Quotation 35: "July 27th, 1953, started out as a rather quiet day on line. We were located on the west edge of the Punchbowl, near a place we called 'Luke's Castle,' a nasty little piece of ground which had changed hands a number of times as a result of probes and combat raids. Assaults on the 'Castle' were designed to punish the enemy, but not to seize and hold ground forward of our established positions.

July 27 was an important day because the official cease-fire was to take place at 10 p.m. that night. No contacts with the enemy were reported during the day. Daylight patrols were limited to setting up ambush position. The generally quiet day was punctuated from time to time by a burst of small arms fire. As twilight approached there was a sense of excitement in the air. We had received strict instructions that all weapons firing was to cease promptly by 10 p.m. As it grew dark, the occasional exchange of fire picked up in tempo. Rifle fire was reinforced with the chattering of automatic weapons. The mortars were reinforced with artillery which swooshed overhead on its way to some unseen enemy. Both sides had picked up the pace and by 9:30 p.m., the exchange was at a peak. It was as if both sides were under heavy attack and were shooting desperately to keep from being overrun. The air was thick with the acrid smell of gunpowder mixed with clouds of dirt and dust. The sky was illuminated with one flare after another.

At about 9:45 p.m. the firing began to fall off. At 9:55 p.m. firing was limited to an occasional short burst from an automatic weapon. After a few more single rifle shots, it became deadly quiet. The only remaining noise was the whispering sound of a final parachute flare, casting an eerie glow over our positions and whispering, almost mournfully, as it clung to its fading light.

At first, no one spoke. Then voices could be heard up and down the line."

(Source: Rod Paschall. Witness to War: Korea. New York: Berkeley Publishing 1995:184-85)

Question for Quotation 35: Why do you think the last hours of the war were so noisy? Research at least three different accounts of the Korean War. What does each see as the result of the war? Compare their views and develop your own view of the war's outcome.