The Graybeards - Korean War Veterans Association

On the cover...
Pictured on the cover of this issue of The
Graybeards is the DoD poster remembering
our POWs/MIAs. This poster was presented
at the Defense Prisoner of
War/Missing in Action Office (DPMO)
Family Update last June. We thank DPMO
for allowing us to use the poster on our
cover but most of all for their service of
looking for and bringing home our loved
ones. Their Motto is Keeping the Promise.
Our Vision
We are committed to an unwavering
effort to bring home or account for each
and every service member lost due to hostile
action. We are committed to communicate
openly, honestly, and with understanding
to the families of missing Americans
and the entire nation.
Our Mission
To lead and oversee the effort to locate,
account for, and repatriate Americans captured
or missing as a result of past, current
and future hostile actions.
To provide the expertise, technology
and resources necessary to uphold this
commitment with integrity and dedication.
To resolve uncertainties by illuminating
the facts and informing the families, the
Congress and the American people.
Korea
On May 8, 1996, former Secretary of
Defense William Perry signed a DoD policy
statement stressing the Department’s
priority and commitment to the Korean
War accounting effort. In honoring these
commitments, DoD has negotiated Joint
Recovery Operations (JROs) with the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(DPRK), conducted dozens of recoveries,
created a database on Personnel Missing-
Korea, and contacted thousands of surviving
family members.
Historical Context
North Korea returned several thousand
remains during Operation GLORY in 1954.
US graves registration teams ended a
search for remains from South Korean battlefields
in 1956. These efforts accountedfor
thousands of identified remains; however,
officials declared about 854
unknown. Next, officials buried one
unknown in the Tomb of the Unknowns in
Arlington, Virginia, and buried the remainder
in Hawaii in the National Memorial
Cemetery of the Pacific known as the
Punchbowl.
From the final repatriation of remains in
Operation GLORY in 1954 until 1990, the
US sought, through the United Nations
Command Military Armistice Commission
(UNCMAC), to no avail to persuade the
DPRK to search for and return remains of
US and Allied personnel lost in North
Korea.
Between 1990 and 1994, the DPRK unilaterally
recovered and returned 208
remains to the United Nations Command.
Unfortunately, North Korean record keeping
and recovery techniques greatly complicated
the identification process. North
Korean recoveries combined remains and
mixed identification media. Consequently,
DoD has identified fewer than 10 of these
remains to date. Clearly, these efforts
demonstrated the need for joint recovery
operations, where the Central Identification
Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI) could exercise
its vast experience and technical expertise
to increase the effectiveness of identification
efforts.
Joint Recovery Operations
In 1994, DPRK’s President Kim IL
Sung unexpectedly accepted former
President Jimmy Carter’s proposal to permit
joint US-DPRK remains recovery operations.
Though this surprising development
was encouraging, the North Korean
Please turn to COVER on page 35
THIS ISSUE
Features
Command Reports of 92nd Armorned
Artillery Bn 18
Small Units – Big Jobs 24
A Love Affair That’s History 31
The Galloping Ghost 36
The Chinju Bridge 45
POW Legacy of Paul Anthony Klozik 50
Departments
President’s Message 4
Veterans Services 5
Listen Up 7
National VA/VS Representative Report 9
Monuments and Memories 12
Letters 14
Defence POW/MIA Weekly Update 20
Book Review 23
Chapter Affairs 28
Korean War Veterans Educational
Grant Corporation 32
Looking for... 40
The Poet’s Place 48
Taps 55
Chaplain’s Corner 56
Reunions 58
News & Notes
Inchon Visitors to New York thank Korean
War Vets 10
Inchon Dance Company honors
parents of adopted Korean children 11
1999 Election Results 16
U.S. Navy Carrier Operations in Korea 22
Proud Korean War Vets Display Tags 30
Meet Our New Treasurer 33
KWVA Balance Sheet 53
Thanks for Supporting The Graybeards 55
USA Commemoration of the 50th
Anniversary of the Korean War 61
September/October, 1999 Page 3