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Quotation 33: "We talked of nothing very important, but in the course of the conversation, Dad gave me one admonition: never get captured. He shrugged off the fact that in infantry combat the chance of being hit by a mortar or artillery shell was always present, but as the son of a new nominee for President, my capture would not only subject me to special cruelties but would also put the Communists in a position to blackmail him. 'If you are captured,' he said, 'I suppose I would just have to drop out of the presidential race.' I assured my father this would never happen and told him not to worry. Yet had I ever found myself surrounded by Chinese or North Koreans, I had every intention of keeping my promise and using my .45 pistol taking, I hoped, some of them with me." (Source: John Toland. In Mortal Combat: Korea, 1950 - 1953. New York: William Morrow, 1991: 539) Question for Quotation 33: Why might John Eisenhower have become
a special target in the war? Find out more about Eisenhower and his
view of the Korean War. Why might it have been easier for Eisenhower
rather than Truman or other politicians to end the war with a negotiated
peace instead of an all-out victory? |
1st Narrator:
To encourage settlement, U.S. planes
stepped up their bombing near the Yalu River, and bitter fighting continued
in such areas as Pork Chop Hill. As negotiations continued, Syngman Rhee,
the South Korean president, was dismayed that North Korean and Chinese prisoners
of war would be sent back north whether or not they wanted to be returned.
Disregarding tentative terms for their return, Rhee saw to it that thousands
were released so that they could remain in South Korea or go to Taiwan.
Although American officials protested Rhee's actions, the South Korean commander
of the Nonsan prison camp, Hong Sung-jong, explained why he helped to release
the prisoners:
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Quotation 34: "I'll take full responsibility for whatever was done by my officers and men. I'm not speaking as a battalion commander in charge of guarding the prisoners, but as a citizen of the Republic of Korea. You must remember that the prisoners who regained freedom are my fellow Koreans. If you understand this point, I don't think you can blame me for my sympathy towards them." (Source: John Toland. In Moytal Combat: Korea, 1950-1953. New York: William Morrow, 1991: 570) Question for Quotation 34: Why did Hong support Rhee's policy
of releasing POWs? Research the POW issue in the Korean War. Why was
it so difficult to resolve? Rhee claimed he was acting as a Korean
patriot. Did his action prolong the war? Why or why not? |
2nd Narrator:
On July 27, 1953, negotiators agreed
to an armistice at Panmunjom; it restored the boundary between North Korea
and South Korea to the same 38th parallel, at roughly the same place it
had been when the war began. A Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was set up that
exists to the present day, with border skirmishes continuing. But for most
of the troops, the war ended on July 27th. American officer Robert Gerald
remembered that day and night:
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