![]() | This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 10 | ← | Archive 12 | Archive 13 | Archive 14 | Archive 15 | Archive 16 |
GeneralizationsAreBad, Wikimedes, Iryna Harpy, Irondome, Binksternet, Timothyjosephwood, a proposed revision of the "Events" section is below, preceded by a dissection of the existing section, in the style suggested by TJWood, with explanatory notes appended. I hope this helps speed things along. First, the current section:
As North Korean forces seized the central South Korean town of Yongdong on July 25, 1950, 1st Cavalry Division troops began evacuating villages in front of the enemy advance, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. As they headed south down the main road, they were joined by other refugees.
That first night, the refugees were ordered to camp on a riverbank near the town of Ha Ga Ri. Several refugees were killed that first evening,[1]: 143and accounts differ as to why there were casualties among the refugees that first night. According to some Korean survivors, American soldiers shot several refugees as they strayed from a roadside assembly area or ignored instructions to remain in place.[2]: 110–114Other survivors recall refugees being injured in the crossfire between the advancing KPA and defending U.S. forces.[1]: 144 NOTE 1
The next day, July 26, the refugees awoke to find most of the U.S. soldiers had left the positions they held the night before. The refugee column then proceeded towards the No Gun Ri area, 5 miles (8.0 km) from their homes. When they arrived at a U.S. roadblock, they were searched for weapons and contraband and made to move to the parallel railroad tracks to clear the road for vehicle traffic. Survivors said the U.S. troops who searched them radioed to overhead warplanes to attack the refugee group. [3]NOTE 2 In a 2007 German television documentary, Yang Hae-chan described the air attack: "Suddenly bombers flew over and opened fire without warning. They came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed." [4]Due to the lack of a tactical air control party (TACP) assigned to the regiment, it was deemed highly improbable by both investigation teams that the soldiers who searched the civilians called in this airstrike, as they lacked the technical capability to do so. [1]: 204
An explanation for the strafing of refugees was never confirmed by investigators. While several of the U.S. veterans stated that airstrikes were occurring in the valley out of their line of sight and many Korean refugees recalled an attack from the air that day, no flight logs or action summaries from any air assets operating in or around the No Gun Ri area reported an attack of this type in that area. [1]: 181 With aircraft flying too fast to positively identify a target and with a shortage of TACPs, friendly fire was always a concern; earlier on the 26th, the 1st Battalion of the 7th Cavalry’s regimental command post was attacked by an F-80 [1]: 97 [5]: 244 and the strafing of the refugees was dangerously close to U.S. forces. [5]: 126NOTE 3
Early on the 25th, the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment broke ranks, abandoned its equipment and began a disorganized easterly retreat away from Yongdong, believing they were being enveloped by the KPA. [5]: 99 Beginning that evening and continuing through the early hours of the 27th, the 2/7 was reorganized by Major William Witherspoon, the regimental operations officer, and ordered to dig in on a ridgeline adjacent to the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, just east of and overlooking No Gun Ri. [1]: 87NOTE 4
According to the South Korean government’s investigation, over the course of the next three days, dug-in troops of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, opened fire on the refugees, some of whom took shelter in a low, narrow culvert beneath the railroad embankment. The small arms and mortar fire forced them into a larger double tunnel beneath a railroad bridge. [3]NOTE 5 Survivor Park Sun-yong said corpses were piled up as shields against the gunfire: "Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting." [6] Chung Koo-ho said in a 2009 South Korean documentary, "Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name." [7]
Interviews by news organizations and the inspector general of the army discovered a wide variety of recollections from the 7th Cavalry veterans.NOTE 6 Joseph Jackman, a G Company rifleman, told the BBC that he had deliberately shot people who were congregating around the tunnels: “I don't know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there, it didn't matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot 'em all," [8] Norman L. Tinkler, an H Company machine gunner, remembered firing on white-clad people coming down the railroad tracks toward the bridge, including "a lot of women and children." He stated that he had fired roughly 1,000 rounds and assumed "there weren't no survivors". [9] [10]Other veterans, such as Buddy Wenzel, recalled that they fired warning shots over the refugees to keep them contained when the group panicked and the refugees “started to run towards us. We were firing over them all this time. Then somebody yelled, 'We’re being fired at,' then there was a bunch that started shooting into the refugees." [5] Wenzel and several other veterans stated that weapons, including a PPSh-41 and several grenades, were recovered after the shooting stopped. [5]: 120 Retired colonel Robert Carroll, then a 25-year-old first lieutenant reconnaissance officer assigned to 2nd Battalion’s H Company, stated there was no order given to any machine gunner under his command to open fire and that none did. Carroll said that he did stop some sporadic shooting at refugees, but that they were over 300 yards away and were not being hit. After a young child running down the track was hit, Carroll carried the child back to the tunnel where the battalion surgeon was treating half a dozen individuals injured by shrapnel. [11]NOTE 7Veterans from the nearby 1st Battalion also witnessed the unfolding events. Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the 1/7, said that he “could see the tracers (bullets) spinning around inside the tunnel ... and they were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [12]
The 7th Cavalry treated and evacuated a number of the wounded, but they did not allow the rest of the surviving refugees passage behind their lines, and kept them under the rail bridge. Over next two days, the refugees were kept in the tunnel by the 2/7 on one side and by the 1/7, who were defending against repeated infantry and armor incursions, probing attacks, and artillery barrages by the KPA’s 3rd Division.[13]
On July 29, 1950, three days after the killings began, the 7th Cavalry Regiment was withdrawn from its positions to Hwanggan as the U.S. retreat continued.[14]References
- ^ a b c d e f Office of the Inspector General, Department of the Army. No Gun Ri Review. Washington, D.C. January 2001
- ^ Hanley, Charles J.; Choe, Sang-Hun; Mendoza, Martha (2001). The Bridge at No Gun Ri. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-6658-6.
