaining the fragile peace there and ensuring South Korean and U.S. troops are prepared to respond to aggression remains a top priority for U.S. Pacific Command.
  North Korea looms as the most pressing trouble spot in Pacom's vast area of responsibility that spans half the globe, Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, the Pacom commander, told American Forces Press Service.
  Locklear expressed concern about tenuous, unstable conditions stemming from North Korea's new, relatively untested leader, Kim Jong Un, and North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
  "If there is anything that keeps me awake at night, it's that particular situation," the admiral said. "We have to ensure that we maintain as much of a stable environment on the Korean peninsula as we can."
  Toward that end, Locklear relies heavily on the leadership of Army Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of Combined Forces Korea and U.S. Forces Korea, to ensure that South Korean and U.S. forces remain strong.
 Traveling to South Korea to meet with Thurman and South Korean leaders shortly after assuming the top U.S. military post in the Asia-Pacific region in March, Locklear emphasized the importance of the U.S.-South Korean alliance in deterring aggression and maintaining security and stability.
  Locklear offered assurance of the "unwaverable" U.S. commitment to the alliance.
 Although tensions on the peninsula have ebbed and flowed since the signing of the armistice, North Korean provocations, coupled with uncertainty as the new leader took power, have remained relatively high in recent years, noted William McKinney, director of Locklear's North Korea strategic focus group. The group of military and civilian experts, one of three "mini think tanks" within the Pacom staff, advises Locklear and his senior staff on the North Korean threat and plans for a U.S.-South Korean military response, if required.
 McKinney, a retired foreign area officer who spent 15 years of his military service in South Korea, plus three years as the civilian U.S. representative for the Korea Energy Development Organization, expressed disappointment about the difficult stalemate that continues to characterize the peninsula.
  "We've been [in] sort of [a] treading-water situation for quite some time with North Korea," he told American Forces Press Service at the Pacom headquarters here.
  There's a common saying within McKinney's strategic focus group. "We had to build a fence across the peninsula to fence out North Korea," he said. "But regrettably, that has also fenced us out from North Korea. It was never intended to be a lasting division."
 Ultimately, McKinney said, the United States would love a unified Korean peninsula -- but only, he emphasized, if it had "a democratically elected, free market-based government for all of the Korean people."

In a perfect world, that unified Korea would be an ally to the United States and a source of regional stability, he added.
  While acknowledging that it's still too soon to know the impact of Kim's leadership, McKinney admitted that some of the initial signs are worrisome.
  A missile test conducted just months after he came to power defied North Korea's agreement to a moratorium on missile testing in exchange for 240,000 tons of U.S. food aid. North Korea also has yet to return to the Six-Party Talks with the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea aimed at getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
  A nuclear-free Korean peninsula is critical, McKinney explained, because a nuclear-armed North Korea would upset the balance of power in the region. Making it particularly troubling, he said, is concern that a weak, even rogue North Korean state is ill-prepared to handle the challenges and responsibilities of possessing nuclear weapons.
  The balance-of-power issue has dogged the Korean peninsula for the past 100 years as Japan, China and Russia all fought to control it, McKinney noted. And during that timeframe, the peninsula has been a primary battleground for four of the five wars in the Pacific: the Sino-Japanese War of 1894; the Russia-Japanese War of 1905; World War II; and the Korean War. At the signing of the Korean conflict's armistice agreement on July 27, 1953, the United States had lost 37,000 military lives and suffered 92,000 wounded. And what happens on the Korean peninsula today remains critically important to the United States, McKinney said.
  That's not only because of the U.S. alliance with South Korea, he said, but also because the destabilizing balance-of-power situation hasn't gone away and continues to affect the entire region.
  McKinney said he's been impressed by the growing professionalism of South Korea's military, which has been operating side by side with 28,500 U.S. troops there to maintain the peace.
  "Over the years, there is no question that the [South Korean] forces have strengthened themselves and become a more professional military -- a military that has modern weaponry, knows how to use it and that has operated for the last 25 years or more in a combined command with the United States," he said. "They have become, in all senses, a much more modern, professional military than they were 60 years ago."
  As South Korea prepares to assume wartime operational control of its forces from the United States in 2015 and the United States focuses on rebalancing its military to the Asia-Pacific region, McKinney said, he doesn't expect many force-posture changes on the Korean peninsula.
  "From the standpoint of balance, the United States has really never left the Korean peninsula," he said. "We have never lessened the importance of our forces on the Korean peninsula [or] our commitment ... to the alliance."
  But Locklear made clear while visiting South Korea that North Korea's government has important decisions to make.
  "Should the North Korean leadership choose to start abiding by its international obligations, to cease provocations, this would be a preferred path," he told reporters in the South Korean capital of Seoul.
  "But if further provocations is the path that they would continue to pursue," he continued, "then the challenge for us is to ensure that our alliance remains strong, that we work closely together to monitor and share information, and that we have the proper procedures in place ... [so] the security of the alliance is ensured."

