1st Narrator: The Korean War brought some former enemies together under the UN command. Australians and Turks, who had been bitter enemies during World War I, now fought side by side. The Turks were known as aggressive fighters and brave in enduring wounds. An American correspondent, W. L. White, described his memories of wounded Turks and Chinese POWs in a MASH hospital:

Quotation 26: "You may see some Turks, whom the nurses love as patients because they take everything with stoical grins. It is hard, however, to explain to the Turks that they may not get up and walk around, but should lie quietly, awaiting their turn on the table. Furthermore, these Turks (and the UN has no better fighters) are always bewildered when they find a live Chinese next to them in a litter. Since a Turk's understanding is that he has been shipped some ten thousand miles for the express purpose of killing Chinamen, he is sure this must be an error, which he now moves to correct by arising to strangle this neighboring Chinese. However, an orderly always gets there in time." (Source: W.L. White. Back Down the Ridge. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1953: 71) Question for Quotation 26: Why did the Turks try to kill Chinese patients? Research to find out why the Turkish government supported the UN action in Korea.

2nd Narrator: In their memoirs, many soldiers praised the doctors and nurses of MASH hospitals and the Scandinavian hospital ship personnel. They also praised the corpsmen, or stretcher-bearers, who aided the wounded on the battlefield. One stretcher bearer was Pat O'Connor, a Canadian. His friend, Ed Haslip, remembered his battlefield deeds:

Quotation 27: "O'Connor's company was overrun by enemy troops, and several men were hit. O'Connor moved through the dead and dying, giving them comfort, bandaging wounds, occasionally praying with them, all the while ignoring his own exposed position. In a couple of cases, dying men held his hand and whispered their final words in his ear. To others who were wounded he gave support, told them they would be okay, and occasionally dried the tears of pain and fear that he saw on so many of the young faces around him. Finally, when his medical supplies ran out and the situation started to look more and more desperate, he told [me] that he would go and get help. I watched him start to run back, but before he's gone fifty yards a Chinese machine-gun cut him down. He was a completely selfless and dedicated soldier." (Source: John Melady. Korea: Canada's Forgotten War. Toronto: Macmillan, 1983: 143) Question for Quotation 27: On the battlefield, medical aid often consisted of a corpsman trying to take care of the wounded. How did such people as O'Connor "make a difference"? Find out what medical advances were made during the Korean War? What role did helicopters play? How did UN medical care compare to that of the communists?