- ^ a b Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. 2007. December Newsletter. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ^ ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Robert Bateman (2002). No Gun Ri: A Military History of the Korean War Incident. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0811717632.. pg 118
- ^ ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002, 20:53 mins (Jackman), 30:50 mins (McCloskey).
- ^ "Memories of a Massacre". Wichita (Kansas) Eagle. July 23, 2000. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
- ^ "Kansas veteran's memories vivid of civilian deaths". The Kansas City Star. September 30, 1999.
- ^ Reliable Sources? Examining the Discrepancies in Eyewitness Accounts," U.S. News and World Report, 12 May 2000
- ^ ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 21:10–22:00 mins, retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ^ Kuehl, Dale C. "What happened at No Gun Ri? The challenge of civilians on the battlefield". U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. June 6, 2003. Retrieved February 10, 2012. Biblioscholar (2012). Pages 70, 91. ISBN 1249440270
- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
{{ cite book}}
: Text "Page 203" ignored ( help)
Here's the proposed revision, with a superfluity of quotes:
As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as they headed down the main road, and all were ordered to spend the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri. When some evacuees ventured away in the night, possibly to relieve themselves or for other reasons, the Americans opened fire, witnesses said. Seven were killed, including five from one family, Korean investigators would later determine. In the morning the evacuees found the soldiers had left. [1]: 70, 92
A brief summary of subsequent events, based on South Korean government reports:
On the morning of July 26, the villagers continued on the road south, which runs eastward in this area. When they approached the vicinity of No Gun Ri, soldiers stopped them at a roadblock and ordered the group onto the parallel railroad tracks, where the soldiers searched them and their belongings. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when suddenly warplanes appeared and attacked, strafing the group, possibly dropping bombs. Witnesses later estimated 100 were killed then. Villagers who survived initially sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks. Gunfire and soldiers drove them from there and into the double tunnels beneath a concrete railroad bridge nearby, just outside No Gun Ri. The U.S. soldiers then fired into both ends of the tunnels over four days (July 26-29, 1950), resulting in what survivors estimated were an additional 300 deaths. [2] [1]: 70–71
Survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950, recalled the air attack in a 2007 German television documentary: "Suddenly bombers flew over and opened fire without warning. They came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed." [3] Chun Choon-ja, an 11-year-old girl at the time, said her mother was breast-feeding when the planes struck. “It was strangely dark. … I couldn’t see my family. Soon after, I found my mom dead … My baby brother was still alive suckling my mom’s dead breast.” [4]
The dug-in troops of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, then opened fire on the refugees, some of whom fled to the low, narrow culvert beneath the embankment. [1]: 70 Gunfire followed them. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl at the time. "I told my mother, 'I've been shot,' but she had my brother and sister, and she had to save them. She said, 'Follow me if you can' and went on." [5]
On the tracks above, Yang Hae-chan and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw soldiers walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them if they moved. [5] [6] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [7]
Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops soon opened fire with machine guns. [1]: 71 [8]
"Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3]
Yang led his older sister into a tunnel where the 13-year-old Yang Hae-sook, blinded in the bombing, “thought I could save my life if I squeezed in between the dead bodies.” [9] Chung Koo-ho, whose mother and sister were killed, said in a 2009 South Korean documentary, "Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name." [6] The soldiers turned searchlights on the tunnels at night, and continued shooting, he said. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” As trapped survivors cried out for water, he said, he drank bloody water from a stream running through one tunnel. [10]
Seventh Cavalry veterans recalled similar scenes of the air attack, of bodies strewn on the railroad tracks, bodies piling up in the tunnel entrances, and continuous small arms fire. [11]: 124–146
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. "I'm secure in my own mind, that the order came from division or higher,” Lawrence Levine said. Said James Crume, "All I know is the order was given _ `You're not going through,' and the order was given to the heavy weapons company, and that was it." Levine and Crume agreed with battalion veteran George Early that the ground fire opened with a mortar barrage. “When it hit and exploded, of all things, it landed directly dead center of all these people,” Early said. Levine recalled the small-arms fire that followed: "It was probably the first time a lot of, if not all of them had been okayed to fire on people, and so the firing turned into a frenzy." [12] [13]
"All of a sudden, machine guns started firing into the crowd of people under the bridge," recalled George Preece, a 2nd Battalion sergeant. [14] "It was assumed there were enemy in these people," said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson. [15] "The old man (company commander), yes, right down the line he’s running down the line, ‘Kill ‘em all,’ so what do you do?” Joseph Jackman, a G Company rifleman, told the BBC. “I shot, too. Shot at people. I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot em." [13] Norman L. Tinkler, an H Company machine gunner, remembered white-clad people moving toward the bridge, including "a lot of women and children. ... I was the one who pulled the trigger." He fired about 1,000 rounds and assumed "there weren't no survivors." [16] [17] Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, witnessed the slaughter: "I could see the tracers (bullets) spinning around inside the tunnel ... and they were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3] Others said some soldiers held their fire. Delos Flint, an F Company rifleman who was caught forward with the refugees and was injured in an initial blast, estimated half the soldiers near him – including himself – refused to fire: "I couldn't see killing kids, even if they were infiltrators." [14]
Three men from among 52 battalion veterans interviewed in the 1999-2001 U.S. investigation said there had been gunfire from among the refugees. [18]: 120, 157, 161fn27 Their statements were inconsistent, saying the gunfire came from the underpasses or from the railroad tracks, that a “burp gun” was found on the tracks or was seen in an underpass. In addition, no unit documents reported an encounter with infiltrators, even though it would have been the 7th Cavalry's first direct clash with the enemy, and any slain infiltrators its first enemy killed in action. [19]: 74 The surviving villagers denied strenuously any infiltrators were among their group, which had been forced from villages miles from the enemy and been searched. "This sort of thing is inconceivable. They checked our luggage,” said Chung Koo-ho. [4]: 21 [20]
During the refugee killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced only cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was still 2 miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. When the Americans withdrew from No Gun Ri early on July 29, leaving behind the dead refugees, they were "under no immediate enemy pressure," the official Army history noted. [19]: 82–83 [21]: 203 As troops pulled back, some finally saw the scene. "There were quite a few slaughtered there. … But you didn't know until you get down there and seen all the bodies at the mouth of the tunnel," said G Company’s Lyle Jacobson. [11]: 145
In the afternoon of July 29, North Korean soldiers appeared outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, perhaps two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [4]: 24 [10]
References
- ^ a b c d Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). ‘’No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report.’’ Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3. This committee's report cites the joint U.S.-South Korean Statement of Mutual Understandings of 2001 (one to four dead), and the 2001 South Korean investigative report (seven dead); its own inquest identified seven dead by name, including children.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ a b Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ Dobbs, Michael (2000-02-06). "Shoot Them All". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ a b Hanley, Charles J.; Choe, Sang-Hun; Mendoza, Martha (2001). The Bridge at No Gun Ri. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-6658-6.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ a b Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ "Memories of a Massacre". Wichita (Kansas) Eagle. July 23, 2000. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
- ^ "Kansas veteran's memories vivid of civilian deaths". The Kansas City Star. September 30, 1999.
