A mean little fighter

On display at the War Memorial Museum in Seoul is this simple, yet nasty-looking jet plane, which terrorized the skies over the Korean peninsula during the Korean War.

Yeah, it's a MiG by golly.

Looks just as menacing here.

For the story about the air battles over the peninsula, I recommend Crimson Sky: The Air Battle for Korea by John R. Bruning.

For the story about one man from the US Second Infantry Division who battles his way through the bitter first winter of the Korean War, longing for home, his wife, and newborn son, there is of course War Remains.

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UN Monuments in Daejeon

Located on Mt. Bomun in Daejeon are two Korean War monuments. One of them is a UN monument for the 24th Infantry Division and the other is a battle monument for the Battle of Daejeon.

I first visited Mt. Bomun (or Bomunsan as it is referred to in Korean) last summer a few days before the 60th anniversary of the fall of Daejeon as the North Korean juggernaut continued to push US and ROK forces further south.

I mention this battle in War Remains.

Looking closely at the monument and the soldiers, the soldier in the middle is Gen. William Dean who was captured at Daejeon and spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp.



How did he end up a POW?

His driver took a wrong turn.

Welcome Home Soldier

News like this always gets to me; when a service member is finally coming home.

And, it is what my novel War Remains is all about.

Remains of US Soldier from Korean War Identified

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The remains of another American soldier killed in the Korean War have been identified, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

"The remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors," the Pentagon said in a statement. "Army Cpl. Primo C. Carnabuci of Old Saybrook, Conn., will be buried May 12 in his hometown."

The identification came after U.S. President Barack Obama last week awarded the nation's highest medal posthumously to two American soldiers who fought in the Korean War.

The awardees of the Medal of Honor are Pfc. Anthony T. Kaho'ohanohano and Pfc. Henry Svehla.

More than 36,000 American soldiers were killed and over 8,000 were captured or went missing in the 1950-53 war, in which the U.S. fought alongside South Korea against invading communist North Korean soldiers backed by Chinese.

About 28,000 American soldiers are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the war, which ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, which leaves the two Koreas technically at war.

"On Nov. 1, 1950, Carnabuci's unit, the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, occupied a defensive position along the Kuryong River, near Unsan, North Korea," the Pentagon said. "Chinese units attacked the area and forced a withdrawal. Almost 600 men, including Carnabuci, were reported missing or killed in action following the battle."

His remains were among those recovered in Unsan County, south of the area known as Camel's Head, in North Korea in 2000 by a joint U.S.-North Korean team.

Forensic doctors have found his DNA matched that of his brother, the Pentagon said. "With this identification, 7,997 service members still remain missing from the conflict."

U.S. excavation operations in the communist North have been suspended since 2005 because of escalating tension over the North's nuclear ambitions. At the end of the Korean War, North Korea returned the remains of about 3,000 Americans.

North Korea has threatened to stop returning the remains of American soldiers unless Washington agrees to an early resumption of excavation operations.

Welcome Home, Primo.

155mm Howitzer -- War Memorial Museum; Seoul, South Korea

In War Remains, I describe a few scenes of artillery being used, including 105mm and 155mm howitzers.

The War Memorial Museum in Seoul has a few Korean War-era artillery pieces on display.

There is a new, updated version of War Remains available at Smashwords and a new Kindle version coming shortly.