The No Gun Ri Massacre: When American Soldiers Killed Hundreds of South Korean Refugees
Around noon on July 26, 1950, several hundred South Korean villagers sat on a railroad embankment near the hamlet of No Gun Ri. American soldiers had ordered them there, searched their belongings, and promised safe passage south. Then the soldiers left. Planes suddenly strafed the crowd of men, women, and children. The survivors scrambled for […]
Korean War Veteran Reunited with Lost Letters from 1952
Ben Gross received quite the surprise recently when letters started arriving at his home that he penned way back in 1952. Gross, 95, is a Korean War veteran. He was shocked and amused recently to be reunited with letters he sent home while in Korea that had been separated and mistakenly sent to addresses that […]
How a North Korean Assassination Attempt on South Korea's President in 1968 Led to the Deaths of Four American Soldiers
Thirty-one North Korean commandos slipped past American and South Korean sentries on Jan. 17, 1968, cutting through the DMZ fence on a mission to assassinate South Korean President Park Chung-hee. Four days later, disguised as South Korean soldiers and wearing civilian trench coats over their weapons, they reached a police checkpoint 100 meters from the […]
Task Force Smith: How the 24th Infantry Division Saved South Korea at the Start of the Korean War
In July of 1950, the Korean War looked as if it was about to come to an unexpectedly quick conclusion. South Korean troops had been pushed far south before gradually falling into a defensive line around the port of Pusan. Across the Sea of Japan, American soldiers boarded transport planes at Itazuke Air Base, Japan, […]
Medals of Honor Awarded to 5 Soldiers from Korean War and 2 from Vietnam
President Joe Biden on Friday posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to five minority soldiers from the Korean War who may have been denied the nation’s highest decoration for valor by a 1950s Army that was still resisting orders to desegregate. Biden also upgraded the awards of the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest award for […]
Army Will Present Purple Heart to Minnesota Veteran 73 Years After He Was Wounded in Korean War
ST. PAUL, Minn. — After 73 years and a long fight with the U.S. Army, a Korean War veteran from Minnesota who was wounded in combat was set to finally get his Purple Heart medal on Friday. The Army notified Earl Meyer, 96, of St. Peter, last month that it had granted him a Purple […]
Congress Honors Deceased Korean War Hero With Lying in Honor Ceremony
WASHINGTON — Congress gave one of its highest final tributes on Monday — a lying in honor ceremony at the Capitol — to Ralph Puckett Jr., who led an outnumbered company in battle during the Korean War and was the last surviving veteran of that war to receive the Medal of Honor. Puckett, who retired […]
Rare Tribute of Lying in Honor at Capitol Bestowed to Korean War Hero Col. Ralph Puckett
Retired Army Col. Ralph Puckett, who was the last living Medal of Honor recipient from the Korean War before his death earlier this month, will lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol, congressional leaders announced this week. Puckett, who was an Army Ranger, will receive the rare tribute of lying under the Capitol rotunda on […]
Army Ranger Legend and Last Living Korean War Medal of Honor Recipient Ralph Puckett Dies at 97
When Ralph Puckett was chosen to lead a new Ranger company in 1950, he said a prayer: “Dear God, don’t let me get a bunch of guys — good guys — killed.” In late November 1950, the then-Army lieutenant was leading the 8th Ranger Company in a daring assault against entrenched North Korean machine guns […]
Korean War Veteran, 96, Still Attempting to Get Purple Heart Medal After 7 Decades
ST. PETER, Minn. — Earl Meyer remembers in vivid detail when his platoon came under heavy fire during the Korean War — he still has shrapnel embedded in his thigh. But over 70 years later, the 96-year-old is still waiting for the U.S. Army to recognize his injury and to award him a Purple Heart […]