gray06 Nov-Dec 2009_Gray01_Jan-Feb 2005.qxd.qxd - Korean War ...

The Editor’s Desk
Art Sharp
6
History happens when we least
expect it ©
History is a strange thing. You never
know when you are going to be involved in
something of historic proportion, what your
role—if any—will be, and how wide the
ramifications of a given event will extend.
After all, history doesn’t happen in chunks; it
happens in bite-sized pieces
When you think about it—which is
always a dangerous thing to do for some people,
especially me—everything in which you
are involved has historic implications. But
we tend not to think of our individual roles in
the process of creating history.
Let’s face it: history is nothing more than
a series of seemingly innocuous, small, random
scenarios that come together to create
momentous events that affect the direction of
humanity. We all play our parts in the
process, even though we rarely recognize as
they happen what they may be or how they
will affect world events.
Here are two examples. One comes from
a book; the other is a real-life experience.
I just finished reading a novel, China
Marine, by Col Paul E. Wilson, USMC
(Ret). It is the story of a group of WWII-veteran
Marines who live through the turmoil in
China between the end of WWII and the
beginning of the Korean War. The characters
become involved in the usual—and often
improbable—escapades endemic to people
who populate prose. (The author is a veteran
of three wars: WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.
Anyone who wants a copy can order it at
www.booksurge.com for $16.99.)
The story is passable, although it is
marred by huge numbers of typographical
errors that are highly distracting. The
author’s strongpoint is his ability to present a
great social history of what was going on in
China between late 1945 and the country’s
entry into the Korean War. (Incidentally, can
anyone point me to a document, pronouncement
from Congress, etc., that states specifically
that the fighting in Korea has been officially
declared a war? The question has once
again risen among some of our readers, and
no one seems to be able to produce or point
to specific documentation that makes
“Korean War” the official designation.)
When you think about it—which is always
a dangerous thing to do for some people,
especially me—everything in which you are
involved has historic implications.
How many of you recognized when it
was happening how the late-1940s war in
China between Mao’s Communists and
Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists would affect
your futures? How many of you even knew
or cared the Communists and Nationalists
were struggling for control of China after
WWII, that the U.S. had troops there at the
time, that the outcome would lead to Chinese
involvement in Korea, or that the UN would
intercede to fight the Chinese—which would
require your presence in Korea? Probably
not many of you. That is simply because we
do not recognize the importance of events
that shape history or our roles in them.
Here is example 2, which is on a far less
esoteric or historically significant topic than
China’s involvement in the Korean War.
Betsy (that’s Mrs. Editor) and I went to the
Northeastern University (NU) vs. University
of Rhode Island (URI) football game on 21
November 2009. For us, that was routine. We
are college football aficionados, and we
attend at least one college game a week,
whenever and wherever possible.
Our game schedule this year included
Clemson vs. Texas Christian University,
Appalachian State vs. Citadel, Yale vs.
Dartmouth, University of Connecticut vs.
North Carolina, Trinity College (Hartford)
vs. Bowdoin, Central Connecticut State
University vs. Monmouth [NJ]…we go
where the games are. NU vs. URI, our 13th
contest of the season, was simply the best
game available that day.
It was a close contest between two wellmatched
teams who had nowhere to go but
up. NU’s record going into the game was 2-
8; URI’s was 1-8. But, the players forgot the
records as soon as the game began. They
played hard, as young “warriors” do. NU
won, 33-27. Okay, what does this have to do
with history?
After the game ended, NU announced
that it is dropping football. That made us part
of a historic event, albeit a small part! We
were spectators at NU’s last football game.
To be sure, the impact of the announcement
went far beyond us, but it did not diminish
the fact that we were there.
NU’s decision no doubt disrupted the
lives of the university’s players. They are
now faced with decisions on whether to
transfer to play football elsewhere, stay at
NU to complete their degrees and give up
football, drop both school and football….
The other football-playing members in the
Colonial Athletic Association, of which NU
and URI were members, suddenly found
themselves with holes in their future schedules,
which would not be easy to fill. NU’s
coaches and trainers lost their jobs.
Everyone involved, directly or indirectly,
unwittingly became a part of history, just as
most of our readers did in Korea. And Betsy
and I thought all we were doing was going to
another in a long line of Saturday afternoon
college football games. Instead, we were
players in a small historic event. History happened
while we were not paying attention.
Isn’t that the way all history happens,
whether we recognize our roles in it or not?
Contents of this editorial copyrighted by the
author. ©
Editor’s Address Change
It is time for me to relocate to my “southern
office.” Effective 1 January 2010 my
mailing address will be:
Arthur G. Sharp, 895 Ribaut Road, #13,
Beaufort, SC 29902
Make sure you include the #13 in the
address. Otherwise, there is no telling whose
mail box your missives will land in.
That address will remain in effect until
further notice. You can still send mail to the
“northern office,” but it will be forwarded to
Beaufort, which means a built-in delay.
My phone # will also change. Call me at
(860) 202-3088 or (860) 944-8693. The preferred
number is (860) 202-3088.
November – December 2009
The Graybeards