- ^ Office of the Inspector General, Department of the Army. No Gun Ri Review. Washington, D.C. January 2001
- ^ a b Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". NBC News "Dateline". 1999-12-28.
- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
-- Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 15:30, 9 September 2015 (UTC)
Everyone should know by now that I am merciless when it come to trimming fat. If it feels adversarial then that means I'm doing things right. Most of the edits can be summarized thusly: There continues to be a significant problem with editorializing, sensationalizing, and otherwise not using a neutral encyclopedic tone. I only post here the strike-through version because what's stricken is so extensive that it plainly just needs a significant rewrite.
I know this is tedious, but we have to remember, the point here is not just to fix the article, but to fix it with a strong consensus. That way, if someone else comes along and tries to mess things up, we can say "big fat nope, see the consensus on the talk page here".
As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as they headed down the main road, and all were ordered to spend the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri.
When some evacuees ventured away in the night, possibly to relieve themselves or for other reasons, the Americans opened fire, witnesses said. Seven were killed, including five from one family, Korean investigators would later determine. In the morning the evacuees found the soldiers had left.NOTE 1 [1]: 70, 92
A brief summary of subsequent events, based on South Korean government reports:NOTE 2On the morning of July 26, the villagers continued on the road south, which runs eastward in this area. When they approached the vicinity of No Gun Ri, soldiers who? stopped them at a roadblock and ordered the group onto the parallel railroad tracks, where the soldiers searched them and their belongings. The refugees were resting
, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday,whensuddenly warplanes appeared and attacked, strafing the group, possibly dropping bombs.when they were attacked by aircraft who? Witnesses later estimated 100 were killedthen. Villagers who survived initially sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks. Gunfireand soldiersdrove them from there and into the double tunnels beneath a concrete railroad bridge nearby, just outside No Gun Ri. The U.S. soldiers then fired into both ends of the tunnels over four days (July 26-29, 1950), resulting in what survivors estimated were an additional 300 deaths. [2] [1]: 70–71 NOTE 3
Survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950, recalled the air attack in a 2007 German television documentary: "Suddenly bombers flew over and opened fire without warning. They came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed." [3] Chun Choon-ja, an 11-year-old girl at the time, said her mother was breast-feeding when the planes struck. “It was strangely dark. … I couldn’t see my family. Soon after, I found my mom dead … My baby brother was still alive suckling my mom’s dead breast.” [4]
The dug-in troops of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, then opened fire on the refugees, some of whom fled to the low, narrow culvert beneath the embankment. [1]: 70 Gunfire followed them. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl at the time. "I told my mother, 'I've been shot,' but she had my brother and sister, and she had to save them. She said, 'Follow me if you can' and went on." [5]
On the tracks above, Yang Hae-chan and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw soldiers walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them if they moved. [5] [6] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [7]
Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops soon opened fire with machine guns. [1]: 71 [8]
"Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3]
Yang led his older sister into a tunnel where the 13-year-old Yang Hae-sook, blinded in the bombing, “thought I could save my life if I squeezed in between the dead bodies.” [9] Chung Koo-ho, whose mother and sister were killed, said in a 2009 South Korean documentary, "Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name." [6] The soldiers turned searchlights on the tunnels at night, and continued shooting, he said. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” As trapped survivors cried out for water, he said, he drank bloody water from a stream running through one tunnel. [10]
Seventh Cavalry veterans recalled similar scenes of the air attack, of bodies strewn on the railroad tracks, bodies piling up in the tunnel entrances, and continuous small arms fire. [11]: 124–146
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. "I'm secure in my own mind, that the order came from division or higher,” Lawrence Levine said. Said James Crume, "All I know is the order was given _ `You're not going through,' and the order was given to the heavy weapons company, and that was it." Levine and Crume agreed with battalion veteran George Early that the ground fire opened with a mortar barrage. “When it hit and exploded, of all things, it landed directly dead center of all these people,” Early said. Levine recalled the small-arms fire that followed: "It was probably the first time a lot of, if not all of them had been okayed to fire on people, and so the firing turned into a frenzy." [12] [13]
"All of a sudden, machine guns started firing into the crowd of people under the bridge," recalled George Preece, a 2nd Battalion sergeant. [14] "It was assumed there were enemy in these people," said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson. [15] "The old man (company commander), yes, right down the line he’s running down the line, ‘Kill ‘em all,’ so what do you do?” Joseph Jackman, a G Company rifleman, told the BBC. “I shot, too. Shot at people. I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot em." [13] Norman L. Tinkler, an H Company machine gunner, remembered white-clad people moving toward the bridge, including "a lot of women and children. ... I was the one who pulled the trigger." He fired about 1,000 rounds and assumed "there weren't no survivors." [16] [17] Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, witnessed the slaughter: "I could see the tracers (bullets) spinning around inside the tunnel ... and they were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3] Others said some soldiers held their fire. Delos Flint, an F Company rifleman who was caught forward with the refugees and was injured in an initial blast, estimated half the soldiers near him – including himself – refused to fire: "I couldn't see killing kids, even if they were infiltrators." [14]
Three men from among 52 battalion veterans interviewed in the 1999-2001 U.S. investigation said there had been gunfire from among the refugees. [18]: 120, 157, 161fn27 Their statements were inconsistent, saying the gunfire came from the underpasses or from the railroad tracks, that a “burp gun” was found on the tracks or was seen in an underpass. In addition, no unit documents reported an encounter with infiltrators, even though it would have been the 7th Cavalry's first direct clash with the enemy, and any slain infiltrators its first enemy killed in action. [19]: 74 The surviving villagers denied strenuously any infiltrators were among their group, which had been forced from villages miles from the enemy and been searched. "This sort of thing is inconceivable. They checked our luggage,” said Chung Koo-ho. [4]: 21 [20]HOLY CRAP, NOTE 4During the refugee killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who
