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

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The actual picture of the
Batherson picture on the wal
ABOVE: Norm
Bodway (L) and
Chuck Batherson (R)
at National Museum
of the Marine Corps
LEFT: Chuck
Batherson (R) points
to picture of him and
Norm Bodway at the
National Museum of
the Marine Corps
Our trio included me (the tank commander), Corpsman Russell
Hasselbach (HM3), USN, from Michigan, and Norm Bodway, from
Wisconsin, the tank driver.
We could not go to them directly because of a mine field. As a
result, we gave the Chinese another target. They were dropping
everything on us. Russell got hit, but he still took care of Marines
who were hit.
At one point, Lt Penterson, of the 75recoilless, was watching us
when the Chinese dropped 5 or 6 rounds on us—and he couldn’t see
us any more. He thought we were gone. He called the company
after a couple hours to check on us. When we got back to our company
area, I had to go back to everyone to show that we were still
around.
That day Lt Penterson put us in for the Silver Star, but it was
downgraded to a Bronze Star with V.
Incidentally, I still see Norm often, but I never did find Russell—
and he lived close by. I didn’t know that until after he passed. But I
did find his son.
Charles (“Chuck”) Batherson, 36154 Abbey Drive
Westland, MI 48185, (734) 721-0764
ChuckandBarb5@sbcglobal.net
I disagree!
This is in response to the letter in The Graybeards, “Guest
Editorial,” July/Aug. 2009, p. 27, titled “Not ‘A Forgotten Victory’”
I’m sorry to read that Mr. Ingbretsen believes the Korean War
was a humiliating military defeat. I, too, served in Korea. I was with
the 7th Division from December 1950 through 1951. Although I
wasn’t in the infantry, I was in the 48th Field Artillery and saw what
war is all about. I do not agree with Mr. Ingbretsen’s “stalemate”
term.
We must start with where we were before the Communist
attacked South Korea. The Second World War decided that! So,
there we were with the 38th Parallel dividing what was once a unified
country. The North and the South set up independent governments.
North Korea wanted the whole country and attacked South
Korea, and so we were in a war. South Korea, the U.S., and their
allies defended South Korea. The Communists in North Korea and
China simply wanted it all.
Where does the writer get the idea we retreated to Pusan, indicating
that the war ended there in a compromise? That simply was
a phase of the war. Once the Americans and the United Nations
regrouped, we fought like hell under General Ridgeway and retook
all that had been given up. In the article Mr. Ingbretsen speaks of
regaining North Korea; we never had it!
Where do people get the idea that we lost the war? There is no
comparison between Vietnam and the Korean War. Hasn’t Mr.
Ingbretsen heard about General Custer and Little Big Horn? Did
that one devastating defeat mean we lost the Indian Wars?
Now where does he think the “Police Action” term came from?
It came from President Truman, who didn’t want to call it another
war right after we had come out of WWII.
I won’t defend General MacArthur, but I will stand with General
Ridgeway any day. And didn’t President Truman see the need to
support and defeat the Communists? You can bet he did!
Yes, more than 36,000 Americans lost their lives defending a
country that we didn’t know, but we stopped Communism. All these
lives were precious and their sacrifices prevented Communism
from spreading. Peace prevailed. Look at South Korea today and
compare it with North Korea. Who was the winner here?
The writer’s use of the word “conflict” irritates me today as it did
when I heard it said by President Truman. Anyone who was in the
Korean War knows full well that it wasn’t a conflict. No matter who
said it; it was a WAR. Anyone who calls it a conflict should study
the war first.
Now let’s address the terms “defeat” and “victory.” Would it
have been better to fight and win a war all the way to the Yalu
River? What would we have then? It would have been a war with
China. How many lives do you think we would have lost fighting
the Chinese? Do you think the Chinese would have given up losing
North Korea? What was the population of China? What was the
population of America? A learned friend would call that Math 1.
The closer we got to China the easier their attacks on UN forces
would have been—and how many Chinese troops would have been
thrown into the war? How many more South Korean, American and
UN lives would have been lost?
November – December 2009
The Graybeards