hey Bill

quote:

Originally posted by prince albert:
Bill do you ever think that you would like to go back and visit "The Land of the Morning Calm?" I bet you wouldn't recognize the place, where I was the Hills were full of Moose, had a Katusa Buddy name was Soa-Suk-Kyu, He would tell me that all the Moose had Vidokie

Hi Albert,

Yes, I would enjoy visiting Korea again. But, you are right that I would not recognize it. In 1956, it was still a war torn country with small villages popping up wherever a military base existed. And these villages were built totally out of GI materials -- and many of the locals wore clothing made from GI blankets. It was not hard to see bootleg electrical wiring snaking through the fence and onto the base -- where they, in a midnight requisition, connected their electrical wires to our power lines.

When we stood guard duty by the fence, we were warned of the girls distracting the guards, while male accomplishes cut holes in the fence, snuck in, and stole whatever was not tied down. On the first night of my guard duty, I was at a fence and the hillside outside ran down into the darkness for about 100 yards. About midnight, out of the darkness, I saw a flashlight coming up the hill and a feminine voice calling, "Hey, GI, can I visit you?" I yelled back, "Get the hell out of here" -- and the flashlight immediately went off.

About five minutes later, I saw the flashlight going up the adjacent hill -- and the guard light come on. As I watch in total darkness -- I could see one small light moving up the hill -- getting closer and closer to the light on top of the hill. Soon, they met -- and both lights went off. I cannot imagine what happened then.

A few weeks later, my friend, Joe Valdez, was on guard duty and he saw a guy sneaking through the fence. Joe yelled out, "Halt!" -- I believe at the same time his finger squeezed the trigger. The Air Police came and took the guy away in a jeep -- and he died at the hospital.

No, I would not recognize Korea today. My base, K55, Osan Air Base, was still a war-time base. We lived, worked, ate, showered, etc., in quonset huts. Everything was quonset huts -- except the Wing HQ building. Our toilet was a thirty foot long wooden box with a hole cut every three foot -- inside a quonset hut. Made for great intimacy -- with ten GIs sitting with their pants down -- every three foot -- and no privacy. The only normal, ceramic type toilets were at the HQ building -- so, I made it a point to visit the HQ building every day after work.

The place I would love to visit more is Formosa (Taiwan). Every four months, my Fighter-Bomber Squadron would rotate to a Chinese Air Base at Tainan, Formosa, and stay for two months. I love that island and would love to visit it again one day. However, the small town of Tainan of 1956-57 -- is now a major metropolitan city -- probably as large as San Diego. Not the same town I knew in 1956-57.

It would be nice to go back for a visit -- even though both Osan and Tainan have changed drastically.

Albert, where would you stationed in Korea -- and when?

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

Bill I got to Korea in February 1957 and stayed 14 Months and 21 Days I was stationed at Munsan I got lucky and got in I Corps Eighth Army we had it made better than the one's in the 7th and 24th Division, When we got on the Ship in Seattle Washington we had Line Numbers, that is the way they kept up with us, anyhow when we got to Inchon at a base there they would call off Line numbers and tell them to go to a certain Barracks, well they called mine out by its self and told me to go to a certain Barracks and then went on calling other Numbers, and I wondered what that meant? well I had Played in the High School Band at Colbert County and I had put that down and they told me "You are going to try out for the 8th Army Band" of course I didn't make it,I laid around 8th army Hqtrs there in Seoul for about a week and one day they brought me some Orders and sent me 25 miles north of Seoul to the 969th Field Artillery Battalion My MOS was a Fire Director, I figured out how you hit a certain Place with them Guns, they were 155mm. they told me at Seoul to be at the Train station at 2 o'clock and I was there, and I never seen so many People on a Train in all my Life when it arrived, they were hanging out the Windows and the little Porches at the end of the Railcar was full of People, we finally got started and it took me till 7 O'clock that night to travel that 25 miles, the Train would go for a mile or so and then he would stop, back up and Blow the Whistle a few times and we would sit there a little while and then they would do it again, anyhow I was stationed about a Mile South of Freedom Bridge, you remember them swapping Prisoners at Freedom Bridge after the War was over?

