Jan/Feb 2009 - Korean War Veterans Association

A bit about Paul G. Petredis and his
book
that the Republic will never
return to being ruled by the
British, and a different language
is one more step to guaranteeing
their independence.
The Belfast Memorial seems
fitting in light of your recent trip
to Paris where no one has memorialized
the participation of
French troops during the Korean
conflict. Particularly noteworthy was how the French and other
European countries suffered such enormous casualties during the
carnages of World Wars I and II.
I am a life member of KWVA by virtue of my one day prisoner
of war status. You and your staff were so kind as to write and publish
a wonderful review of my published book, Escape from North
Korea, in The Graybeards.
Paul G. Petredis, 403 Third Lane
Fox Island, WA 98333, (253) 549-2232
A few comments regarding protocol
There was a photo in a previous issue captioned “CID 12 honor
guard firing a three-round salute….” Basically, the writer is correct.
However, these men are actually a “Firing Party.” The number of
rifles can be 4, 5. 6, 7, or 8. Thus, they would fire 12, 15, 18, 21, or
24 blanks. This firing is correctly called a “3-volley salute.”
Regarding statistics on memorials. People erect war memorials
with incorrect casualty numbers. And, on our cover page, we should
have the correct figures each issue. All our MIAs are listed as KIA
or dead and included in the 33,741 KIAs. Then we add the non-combat
dead. Marty O’Brien and I were both disappointed for many
years with these incorrect figures.
Someone wrote a nice article about the MIA/POW flag. But, the
article did not explain who owns this flag. It is the National League
of Families of American Prisoners & Missing in S/E Asia. Their
phone number is (202) 223-6846. (Incidentally, the organization
does not have a federal charter.)
Congress says it is okay to fly this flag, but they did not give it a
protocol ranking. This MIA/POW flag is outranked by all state flags,
all city flags, all county flags, all town flags, all village flags, all service
flags, American Legion flag, VFW flag…the list is endless.
Now that we have a charter, we should be more correct in the
business of being veterans.
Finally: 5.7 million men and women served during the Korean
War, of whom 1,789,000 went to Korea. We should promote these
figures along with our casualty list as standard in each issue..
William Hothan, 5 Park Circle
New Hyde Park, NY 11040
EDITOR’S NOTE: Mr. Hothan is a VFW Protocol, Flag, Firing
Officer. He is also a VFW Ceremony Site Director, Protocol.
COLOMBIA from page 31
Once the second shell was adjusted on target, the enemy bunkers
started to crumble and the supply trench was steadily des troyed.
About mid-afternoon I had to return to Battalion Hqs and left Lt
Flores busy directing the tank’s support fire to the men of the 31st
Regiment on top of Jane Russell Hill. The operation went on until
it had to be called off because of darkness.
Early next morning, Lt Flores reported to me that the enemy
had apparently worked fe verishly during the night, because the
bunkers we had destroyed were almost all re paired and the communication
trench we had wiped out had reappeared, only this time
it was deeper. Once again, Lt Flores started directing the M60’s
fire. This continued for most of the day, until the 31st took Jane
Russell Hill and our own operation given the order to “cease fire.”
One other comment on this operation. Radio communication
between Lt Flores’ position and the 31st Regimental LnO was
good. This wasn’t the case with the tank platoon, with which we
had to rely 100% on land-line communication.
On the second day of the operation, enemy shelling ripped our
line twice, and twice it had to be re paired. On the second occasion,
Lt Flores and a Colombian enlisted man had to go out and repair
the line themselves, because his own crew was fixing lines elsewhere.
While on their way back from this mission, they heard a
round coming their way. They hit the ground instinctively on the
reverse slope of a burial mound that happened to be there just as a
round from a 120mm mortar landed on the forward slope of the
mound.
The impact and concussion of the explosion threw Lt Flores
and the Colombian soldier back several feet. They were able to
pick themselves up and dash the rest of the way back to the safety
of their observation post. The Colombian, who was bleeding from
several places on his body, was taken immediately to an aid station.
Lt Flores was OK except for a temporary loss of hearing that,
although bothersome, did not keep him from continuing to give firing
adjustments to the M60 tank.
To my knowledge, this operation was the only support that the
31st Infantry Regiment received from the Colombian Battalion on
the front lines during the battle for Triangle Hill during “Operation
Showdown.”
Guadalupe A. Martinez, Col., USA (Ret), 1 Towers Park Ln., #417,
San Antonio, TX 78209
Guadalupe Martinez retired from active duty in 1970 as a
Lieutenant Colonel and went into education as his second career.
He retired from public education in 1988 af ter serving as an
Elementary School principal for the last 12 years.
Belisario Flores, after his tour in Korea, transferred from his Army
active duty to the Texas Air National Guard. In 1971 he was
appointed to the position of Assistant Adju tant General for the
Texas Air National Guard, promoted to Brigadier General in 1974,
and served in that grade and position until his retirement in 1986.
NOTE: Colombia furnished 1,068 troops to the UN Forces at peak
strength. The Colombian forces suffered significant casualties: 140
KIA, 452 WIA, 65 MIA, and 29 POW.
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The Graybeards
January – February 2009