advanced only cautiouslyadvancing from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was still 2 miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. When the Americans withdrew from No Gun Ri early on July 29, leaving behind the dead refugees,they were "under no immediate enemy pressure," the official Army history noted. NOTE 5 [19]: 82–83 [21]: 203As troops pulled back, some finally saw the scene. "There were quite a few slaughtered there. … But you didn't know until you get down there and seen all the bodies at the mouth of the tunnel," said G Company’s Lyle Jacobson. [11]: 145Note 6In the afternoon of July 29, North Korean soldiers appeared outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, perhaps two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [4]: 24 [10]
References
- ^ a b c d Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). ‘’No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report.’’ Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3. This committee's report cites the joint U.S.-South Korean Statement of Mutual Understandings of 2001 (one to four dead), and the 2001 South Korean investigative report (seven dead); its own inquest identified seven dead by name, including children.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ a b Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ Dobbs, Michael (2000-02-06). "Shoot Them All". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ a b Hanley, Charles J.; Choe, Sang-Hun; Mendoza, Martha (2001). The Bridge at No Gun Ri. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-6658-6.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ a b Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ "Memories of a Massacre". Wichita (Kansas) Eagle. July 23, 2000. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
- ^ "Kansas veteran's memories vivid of civilian deaths". The Kansas City Star. September 30, 1999.
- ^ Office of the Inspector General, Department of the Army. No Gun Ri Review. Washington, D.C. January 2001
- ^ a b Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". NBC News "Dateline". 1999-12-28.
- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
Timothyjosephwood ( talk) 13:17, 11 September 2015 (UTC)
Here's a revised, heavily trimmed proposed edit for the "Events" section, following some of TJWood's suggestions, including eliminating the discussion of the preliminary deaths at Ha Ga Ri, and eliminating the discussion about "hostile fire," which is already dealt with in the "Investigations" section. This also reduces the survivors' quotes from 404 words to 235 words and the ex-soldiers' quotes from 410 words to 167 words. This horrific event plainly deserves more than that; My Lai Massacre has 1,800 words of description (without, disgracefully, having anything from Vietnamese, just GI quotes), while this totals just 700 words. But 1) TJW seems to fear arousing sympathy in the reader, and 2) I just want to get on with this and get it done. Therefore, please, let's do so. Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 19:35, 12 September 2015 (UTC)
As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as they headed down the main road. They spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri, and in the morning of July 26 found the soldiers had left. Continuing on the road south, the villagers were stopped by U.S. soldiers at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and ordered onto the parallel railroad track, where soldiers searched them and their belongings. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when warplanes attacked them, strafing the group, possibly dropping bombs. [1]: 67–70 [2] The planes "came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed," recalled survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950. [3] Survivors initially sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but gunfire followed. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl who was wounded. [4] On the tracks above, Yang and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw soldiers walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them. [4] [5] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [6] Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops soon opened fire with machine guns, and it continued for the next three days. [1]: 71 [7] "Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3] At night, the Americans turned searchlights on the tunnels and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” [8]
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They and others recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [9] [10] Ex-rifleman Joseph Jackman said his G Company commander ran down the line shouting, “Kill ‘em all!” He said he opened fire, and “I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot ‘em." [10] Said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson, "It was assumed there were enemy in these people." [11] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [12] One observing from a distance, Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, said he saw tracer bullets spinning around in the tunnel. “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3]
During the refugee killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced only cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was still 2 miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. [13]: 82–83 The 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri in the predawn hours of July 29. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers appeared outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, perhaps two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [8] [15]
References
- ^ a b Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). ‘’No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report.’’ Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
-- Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 19:35, 12 September 2015 (UTC)
Alright. This is mostly minor copy editing, which is a good sign if that's all I can find to bitch about. The only additional things that I would like to address are the two anonymous references to soldiers and the reference to the air attack. Do we know who these people were? I'm assuming they're all references to US or UN forces. But I think it would be clarifying if we could add that.
I know that this horse has been dead for a while, and I don't know if anyone else here has served, but as someone who's done a few too many pushups because I called my weapon a "gun" or my patrol cap a "hat", we really should be using correct terminology. "Military aircraft" can easily replace "aircraft" if you think the latter is ambiguous. I would like to go further and specify what types of aircraft if we have that information. I'm not sure were do. Strafing is a close-ish operation, but I don't think many civilians, and probably military personnel, could look up and say "gee, that's a C-10". Also "machine gun" is not a thing. It should be small arms or small arms and light weapons if it includes things like mortars, which it seems to. Alternatively we could say "automatic weapons fire" if you think "small arms" makes the average person think of a pistol rather than nearly anything that isn't vehicle mounted.