Did you ever go to K-12 Air Base? Maybe they called it Kimpo I am not sure about that but I think it was called K-12, I went there and got on a C-123 and flew to Japan for an R&R that was the biggest thing I had ever been on. you ever know what an A-Frame was, I saw a Korean carry a 55 Gallon Drum of something on his Back, as for the Toilets we had the outdoor type and they would keep 55 Gallon Drums under ours and the Koreans would use it in their Rice Paddys them Rice paddys had a place in one corner called the Honey well, that was where they kept the Honey till planting time.

A Korean Funeral was the strangest thing i believe I saw the whole time I was over there, I would be on Gate Guard and they would come down the Road and have a man out in front with a good sized Bell and he would be running at full Gallop ringing that Bell and of course all the other people was runing too. they never slowed up until they got to where they were going to bury Him. they had a Box with a long Poll on each side of the Box and there were about 12 to 16 of them carrying the Box and they were running too.

you are right they stole everything they could carry, there was one occasion when the Colonel and his Driver was in the Middle of Seoul and you know everybody was always on that Horn all the time and a Man ran along behind the Jeep and Stole the Colonel's Spare Tire off the back of the Jeep,

Prince Albert and Bill, thank you both for serving our country!!! We owe so much to our soldiers...past and present!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Just_:
Prince Albert and Bill, thank you both for serving our country!!! We owe so much to our soldiers...past and present!!!!!

Hi Just,

Thank you.

Albert, I believe you can relate to this: often in the military things sometimes happen which are so strange, that they become comical. One time while I was at Osan Air Base in Korea a Red Alert was sounded -- which normally would mean an attack could be imminent. We had never been attacked while I was there -- but, North Korea was not that far away. Anyway, a Red Alert (which no one ever told us was just an exercise -- so, we have to assume it was for real) sounded and we all rushed to our squadron area.

Everyone was issued a carbine rifle and a gas mask -- but, no ammunition. Among our whole squadron, all armed with carbine rifles and gas masks -- not one single round of ammunition. So, there we were -- ready to ward off the enemy should they swarm over our base -- with no ammunition. We all laughed and decided we could use the carbines as clubs and fight them off that way. We never heard what really happened.

Later, when we were on the Chinese Air Base at Tainan, Formosa/Taiwan (Dec 1956-Jan 1957), which was only a fighter base, we did almost get involved in a Chinese war. One evening we heard on the radio that Red China had overrun Burma. And, none us knew just how close Burma was to Formosa. This was a time when we all wished we had paid better attention in the World Geography class.

The next morning, as we were driving down the flight line to our work area -- we saw twelve B25 bombers which had flown in overnight -- and this was not a bomber base. Now, we were sure that we were in the middle of a Chinese war between Chiang Kai Chek's Nationalist Chinese army and the mainland Red Chinese army. Nothing happened -- and the bombers left that day.

About five years ago, when I was doing research for the 1/Lt. Bob Ford Memorial Web Site, I happened upon more info on that incident. As it turned out, last minute diplomacy was all that prevented an all out war that day. We truly had been within hours of being involved in a battle between those two Chinese armies. But, luckily, the Fickle Finger of Fate was on our side that day.

Now, we can just smile at the memories.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

By the way, that tent behind me was home!

If things don't settle down and unless someone in the North gets some sense there will be lots more that get the same tour you did only I'm afraid this time around it would be vastly different. Strange how little tripwires like this one can bring to Giants together facing each other.

With Japan and South Korea doing so much trading with China (US included) one wonders if China would or is going to take the same kind of stance as they did in 1951? My fear is the nut job over the North now that he has some sort of nuclear capability. One shot over Seoul and one wonders what the result would be. All I know is I feel for the US Soldiers that are over there because they don't have near the number they would need and God only knows what the North is up to. The next thing you might hear is some US ship being hit.