59TH ANNIVERSARY OF KOREAN WAR ARMISTICE OBSERVED

FROM: U.S DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE A member of the honor guard brings a wreath to Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta as South Korean Ambassador Choi-Young jin looks on during a ceremony to mark the 59th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War armistice at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., July 27, 2012. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
Panetta Salutes Korean War Vets at 59th Armistice ObservanceBy Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2012 - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta observed the 59th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice today by reminding a gathering of Korean War veterans that America will not permit cuts to the military to again "allow us to lose our edge", as he says happened on the eve of that conflict more than 60 years ago.

Panetta was the keynote speaker at an observance of the armistice that ended the 1950-1953 conflict, held at Arlington National Cemetery, just across the river from Washington. It was an opportunity to remember the more than 50,000 U.S. service members who lost their lives in the Korean War, and to celebrate the "sheer grit, determination, and bravery" of those who fought for a noble cause in a distant land to make the world a safer place, he said.

"For three long, bloody years, American troops fought and died in Korea, in difficult conditions, where the country's mountainous terrain and the unrelenting cold of winter were bitter enemies in themselves," Panetta said.

"It was an uncompromising war, where capture by a vicious enemy often meant summary execution. In Korea, American troops and their allies were always outnumbered by the enemy, awaiting the chilling sound of bugles and horns that would signal another human wave attack."

Panetta said the troops that fought during that Cold War conflict will never forget the battles waged in the country's mountains and at Massacre Valle, Bloody Ridge, Chosin Reservoir and Pork Chop Hill. Those fights, he said, "became synonymous in our lexicon with the heroic sacrifice and the grim determination of the American fighting man."

The Korean War caught America unprepared, Panetta said, and the mighty military machine that liberated Europe and conquered the Japanese empire had been rapidly demobilized. Only a few years of under-investment had left the United States with a hollow force, he added.

"The American soldiers and Marines initially sent to Korea were poorly equipped, without winter clothing and sleeping bags, with insufficient ammunition and inadequate weapons, including bazookas that weren't strong enough to stop North Korean tanks."

But those green troops sent to stem the tide of communism soon turned into savvy combat veterans, he said, and what they weren't taught before their baptism by fire, they quickly learned on the unforgiving battlefield. They soon became a battle-hardened force, Panetta said, that fought from one end of Korea to the other, halting repeated drives to capture the peninsula, and in the process inflicting massive casualties on the enemy.

"As we honor our Korean War veterans we must also remember the more than 7,900 Americans missing in action," he said. "The Department of Defense is dedicated to resuming the search [to find] the remains of fallen service members missing in action in Korea. We will leave no one behind ... until all of our troops come home."

South Korea has grown strong and has become independent, and the Korean War's moniker as "The Forgotten War" no longer holds true, he added.

"Thanks to the service and sacrifice of our veterans six decades ago ... South Korea is a trusted ally, an economic power, a democracy and a provider of security in the Asia-Pacific region, and in other parts of the world."

Panetta contrasted the South's progress with "the bleakness" of the North, which he said remains a dangerous and destabilizing country bent on provocation, "and is pursuing an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction while its people are left to starve."

Two crucial lessons were learned from the Korean War, Panetta said.

"Too many American troops paid a heavy price in Korea because they were not provided the necessary training and the right weapons. They were sent into a tough fight with little preparation ...Only a few short years after World War II, dramatic cuts to the force made us lose our edge -- even though the world remained a dangerous place. We will not make that mistake again. That's why today, coming out of a decade of war, we have put forward a strategy-driven defense budget to meet the challenges of the future. The world remains a dangerous place, and America must maintain its decisive military edge."