Change these edits:
As North Korean forces, on July 25, seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as traveling down the main road. They spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri, and in the morning of July 26 found the soldiers had left. Continuing on the road south, the villagers were stopped by U.S. soldiers at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and ordered onto the parallel railroad track, where (US Soldiers?) soldiers searched them and their belongings. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when
warplanes attacked themthey were attacked by military aircraft (do we know who?), strafing the group,possiblyand by some accounts dropping bombs. [1]: 67–70 [2] Theplanesaircraft "came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed," recalled survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950. [3]Survivors initially sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but gunfire followed. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl who was wounded. [4] On the tracks above, Yang and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw soldiers (UN soldiers? Korean?) walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them. [4] [5] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [6] Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops
soonopened fire withmachine gunssmall arms and light weapons, and this continued for the next three days. [1]: 71 [7] "Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3] At night, the Americans turned searchlights on the tunnels and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” [8]Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They and others recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [9] [10] Ex-rifleman Joseph Jackman said his G Company commander ran down the line shouting, “Kill ‘em all!” He said he opened fire, and “I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot ‘em." [10] Said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson, "It was assumed there were enemy in these people." [11] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [12] One observing from a distance, Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, said he saw tracer bullets spinning around in the tunnel. “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3]
During the
refugeekillings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advancedonlycautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line wasstill 2two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre, when US forces began a strategic withdrawal. [13]: 82–83 The 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri in the predawn hours of July 29. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiersappearedarrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive,perhapsabout two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [8] [15]References
- ^ a b Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). ‘’No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report.’’ Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
To get this:
As North Korean forces, on July 25, seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as traveling down the main road. They spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri, and in the morning of July 26 found the soldiers had left. Continuing on the road south, the villagers were stopped by U.S. soldiers at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and ordered onto the parallel railroad track, where (US Soldiers?) soldiers searched them and their belongings. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when they were attacked by military aircraft (do we know who?), strafing the group, and by some accounts dropping bombs. [1]: 67–70 [2] The aircraft "came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed," recalled survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950. [3]
Survivors initially sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but gunfire followed. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl who was wounded. [4] On the tracks above, Yang and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw soldiers (UN soldiers? Korean?) walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them. [4] [5] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [6] Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops opened fire with small arms and light weapons, and this continued for the next three days. [1]: 71 [7] "Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3] At night, the Americans turned searchlights on the tunnels and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” [8]
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They and others recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [9] [10] Ex-rifleman Joseph Jackman said his G Company commander ran down the line shouting, “Kill ‘em all!” He said he opened fire, and “I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot ‘em." [10] Said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson, "It was assumed there were enemy in these people." [11] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [12] One observing from a distance, Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, said he saw tracer bullets spinning around in the tunnel. “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3]
During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre, when US forces began a strategic withdrawal. [13]: 82–83 The 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri in the predawn hours of July 29. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [8] [15]
References
- ^ a b Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). ‘’No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report.’’ Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
Timothyjosephwood (
talk)
13:32, 13 September 2015 (UTC)
- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
ELABORATING ON AIR OPERATIONS (to aid your understanding;might be important for later discussions): In late July 1950, only U.S. planes were operating in the 1st Cavalry Division area; a few Australians had arrived but were flying elsewhere; the SKs had no air force, and the tiny NK air force had been eliminated two weeks earlier. Each U.S. Air Force mission (four planes jointly flying one operation) produced a mission report, written by a unit intelligence officer who debriefed the pilots upon return to base. Roughly half the mission reports from this period, as of the early 2000s, were either missing from the archives or inaccessible because they had not been processed. But those that were available showed extensive attack operations in the 1st Cav area, including the No Gun Ri area, particularly by two Air Force fighter-bomber squadrons, the 8th and the 35th. The U.S. Army investigators of 1999-2001 suppressed the 35th FBS mission reports, claiming to the SKs they couldn't be found. But they were found by journalists and were particularly incriminating, showing strafing attacks on obvious civilians (not at NGR) in July, and attacks on "troops," an "unidentified object" and a "road" in the NGR vicinity on July 26-27. None of these could be precisely correlated, however, with a "midday" attack on July 26 on a "white-clad group" or a "group on railroad tracks" or such, and so the unit affiliation of the initial air attackers at NGR remains, essentially, a mystery. (Some Korean witnesses recall further air attacks when they were under the bridge; these 35th FBS reports might refer to those.)
--
Charles J. Hanley (
talk)
17:27, 13 September 2015 (UTC)
Wait, I thought we had reached agreement... Timothyjosephwood ( talk) 21:20, 13 September 2015 (UTC)
GeneralizationsAreBad,
Wikimedes,
Iryna Harpy,
Irondome,
Binksternet,
Timothyjosephwood, to help speed things along, below is a finished version of the proposed Events section as agreed to by TJWood, me and, I believe, GAB, with the latest changes in bold, including a couple of clarifying words just now added by me. Unless there's further comment, TJW has asked that another editor post the new text (remembering to un-bold the bold). I hope one of you will do so. Meanwhile, let’s move on to the “Casualties” section. Thanks.
Charles J. Hanley (
talk)
14:50, 14 September 2015 (UTC)
As North Korean forces, on July 25, seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as traveling down the main road. They spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri, and in the morning of July 26 found the escorting soldiers had left. Continuing on the road south, the villagers were stopped by American troops at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and ordered onto the parallel railroad track, where U.S. soldiers searched them and their belongings. The estimated 600 refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when they were attacked by military aircraft, which strafed them and by some accounts dropped bombs. [1]: 67–70 [2] The aircraft "came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed," recalled survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950. [3]
Survivors first sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but gunfire followed. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl who was wounded. [4] On the tracks above, Yang and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw U.S. soldiers walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them. [4] [5] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [6] Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops opened fire with machine guns and rifles, and this continued for the next three days. [1]: 71 [7] "Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3] At night, the Americans turned searchlights on the tunnels and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” [8]
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They and others recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [9] [10] Ex-rifleman Joseph Jackman said his G Company commander ran down the line shouting, “Kill ‘em all!” He said he opened fire, and “I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot ‘em." [10] Said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson, "It was assumed there were enemy in these people." [11] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [12] One observing from a distance, Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, said he saw tracer bullets spinning around in the tunnel. “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3]
During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. [13]: 82–83 In the predawn hours of July 29, the 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [8] [15]
References
- ^ a b Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report. Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
-- Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 14:50, 14 September 2015 (UTC)
Thanks for the comments. I think we've all bowed out of this discussion at times, and I think we all know this can be exhausting. I fear the over reliance on quotes was a bit lost on me because, in my mind, I was focused on how much less reliant on quotes it was than what we started with. So I've tried my hand at a pretty significant rewrite, to try to say what the sources say without the section being 70% in quotation marks.