Thanks to y'all for your service also. Sometimes conscripted wars get overlooked because it wasn't a volunteer force but still the same respect is due. Too bad we have the Administration we do as I doubt the reaction to action by North Korea would be as decisive as it would have been under McCain or even Bush.

GBRK none of them People over there has anything between the Ears, when I was there they didn't care if they got killed, you could be going through Seoul and they would walk in front of your Jeep hoping you would hit them and not kill them, they would draw a check from the American Government for the rest of their Lives, there was another time two Koreans found an anti-personnel Mine left from the war, you know the one with the three little Prongs sticking up, it was on a hill across the Road and Rice Paddies from our compound and they backed off a little bit and threw Rocks at it to see if it would go off, and sure enough it did and killed them both.

Maybe they have got a little smarter since things are going pretty good for the south, but the North are still Starving to death and just as stupid as they ever was, and Kim Jong Il has had Cancer and he is about dead so, yes he will use a bomb in a Minute.

you know we had some of those Atomic Artillery Guns there when I was over there, I saw them, our Gun barrels were close to 18 to 20 ft but it took two Tractors built especially to haul them things, one on the front and one on the back and I don't know how long their Barrels were but they were a lot longer than ours the Shells would go farther, so our Soldiers are not sitting over there defenseless.but I still wouldn't want to be over there, I am sure they have the latest Weapons over there now.

That's what I meant by things would be different today, the new technology that we have developed and with greater accuracy. I do believe, technically, we have a great advantage however Kim Jong has just to start off with a nuke over Seoul or out toward one of our naval groups or even attempt to fire toward Japan, Hawaii or the west coast and even I don't know what our President, Congress, or the advisers would do. Now that Russia has announced major naval exercises in the area and China still refusing to acknowledge the North's attack there are so many factors that could literally explode that I don't know all the contingencies.

Could also be that China would take the opportunity, if things really exploded, to take back Taiwan. While we do have much over there that those military men could use there is no doubt that the North has more also and more being supplied by China. The question would be IF the North launched a preemptive nuclear attack and Japan and the US jumped in where would Russia and China fall.

One fear I have is, given the new technology available today, is that things are destined to happen very very fast with only the tripwire to be tripped. One thing about Obama though is I don't know that he is capable of making the critical hard decisions fast. In a fast war that could be a positive though and could be a problem. The scenarios are countless but unlike wars before I doubt very seriously that the Continental United States would escape unscathed and it could potentially be a very different world that we would be seeing.

I'm certainly no doomsday believer or running saying this is the end days but fact is that we live in a much different world than in 1951 and will be looking at a much different China that had no qualms or reservations about jumping into the battle directly against NATO and the United States. It's really scary to realize or think about how much our lives and world could change in a matter of hours if not minutes.

China couldn't jump into a War against us, they would never get any of that Money that we owe them back, China is growing Economically and the People are beginning to have a better life and own Cars and have a little spending Money, do you think they are going to mess that up for a Deranged Korean which has a void between the Ears, it is all show, and you know Obama, we will have to take the first hit, and then he might say, "if you do that again I am going to mess you up, I have no confidence in the man at all.

Hi Albert,

I have confidence in Obama. I have confidence that he will alienate all of our strong allies -- and that he will put us in bed with those who would cut our throats as we sleep. Yes, sir, I have great confidence in our "Toy-Boy" Leader.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

Bill, I know that you and Prince Albert have age on me for Vietnam was my war and I missed that one by mere months but I have never, ever, (nor did I ever think I would see) seen an administration filled with people who seemingly hate the United States and are determined to go against the Constitutional powers that were given to them. We know that at least one of his choices believes that China's Communistic leaders were to be admired and Communist leaning in philosophy and then others are definitely Socialistic feeling that Europe is the utopia that we should strive to be.

