2007 KWVA Election Results - Korean War Veterans Association

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Let’s Honor David Halberstam
It is important that we honor the memory of David
Halberstam, the Pulitzer Prize winning correspondent and author
who was killed on 23 April in an auto accident in California.
Halberstam is a legend in American journalism, a kind giant of a
guy who sought and wrote about the facts that he saw without
submitting himself to whatever the politics of the moment dictated
to others.
David Halberstam, for the last five years, had been working
on a book about the Korean War, to be entitled The Coldest
Winter. I had the privilege of assisting him in locating veterans
who were involved in the actions he wrote about. He and I
became good friends in the process.
David Halberstam (L)
Lavon “Terry”
McDaniel (R) at a
meeting in
Mississippi of the
survivors of
Company C, 23rd
Infantry Regt (Photo
taken by LCol Emil
“Joe“ Stryker, USA
(Ret), and printed
here with his permission)
Halberstam attended a meeting in Mississippi of the survivors
of Company C, 23rd Infantry Regiment at which he interviewed
the veterans who had survived the massive attack by the North
Koreans of the Company on the Naktong River, 31 August to 1
September 1950. As a result, he wrote a cover article for Parade
Magazine entitled “Only a Few Came Home”; it was published
in the November 7, 2004 edition of Parade.
David Halberstam was a unique human being. I believe that
this book, which is bound to be a bestseller due to David’s
prominence, will bring the facts of the Korean War into the conscience
of the American people. After that, the reference to the
“Forgotten War” will certainly be past history. I also believe that
it had lost its meaning since the dedication of the Korean War
Memorial in Washington in 1995.
Ralph M. Hockley,
10027 Pine Forest
Houston TX 77042-1531,
(713) 334-0271 (Phone),
cghrmh@sprintmail.com
A Very Grateful People
Yesterday I told my daughter about my first day in Korea and
how the youngsters, who were about seven years old, offered to
carry my duffel bag. It made me ashamed of my childhood.
A few days later I saw a “Pappa San,” who was dressed in
white, put his hand in the G.I. “trash” can and pull out a handful
of mashed potatoes. I was a cook in Yonchon and Chorwon.
Every a.m. young Korean children would wait for the cooks to
come and prepare breakfast. They wanted the carrot tops that we
would throw away.
The night before I was to leave Chorwon we had a meeting. I
took a short cut, fell into a deep foxhole, and scraped my back.
A few Koreans pulled me out. When I got to Seoul to board a
train, a Korean policeman offered to carry my duffel bag on his
bike. I thanked him and offered him a couple dollars. He said,
“No thanks. My job.”
The Korean people are a very grateful people. Oh, by the way,
the Korean house boys did a wonderful job keeping our stoves
working.
Orlando Maffucci
7 Churchill Place
Pueblo, CO 81001
Right Photo, Wrong Credit
I am writing in regards to an article under Chapter News in
the May-June 2006 issue. Chapter 58- Monroe County (NY)
refers to the famous photo taken by Al Chang.
In April of 2002, while attending the Sea Services
Commemoration at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, I took note
of the above-mentioned photo in the post newspaper. The caption
beneath the photo stated it was an “Official USMC Photo.“ I
wrote the paper to inquire about the meaning of the caption. Not
surprisingly, I am still waiting for an answer.
This same picture was used by Lieutenant Colonel Michael P.
Slater, USMC, as the inside page of his book, “Hills of Sacrifice,
The 5th RCT in Korea.“ The book was published by Turner
Publishing Company and copyrighted in 2000. It is the history of
the U. S. Army’s Fifth Regimental Combat Team in Korea. The
caption for the picture is as follows:
Master Sergeant Frank Chandler comforts a grief-stricken
Infantryman from the 1st Battalion 5th RCT, whose buddy was KIA
on 18 August 50. Corporal Joseph Villaflor, a medic from Eleele,
Kauai, is filling out casualty tags in the background
This Al Chang photo was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
May– June 2007
The Graybeards