Speaking Volumes | Korean War started 70 years ago this summer

In many ways, the Korean War ended in 1953 the way it had begun three years earlier: as a country divided in half by an imaginary line where freedom and communism collided.

Japan ruled over Korea from 1905 until the end of World War II, after which the Soviet Union occupied the northern half of the peninsula and the United States occupied the south. This was intended to keep Korea one country but when the United Nations called for an election in 1947, the Soviet Union refused to comply and installed a communist regime.

On June 25, 1950, North Korea launched a full-scale invasion of the South ordered by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Congress never formally declared war (for the first time) and, along with 15 countries, assisted South Korea from continual full-scale invasions.

Prior to this conflict, President Harry S Truman had ordered desegregation of the United States armed forces with an executive order in 1948. General Matthew B. Ridgway, who took over command for General Douglas MacArthur, called racial segregation “both un-American and un-Christian” and ordered the integration of the Army in 1951. Many African American soldiers were heroes during the Korean War, earning numerous medals including Medals of Honor and Silver Stars.

For South Korea, the glimpse of modernization from their Allied supporters propelled the “hermit kingdom” into a rebirth. All this was not without heavy costs. The bravery and sacrifices of American armed forces, including over 36,000 casualties and over 7,000 prisoners of war, provided the Korean people an opportunity to prosper. Millions of Koreans were wounded, died, or went missing, half of them civilians.

Once China entered the war on the side of North Korea, many long retreats occurred on the allies’ side, eventually leading to a division of the country at the 38th parallel. Dispersed families were common: either by war, conflict or persecution. Reuniting divided families between the two Koreas remains difficult to this day, due to lack of communication between the two nations.

Even after the Korean War, North Korea remains the most hardline communist state in the world. The United States continues to keep troops in South Korea in case North Korea ever attempts to invade again. No permanent peace treaty has ever been signed.

On July 27, 1995, The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated and is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The Manatee Public Library has resources for our patrons, including “Korean War” by Sonia Benson, the audiobook “Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War’s Greatest Untold Story — The Epic Stand of the Marines of George Company” by Patrick K. O’Donnell, and the documentary on DVD “Korea: The Forgotten War, 1951-1953”, and personal memoirs of those who fought in the war, such as Thomas G. Hannon’s “Land of the Morning Calm.” These and other items await you at your public library and online at www.mymanatee.org/library.

Speaking Volumes is written by staff members at the Manatee County Public Library System. Lin Sterner is on the staff at the South Manatee Library.