Never did I think I would see a President isolate friendly countries in favor of those hostile to us and then apologize as if we (America) was wrong in everything we did. I'm ashamed at times to see him representing our country but I do respect that the people elected him so he is our leader. I have no doubts though that he, and his administration, are bending over backwards to cater to the Muslims while being hostile ( under the guise of separation of church and state ) to anything or anyone Christian or for that matter anything Capitalistic in nature. It's a sad day.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Gray:
Hi Albert,

I have confidence in Obama. I have confidence that he will alienate all of our strong allies -- and that he will put us in bed with those who would cut our throats as we sleep. Yes, sir, I have great confidence in our "Toy-Boy" Leader.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

Why do you say these things? What has Obama done as president to make you think he would "alienate all of our strong allies"? As I recall that is what Bush had done by invading Iraq in the first place. His proof of WMD was proven to be false and he and his administration lied to congress, the UN and the American people to start an unnecessary war. He practically ignored Osama Bin Laden in his quest for Saddam (who was never linked to those that attacked us on 9/11) We were attacked during his presidency and there are many reports that he ignored intelligence information alerting to the possibility of an attack using our Airlines. I was a member on these forums then and you stood behind that president.

What has this one done that has made you believe he is destroying our country? Since his election we have seen a stabilizing of the economy (with timid growth) he has made huge strides with our allies in repairing the damage done by the Bush administration. He has helped reduce the amount of Nuclear weapons. He has passed a healthcare plan that I personally am fairly happy with.

Why do you call him a "Toy-Boy" ?

If the last administration had paid a bit more attention to the real threats (NK and Iran) they might not be as far as they are now with nuclear weapons.

Since your prime objective in life seems to be your religion, you might be interested in knowing that before the invasion of Iraq there were 2.2 million christians. There are now less than 600 thousand. Since this is ACTUALLY the religion forum I thought I might throw some religion into your political discussion.

quote:

Originally posted by gbrk:
Bill, I know that you and Prince Albert have age on me for Vietnam was my war and I missed that one by mere months but I have never, ever, (nor did I ever think I would see) seen an administration filled with people who seemingly hate the United States and are determined to go against the Constitutional powers that were given to them. We know that at least one of his choices believes that China's Communistic leaders were to be admired and Communist leaning in philosophy and then others are definitely Socialistic feeling that Europe is the utopia that we should strive to be.

Examples please.....And who in his administration is "communist leaning"? I feel like our last president completely ignored our laws and rights with such things as the "patriot act" the suspension of habeas corpus, imprisonment without obtaining a search warrant, not allow those arrest to hear charges against them. How about torture of prisoners? When Congress passed legislation to ban the torture he said he would interpet the law his own way. Then there was the electronic surveillance of American citizens without court orders.

Where was your outrage then?

quote:

Never did I think I would see a President isolate friendly countries in favor of those hostile to us and then apologize as if we (America) was wrong in everything we did. I'm ashamed at times to see him representing our country but I do respect that the people elected him so he is our leader. I have no doubts though that he, and his administration, are bending over backwards to cater to the Muslims while being hostile ( under the guise of separation of church and state ) to anything or anyone Christian or for that matter anything Capitalistic in nature. It's a sad day.

First what countries has he isolated? This whole christians vs muslim crap is getting old too. What evidence to you have that he is favoring one religion over another? Not endorsing a day of prayer doesn't make him Muslim. Even if he was I don't understand what the problem is. That doesn't worry me anymore than the many christian presidents that we have had in the past that have catered to their religions. Heck the last one said that god told him to go to war with Iraq. Now that was scary.

notice that in the below timeline link posted that while bush was talking about invading iraq that north korea tested a missle by firing it at the u.s. which was successful in hitting alaska. bush ignored this real threat to our country and instead attacked a country which had did nothing to us.

http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/dprkchron


albert, china sold most of the debt to japan

quote:

Originally posted by Jankinonya:
Since your prime objective in life seems to be your religion, you might be interested in knowing that before the invasion of Iraq there were 2.2 million christians. There are now less than 600 thousand. Since this is ACTUALLY the religion forum I thought I might throw some religion into your political discussion.

