What a Difference Freedom Makes

Hayden Hollingsworth

In a recent column I recounted the mixed messages that snow can deliver.  I wrote of the hardship some of my high school classmates suffered in the winter of 1950 when they found themselves freezing to death at the Chosin reservoir in Korea.  I was pleased to hear from several of them who survived that horrible experience but here’s a correction: they were Marines, not the Army as I reported.

GySgt. Tommy Duncan, USMCR Ret., a veteran of Korea, joined me for lunch and brought me up to date on the activities of “The Chosin Few,” a group that meets regularly at a local restaurant. Sgt. Duncan went on to serve with distinction after the Korea.

While he downplays any heroism on his part, only 50 out of his original company of 250 survived.  In the reserve unit from Roanoke there were 8 killed in action.  They were Jimmy Akers, Jim Bob Barnes, Buddy Duncan (no relation to Tommy), James Earles, Martin Johnson, Paul Martin, William Moore, and Carleton (Poodle) Turner.  There were 10 local reservists who were wounded:  Arthur Altizer, James Custer, James Economy, William Hopkins (our long-time state senator), Richard Kidd, Raymond Mohler, Frank Whorley (who lost both legs), William Wiley, Jerry Rice, and Gordon Barbour.

Additionally, 8 more from Roanoke were called up in Feb 1951.  Carl Sommardahl, Bob Pilcher, Charles Baggett, Phillip Key, Jake Patsel, Jack Garst, Drew Moore, and Richard Leftwich.  Happily, all of them returned unscathed, at least physically.

As I reflected on what Sgt. Duncan told me, I was reminded, once again, of what we owe to those young Marines.  They were not old enough to vote, but old enough to die for the sake of freedom.  These 60 years later the price they paid has transformed South Korea.

My own concept of Korea was dramatically altered when the International Olympic Committee awarded Seoul the 1988 Summer Games.  My impression of South Korea was stuck in the 1950s.  When the Games were carried out, we all found that Seoul was a thriving metropolis and today South Korea has the 13th largest GDP in the world.  In 1963 per capita income was $100; in 2005 it exceeded $16,000; that’s nothing short of amazing.

Seoul is the 7th largest city in the world.  On the Human Development Index, a United Nations scale that looks at many factors concerning national strength, the Republic of Korea ranks 26th.  Norway ranks 1st, the United States 13th; the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) is not even on the list of the 182 nations studied.  They won’t let anyone in to gather the information.

Propaganda is a dangerous thing because it often rests on untruths.  If you want a chilling view of what may be going on in the DPRK, check out this site: www.vbs.tv/newsroom/vice-guide-to-north-korea-13-of-14.  A documentary filmmaker has 14 clips of what he filmed inside of North Korea.  Don’t look at just #13; see the whole thing.  It reminds one so much of Germany in the late 1930s, although the DPRK has nothing of the industrial wherewithal that was available to the Nazis. Whether the film is propaganda or not, I cannot say.  But there are ample data from other sources to condemn the repressive dictatorship of Kim Jong-il.  They have missiles, they have nuclear weapons, they have military might; they do not have freedom.

When the North Koreans invaded the south in June of 1950, the two countries were remarkably similar.  Had the Chinese not sent in hundreds of thousands of troops, the war would have been over in a few months.  As it happens, it’s not over yet.  The DMZ between the north and south is the most heavily defended and most dangerous border in the world.

Looking at South Korea and the DPRK the difference is as startling as comparing the United States with Afghanistan (#181 on the HDI). The point is this:  Freedom and democracy work; dictatorships do not.  The 8 marines from Roanoke who died, the 10 who were wounded, along with the 8 in the “second wave,” made freedom ring in South Korea.  The next time you meet a veteran of that almost forgotten war, tell them thank you.

By Hayden Hollingsworth
[email protected]

Latest Articles

- Advertisement -

Latest Articles

- Advertisement -

Related Articles