I initially tried to do the strike through pre-edit thing, but I changed so much around that it just became a jumbled mess and I couldn't make heads or tails of where I was and what I was changing or not. So I abandoned that and just edited it. Timothyjosephwood ( talk) 12:28, 15 September 2015 (UTC)
As North Korean forces, on July 25, seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees traveling down the main road, and spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri. In the morning of July 26 they found the escorting soldiers had left. Continuing on the road south, the villagers were stopped by American troops at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and ordered onto the parallel railroad track, where they and their belongings were searched. The estimated 600 refugees spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when they were attacked by military aircraft, which strafed them and by some accounts dropped bombs. [1]: 67–70 [2] The aircraft "came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees." recalled Yang Hae-chan, who was 10 years old at the time. [3]
Survivors sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but were driven out of the position and eventually made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge. Each tunnel of the bridge measured 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high. [4] [5] There, the 7th Cavalry troops opened fire on the group, which included women and children, beginning with a mortar strike. [6] [7] This continued using machine guns and rifles, and went on through the next three days, including night firing with the use of search lights. [1]: 71 [8] [9] [3] Those in the tunnel were pinned in their position by fire from both sides, and eventually resorted to using bodies as barricades to provide cover. [3] [4]
Some disagreement exists as to the source of the orders to fire on the refugees, with some indicating that they originated at the divisional level, and others recalling orders issued on the line from their company commander. [10] [7] While it was assumed at the time that there were enemies among the group, as many as half of soldiers in places refused to fire. [11] [12]
During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, advancing cautiously from Yongdong. As of 28 July, the third day of the massacre, the enemy front line was at least two miles from No Gun Ri. [13]: 82–83 In the predawn hours of July 29, the 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from the area. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [9] [15]
References
- ^ a b Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report. Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
This may be overkill, as I've reduced the section to exactly one quote. Maybe it's easier to pick what we add rather than starting with tons of quotes and picking what we take away. I do agree that it seems like the quotes, while they may be accurate and correctly sourced, are a bit handed-picked to select for the ones that use the most sensationalist language. Timothyjosephwood ( talk) 12:41, 15 September 2015 (UTC)
-- Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 18:01, 15 September 2015 (UTC)
Here’s another revision, leading off with a simple synopsis clearly attributed to an official source, the inquest committee whose report was the most recent compilation of consensus knowledge. That's followed by material from individual witnesses advancing the narrative by elaborating on the spare statements in the synopsis. Some quotes are dropped, some are relegated to footnotes. Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 18:46, 16 September 2015 (UTC)
A synopsis of the July 25-29, 1950, events based on a South Korean government inquest committee’s report of 2005:
As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, U.S. troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. These villagers were joined by others as they walked down the main road south, and the estimated 600 refugees spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri. Seven refugees were shot dead by U.S. soldiers when they strayed from the group in the night. In the morning of July 26, the group found the escorting soldiers had left. They continued down the road, were stopped by American troops at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and were ordered onto the parallel railroad tracks, where U.S. soldiers searched them and their belongings, confiscating knives and other items. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when military aircraft appeared and strafed and bombed them. Panicked survivors first sought shelter in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but soldiers and U.S. ground fire drove them from there into a double tunnel beneath a concrete railroad bridge. The U.S. soldiers then fired into both ends of the tunnels over four days (July 26-29, 1950). [1]: 69–71
Recalling the air strike in a 2007 German television documentary, Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950, said the attacking planes returned repeatedly and “chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away.” [2] He and another survivor said soldiers reappeared and began shooting wounded people on the tracks. [3] Inside the bridge underpasses (each 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), under machine gun and rifle fire from 7th Cavalry troops, “children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed while she was badly wounded. [2] Trapped refugees began piling up bodies as shields. [4]
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [5] [4]Some battalion veterans recalled front-line company officers ordering them to open fire. [6] "It was assumed there were enemy in these people," said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson. [7] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [8] “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming," recalled Thomas H. Hacha of the sister 1st Battalion, observing from a nearby foxhole. [2] Although some refugees managed to escape that first night, the U.S. troops turned searchlights on the tunnels at nighttime and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho, whose mother died shielding him and his sister. [9] [10] [11]
During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. [12]: 82–83 In the predawn hours of July 29, the 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri. [13]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [10] [14]
References
- ^ Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report (English translation). Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post.
'They were checking every wounded person and shooting them if they moved,' said Chung (Koo-hun).- ^ a b October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Yang Hae-chan: 'The floor inside the tunnel was a mix of gravel and sand. People clawed with their bare hands to make holes to hide in. Other people piled up the dead, like a barricade.'- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Joseph Jackman: 'The old man (company commander), yes, right down the line he's running down the line, "Kill 'em all!" ... I don't know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there, it didn't matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot 'em.'- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Cite error: The named reference
”Committee”
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day". Munwha Broadcasting Corp. (in Korean). South Korea. September 2009.
Chung Koo-ho: 'Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
-- Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 18:46, 16 September 2015 (UTC)
Some copy editing. I shuffled the first two paragraphs together so that things flow more chronologically. (Looking back, I didn't include this in the strike through version. Apologies.)