Hi Jan,

It is easy to throw out such statistics -- but, without any source information; it means nothing. If you have a reliable source which proves this statement, please give it to us. Otherwise, your statement is just another puff of smoke.

You ask which ally Obama has turned against. Well, Israel has to top the list -- and that is a dangerous gamble. You see, in Genesis 12, God tells Abraham and us, "Those who bless you (Israel) I will bless, and those who curse you, I will curse."

My Friend, just having old Barry baby in the White House is a big enough curse -- we do not need the curse of God on America. But, that is the path our dear Toy-Boy president and President Hillary are leading us down. And, that path is truly a slippery slope -- for we do not want God cursing America.

But, we can altar his course toward Far Left Liberal Socialism a wee bit -- by voting out all the incumbent Liberal Democrats and their RINO bedfellows. Let's stay on track -- the Congress and Senate in 2010 -- and those plus the White House in 2012.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

Link about Israel Nuke Subs

It's certainly a dangerous world what with North Korea talking about all out war with the South and Israel admitting they have Nukes (everyone knew they did) but now we have real possibilities on two continents that Nukes could very easily be launched and actually used. Reason no longer seems in peoples vocabulary.

quote:

Examples please.....And who in his administration is "communist leaning"? I feel like our last president completely ignored our laws and rights with such things as the "patriot act" the suspension of habeas corpus, imprisonment without obtaining a search warrant, not allow those arrest to hear charges against them. How about torture of prisoners? When Congress passed legislation to ban the torture he said he would interpet the law his own way. Then there was the electronic surveillance of American citizens without court orders.

Fair enough ..

Wikipedia - Van Jones check his beliefs

yeah he is no longer there but not because of his beliefs .. he was too vocal about them.

Another Van Jones LiNK

Some of Obama's associations

More on Obama at this Link

Here is a great LINK .. check this one out



Our Great Friend Israel .. One recent link about the US & Israel


Link under the Category of looks whose coming to dinner

Mine enemy mine Friend .. Link to Jihad oh can't say that

Link to article .. this one alone doesn't say much but add that we are isolating Israel more and more

Obama Stands with Muslims article Link

Bush .. Bad, Me Good, Reaching out

Link to another Obama appointment

You think the Patroit Law was too personal check this out

Obama and Israel ***********
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5 Link 6
Link 7 Link 8 .. Yes there is duplication but there is verification

More and more could be added.

Obama is Socialist leaning, for Redistribution of wealth, against Capitalism, and acting against the Constitution.

Obama has had radical friends and is no friend to Israel but spends most time when traveling around the world to criticize and apologize for America being America.

Look at what Obama's Attorney General said about the Miranda Rights and how sometimes well we need to do away with them.

The Bush administration was nowhere near as pervasive as Obama's is, was no where near as SECRETIVE or Concealed nowhere near the legislation as the Democrats are and never forced such a pervasive bill as the Healthcare legislation which obviously is contrary to the powers that the Constitution gives. Look at the Bribes that the Democrats put out in order to get the votes in their own party for the healthcare bill.

Where did Bush do all these bad things? Maybe you are the one who should put up evidence to justify why Bush was all that bad?

Oh by the way that Patriot Act thing .. who is in power now? Legislative and Executive branches. That GITMO thing .. is that closed yet ???? Oh Bush was so bad about keeping that open (maybe there was a good reason?) .. how about that patriot act is it still in force? Why? The Democrats are in total control, whose to blame now????

What about Iraq? We are still there, have troops there and even more in Afghanistan and now we are talking about taking shots in Pakistan, a friendly nation under Bush, and yet we are taking shots into their country all the time now with the possibility, heard a news story about this, that we might have to send in troops in parts of that country.