America "must remain the strongest military power in the world, and ... make no mistake: We will be ready to defeat aggression – anytime, anyplace."

Panetta said the second lesson taught by the Korean War is the service and sacrifice made by a generation that bravely fought on its battlefields.

"Some 60 years ago, a generation of Americans stepped forward to defend those in need of protection and to safeguard this great country. America is indebted to them -- to you, for your service and your sacrifice. Sixty years ago, the bugles sounded and you helped strengthen this country for 60 years. America will never forget you."

Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, another generation stepped forward to lead, and its strength will be America's strength for decades to come, Panetta said.

"Over the past decade of war this new generation has done all this country has asked of them and more," he said. "They take their place alongside all of you -- another greatest generation of heroes that exemplifies the best that America has to offer. Our nation is great because generation after generation after generation, when the bugle sounded, our [military] responded."

In commemoration of the Korean War, Panetta said America should always remember "the sacred call to duty," and to "renew our commitment to honoring those who have fought, who have bled, and who have died to protect our freedoms and our way of life."

KOREAN WAR VET HAS VIVID MEMORIES OF POW EXPERIENCE

Sherman tanks perform roll call before heading out on a mission.
　
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Korean War Vet's Memories Vivid of Time Spent as POWBy Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2012 - When infantryman David Mills joined the Army on his 17th birthday and was sent to fight in the Korean War, his mission was to hold Outpost Harry "at all costs."

Mills, now 76, says those orders came from 8th Army on April 2, 1953, to stave off enemy Chinese troops from the strategically placed outpost in the Iron Triangle, about 50 miles from Seoul at the 38th parallel, which divided North and South Korea. The outpost was close to Chinese lines.

The Chinese had "an affinity" for Outpost Harry, said Mills, a member of Company F, 15th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division.

"They came to 'visit' us often and fought ferociously," he said. "They tried [several times] to take it. Had it fallen, with its high elevation, it would've made it difficult for the main line of resistance to remain where it was. [We] perhaps would've had to withdraw as far back as Seoul, which no doubt would have extended the war for quite some time."

It was unlikely the United States would have accepted a cease fire with the capital of South Korea under Chinese control at that time, he added, so it was important for American troops to hold the outpost's position.

But on April 24, Chinese troops nearly took Outpost Harry.

"We had 88 men holding the outpost," he said. "The attack was ferocious. We were overrun. Hand-to-hand fighting occurred in all of the trenches, and very heavy losses were suffered on both sides."

The forward observer from the 39th Field Artillery called for backup artillery to stop the attack, which was successful, he said.

But things didn't turn out as well that day for Mills, who received nine wounds -- two in the head, six in the leg and one in the left arm.

During what Mills described as very close fighting with hand grenades and bayonets, his weapon overheated and became inoperable. While searching for another, he crawled on his stomach to the entrance of a bunker about 30 yards away.

"Nobody was in there," he said. "I reached in to grab a rifle, and I felt something poke me in my back. I backed out very slowly and turned over, and was looking at the muzzle of a Russian-made submachine gun."

Three Chinese soldiers stood over him, Mills said. One held the gun, and the other two carried six grenades each, three on each side of their chests, he said.

"I thought I was going to die," Mills recalled reciting a short prayer as he looked up at the barrel of the weapon.

"I was ready to die," he said. "Then I had an immediate second thought. I was 17 years old, and I thought, 'How are my parents going to take this?' And I thought, maybe, I could get the weapon away from that soldier, and kill all three of them. Then I had a rational thought: He had his finger on the trigger and the likelihood of me being successful was rather slim. I lay there until they picked me up."

As the captors walked him to a Chinese camp, Mills saw the dead everywhere. "There were many Americans, but many more Chinese," he said.

As the soldiers roughed him up and forced him down hilly terrain, Mills said he felt no pain and wasn't aware he was wounded.

"Each time we got to the top of a rise, they'd hit me between the shoulder blades with the butt of the weapon, and I'd go tumbling down the hill. After the third time, my leg felt funny and I had difficulty maintaining balance," Mills recalled. It was when he felt blood running down his neck that he knew he'd been hit.