I tried to move things around some in the third paragraph. I moved the Hacha quote and trimmed the Park quote (two quotes about screaming is redundant). I moved the night fire sentence because it actually advances the story so-to-speak. And...then...I don't know. The first two paragraphs gives a clearish chronology of "day prior, night prior, morning of, day of, night of..." and then the story goes away. We wake up two days later with the 2D BN in retreat. Granted, I've gutted the third para, but I think it lacked focus to begin with. It's still out of chronological order, returning briefly to how the attacks began, digressing to issues of where the orders came from, and making some statements that don't clearly fit in the time line.
I guess my question is what happens between the night fire and the few refugees escaping on the first night, and the morning of the 29th when the CAV was in retreat? It just seems a little bit like cheating to say "this continued for four days", and treat the whole period as an instantaneous event. Is this a story we can tell? Are things really so uncertain that the most we can say is "this continued for four days"?
I apologize again for being such a thorn. I'm still trying, as best I can, to approach this from a state of relative ignorance to try to evaluate how things look to a relatively ignorant reader. Timothyjosephwood ( talk) 14:03, 17 September 2015 (UTC)
A synopsis of the July 25-29, 1950, events based on a South Korean government inquest committee’s report of 2005:As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, U.S. troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. [1] These villagers were joined by others as they walked down the main road south, and the estimated 600 refugees spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri. Seven refugees were
shot deadkilled by U.S. soldiers when they strayed from the group in the night. In the morning of July 26, the group found the escorting soldiers had left. They continued down the road, were stopped by American troops at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and were ordered onto the parallel railroad tracks, where U.S. soldiers searched them and their belongings, confiscating knives and other items. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when military aircraftappeared andstrafed and bombed them. Recalling the air strikein a 2007 German television documentary,Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950, said the attacking planes returned repeatedly and “chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away.” [2] He and another survivor said soldiers reappeared and began shooting the woundedpeopleon the tracks. [3]
PanickedSurvivors first sought shelter in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but soldiers and U.S. ground fire drove them from there into a double tunnel beneath a concrete railroad bridge.The U.S. soldiers then fired into both ends of the tunnels over four days (July 26-29, 1950).Inside the bridge underpasses (each 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), they came under heavy machine gun and rifle fire from 7th Cavalry troops from either sides of the tunnel, “children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, andthe whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed while she was badly wounded. [2] “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming," recalled Thomas H. Hacha of the sister 1st Battalion, observingfrom anearbyfoxhole. [2] Trapped refugees began piling up bodies asshieldsbarracades and digging makeshift foxholes. [4] Although some refugees managed to escape that first night,theU.S. troops turned searchlights on the tunnelsat nighttimeand continued firing., said survivor Chung Koo-ho, whose mother died shielding him and his sister.[5] [6] [7]Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [8] [4]Some battalion veterans recalled front-line company officers ordering them to open fire. [9] "It was assumed there were enemy in these people," said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson. [10] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [11]
“They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming," recalled Thomas H. Hacha of the sister 1st Battalion, observing from a nearby foxhole. [2]Although some refugees managed to escape that first night, the U.S. troops turned searchlights on the tunnels at nighttime and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho, whose mother died shielding him and his sister. [5] [6] [12]During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. [13]: 82–83 In the predawn hours of July 29, the 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [6] [15]
References
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Committee
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).- ^ a b c d ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post.
'They were checking every wounded person and shooting them if they moved,' said Chung (Koo-hun).- ^ a b October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Yang Hae-chan: 'The floor inside the tunnel was a mix of gravel and sand. People clawed with their bare hands to make holes to hide in. Other people piled up the dead, like a barricade.'- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
”Committee”
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).- ^ a b c "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day". Munwha Broadcasting Corp. (in Korean). South Korea. September 2009.
Chung Koo-ho: 'Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name.'- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Joseph Jackman: 'The old man (company commander), yes, right down the line he's running down the line, "Kill 'em all!" ... I don't know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there, it didn't matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot 'em.'- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day". Munwha Broadcasting Corp. (in Korean). South Korea. September 2009.
Chung Koo-ho: 'Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
--
As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, U.S. troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. [1] These villagers were joined by others as they walked down the main road south, and the estimated 600 refugees spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri. Seven refugees were killed by U.S. soldiers when they strayed from the group in the night. In the morning of July 26, the group found the escorting soldiers had left. They continued down the road, were stopped by American troops at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and were ordered onto the parallel railroad tracks, where U.S. soldiers searched them and their belongings, confiscating knives and other items. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when military aircraft strafed and bombed them. Recalling the air strike Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950, said the attacking planes returned repeatedly and “chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away.” [2] He and another survivor said soldiers reappeared and began shooting the wounded on the tracks. [3]
Survivors first sought shelter in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but soldiers and U.S. ground fire drove them from there into a double tunnel beneath a concrete railroad bridge. Inside the bridge underpasses (each 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), they came under heavy machine gun and rifle fire from 7th Cavalry troops from either side of the tunnel, “the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed while she was badly wounded. [2] “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming," recalled Thomas H. Hacha of the sister 1st Battalion, observing nearby. [2] Trapped refugees began piling up bodies as barricades and digging makeshift foxholes. [4] Although some refugees managed to escape that first night, U.S. troops turned searchlights on the tunnels and continued firing. [5] [6] [7]
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [8] [4]Some battalion veterans recalled front-line company officers ordering them to open fire. [9] "It was assumed there were enemy in these people," said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson. [10] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [11]
During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. [12]: 82–83 In the predawn hours of July 29, the 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri. [13]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [6] [14]
References
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Committee
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post.
