July 27

1953 - After two years and 17-days of truce negotiations, an end was declared to the war in Korea.

60-years later and we still face off across the DMZ with the North Koreans...An armistice may have been proclaimed but peace has never been established.

It is an absolute disgrace this war continues to live up to it’s infamous nickname: The Forgotten War...It was the first battle of the Cold War, and should be remembered and memorialized as such.

Many don’t understand the Korean War, but the three most important facts of the war are:

1. Japan was never infiltrated or invaded by the Communists, because the American presence was maintained on the Asian Mainland - at South Korea.

2. Almost 50,000,000 South Koreans currently live in peace instead of under the domination of the North Korean Hell State, due to the efforts of our brave soldiers...South Korea is also a fully functional member of the free nations of the world, and a fantastic trading partner.

3.  North Korea is one of the world's most awful places, because it is not only a communist nation, but a communist nation in the Stalinist-mold.

Unfortunately, many Americans have allowed the memory of the Korean War to fade away...This must never happen - which is why its memorial is so important.
 
1995 - The Korean War Veterans' Memorial was dedicated in Washington D.C. by President Bill Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam.

This is by far the most outstanding and powerful war memorial in D.C...Yes, even more than the WWII or Vietnam memorials - and this is meant with no disrespect.

The 19 Soldiers, the Pool of Remembrance, and the 'ghost wall' (with over 2,000 sandblasted photographs) are awesome, but it is the inscriptions on the floor which caught my attention...The ground-level inscriptions were overwhelming, and I stood there with tears in my eyes thinking of the fight we fought for. One in particular caught my attention; because as Americans it stated what we are:

"OUR NATION HONORS HER SONS AND DAUGHTERS WHO ANSWERED THE CALL TO DEFEND A COUNTRY THEY NEVER KNEW AND A PEOPLE THEY NEVER MET."

If that isn't America, I don't know what is.


1861 - Union General George B. McClellan was put in command of the Army of the Potomac:  U.S. Civil War.

McClellan was the golden-boy of the U.S. Army, but proved to be a disaster as Commander of the Army of the Potomac.

He took the field with the largest and most modern army in the world, but didn’t have the testicular fortitude to take the battle to the Confederates...McClellan's failure in 1861 was ridiculous, and the war should have ended in this first year. But it wasn't to be.

As a result, the war lasted four years, cost the nation over 500,000 deaths, destroyed the infrastructure of the South, and tore at the delicate emotional fabric of our young nation...Such is the importance of having the right man in the right place at the right time - IE:  Washington, Greene, Grant, Marshall, Ike, MacArthur, etc.