"Eventually, I half-crawled and was half-dragged to a cave, in which I spent the first night of my captivity," he said.

Mills found himself next to a Chinese soldier who had three bullet holes in his stomach.

"I could hear bubbles as the air escaped [from his wounds]," he said. "He died during the night."

The next morning, the Chinese soldiers took Mills from the cave and repeatedly prodded him with a rifle to make him walk up a road, but by then he was in such pain from his injuries, he couldn't walk.

"They pointed to a rock for me to sit down on, went around the corner," Mills said. "I thought I was going to be executed."

Instead, he said, four Chinese soldiers came around the corner with a stretcher, put him on it and carried him for seven days to a place Mills estimated to be 30 to 50 miles behind the lines.

"I was placed in a dungeon not high enough for me to stand, or long enough for me to stretch out straight," he said. He couldn't eat for two weeks. Knowing he would die of starvation otherwise, Mills said he forced himself to eat.

Rain poured into the dungeon. "I spent a lot of my time snapping the backs off lice," Mills said of his confinement. "My leg hurt so bad, I asked them to cut it off. They sent someone to look at it. I don't know if he was a doctor ... he just looked at it, and [now] I'm glad they didn't acquiesce to my request."

After enough prisoners of war to fill an army truck were brought in, they were taken to a prisoner camp, Mills said. Still not treated for his wounds, with bullets and shrapnel intact, Mills said he was not made to do hard labor like the other prisoners.

During his four-month captivity "the 15th Infantry Regiment with its company-sized outpost decimated the entire 74th Chinese Infantry Division, killing more than 5,000 of them," Mills said. "There were very heavy American losses, but we held that hill."

Four months to the day after he was taken prisoner, the Chinese repatriated Mills and the other POWs on Aug. 24, 1953. His family didn't know he was alive, Mills said, and initially were told he was killed in action. Mills said he has copies of his two published obituaries.

Reflecting on that April day in 1953 when the outpost was attacked, Mills said he was the last soldier, U.S. or Chinese, on the hill firing a weapon.

"I've often wondered if I was captured with an empty gun," he said.

He also thought he was likely the only survivor of the attack, until decades later when he found the Outpost Harry Survivors Association and similar groups.

For being wounded during combat Mills received the Purple Heart, but it took 57 years, because of omissions in his paperwork, he said. Mills said his initial discharge papers indicated he'd served overseas, but they didn't say where, and didn't note that he'd been wounded, had served in combat, or been taken as a POW.

Knowing he was eligible for the Purple Heart, Mills' daughter set out to find and correct her father's records.

After hearing his records likely had burned in a fire in a St. Louis military repository, Mills' papers were found archived in Philadelphia.

The paperwork was corrected, and the award was approved in nine short days, Mills said. Then-Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli presented Mills with his Purple Heart in 2010.

"To receive [the Purple Heart] from General Chiarelli was worth the wait," Mills said.

Although the Korean War is sometimes called "The Forgotten War," Mills said that was not his experience. Upon his enlistment in the Army, Mills recalled that he "wanted to see the world."

"And I did. A small part of it," he said.

Above:  North Korean Tank Used During Korean War.
T-34/85. This model evolved from the T-34/76, which was equipped with a 76-mm gun. The North Korean People’s Army was reported to have 150 T34/85 tanks at the beginning of the Korean War.
Crew: 5 men
Main gun: 85 mm
Machine guns: two 7.62 mm (one in bow and one coaxially with the main gun)
Weight (combat loaded): 35 short tons
Length (not including gun): 19 feet 7 inches
Width (overall): 9 feet 10 inches
Height to top of turret: 7 feet 11 inches
Armor: turret front, 90 mm; hull front, 47 mm; hull rear, 60 mm
Ammunition carried: 55 rounds for main gun; 2,745 rounds for 7.62.
Engine: 12-cylinder diesel, 493 hp
Maximum speed: 31–34 mph
Armor penetration at 500 yards: 114 mm
Range: 86 miles
Fording depth: 4 feet 4 inches
Vertical obstacle: 2 feet 5 inches
Trench crossing: 8 feet 2 inches