'They were checking every wounded person and shooting them if they moved,' said Chung (Koo-hun).- ^ a b October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Yang Hae-chan: 'The floor inside the tunnel was a mix of gravel and sand. People clawed with their bare hands to make holes to hide in. Other people piled up the dead, like a barricade.'- ^ Cite error: The named reference
”Committee”
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day". Munwha Broadcasting Corp. (in Korean). South Korea. September 2009.
Chung Koo-ho: 'Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name.'- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Joseph Jackman: 'The old man (company commander), yes, right down the line he's running down the line, "Kill 'em all!" ... I don't know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there, it didn't matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot 'em.'- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
Do we have detailed information on troop positions during the period? I may be able to edit this map ( https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Map_of_NoGeunRi.png) to approximate the positions at the time.
__ Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 17:07, 17 September 2015 (UTC)
![]() | This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 10 | ← | Archive 12 | Archive 13 | Archive 14 | Archive 15 | Archive 16 |
GeneralizationsAreBad, Wikimedes, Iryna Harpy, Irondome, Binksternet, Timothyjosephwood, a proposed revision of the "Events" section is below, preceded by a dissection of the existing section, in the style suggested by TJWood, with explanatory notes appended. I hope this helps speed things along. First, the current section:
As North Korean forces seized the central South Korean town of Yongdong on July 25, 1950, 1st Cavalry Division troops began evacuating villages in front of the enemy advance, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. As they headed south down the main road, they were joined by other refugees.
That first night, the refugees were ordered to camp on a riverbank near the town of Ha Ga Ri. Several refugees were killed that first evening,[1]: 143and accounts differ as to why there were casualties among the refugees that first night. According to some Korean survivors, American soldiers shot several refugees as they strayed from a roadside assembly area or ignored instructions to remain in place.[2]: 110–114Other survivors recall refugees being injured in the crossfire between the advancing KPA and defending U.S. forces.[1]: 144 NOTE 1
The next day, July 26, the refugees awoke to find most of the U.S. soldiers had left the positions they held the night before. The refugee column then proceeded towards the No Gun Ri area, 5 miles (8.0 km) from their homes. When they arrived at a U.S. roadblock, they were searched for weapons and contraband and made to move to the parallel railroad tracks to clear the road for vehicle traffic. Survivors said the U.S. troops who searched them radioed to overhead warplanes to attack the refugee group. [3]NOTE 2 In a 2007 German television documentary, Yang Hae-chan described the air attack: "Suddenly bombers flew over and opened fire without warning. They came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed." [4]Due to the lack of a tactical air control party (TACP) assigned to the regiment, it was deemed highly improbable by both investigation teams that the soldiers who searched the civilians called in this airstrike, as they lacked the technical capability to do so. [1]: 204
An explanation for the strafing of refugees was never confirmed by investigators. While several of the U.S. veterans stated that airstrikes were occurring in the valley out of their line of sight and many Korean refugees recalled an attack from the air that day, no flight logs or action summaries from any air assets operating in or around the No Gun Ri area reported an attack of this type in that area. [1]: 181 With aircraft flying too fast to positively identify a target and with a shortage of TACPs, friendly fire was always a concern; earlier on the 26th, the 1st Battalion of the 7th Cavalry’s regimental command post was attacked by an F-80 [1]: 97 [5]: 244 and the strafing of the refugees was dangerously close to U.S. forces. [5]: 126NOTE 3
Early on the 25th, the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment broke ranks, abandoned its equipment and began a disorganized easterly retreat away from Yongdong, believing they were being enveloped by the KPA. [5]: 99 Beginning that evening and continuing through the early hours of the 27th, the 2/7 was reorganized by Major William Witherspoon, the regimental operations officer, and ordered to dig in on a ridgeline adjacent to the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, just east of and overlooking No Gun Ri. [1]: 87NOTE 4
According to the South Korean government’s investigation, over the course of the next three days, dug-in troops of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, opened fire on the refugees, some of whom took shelter in a low, narrow culvert beneath the railroad embankment. The small arms and mortar fire forced them into a larger double tunnel beneath a railroad bridge. [3]NOTE 5 Survivor Park Sun-yong said corpses were piled up as shields against the gunfire: "Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting." [6] Chung Koo-ho said in a 2009 South Korean documentary, "Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name." [7]
Interviews by news organizations and the inspector general of the army discovered a wide variety of recollections from the 7th Cavalry veterans.NOTE 6 Joseph Jackman, a G Company rifleman, told the BBC that he had deliberately shot people who were congregating around the tunnels: “I don't know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there, it didn't matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot 'em all," [8] Norman L. Tinkler, an H Company machine gunner, remembered firing on white-clad people coming down the railroad tracks toward the bridge, including "a lot of women and children." He stated that he had fired roughly 1,000 rounds and assumed "there weren't no survivors". [9] [10]Other veterans, such as Buddy Wenzel, recalled that they fired warning shots over the refugees to keep them contained when the group panicked and the refugees “started to run towards us. We were firing over them all this time. Then somebody yelled, 'We’re being fired at,' then there was a bunch that started shooting into the refugees." [5] Wenzel and several other veterans stated that weapons, including a PPSh-41 and several grenades, were recovered after the shooting stopped. [5]: 120 Retired colonel Robert Carroll, then a 25-year-old first lieutenant reconnaissance officer assigned to 2nd Battalion’s H Company, stated there was no order given to any machine gunner under his command to open fire and that none did. Carroll said that he did stop some sporadic shooting at refugees, but that they were over 300 yards away and were not being hit. After a young child running down the track was hit, Carroll carried the child back to the tunnel where the battalion surgeon was treating half a dozen individuals injured by shrapnel. [11]NOTE 7Veterans from the nearby 1st Battalion also witnessed the unfolding events. Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the 1/7, said that he “could see the tracers (bullets) spinning around inside the tunnel ... and they were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [12]
The 7th Cavalry treated and evacuated a number of the wounded, but they did not allow the rest of the surviving refugees passage behind their lines, and kept them under the rail bridge. Over next two days, the refugees were kept in the tunnel by the 2/7 on one side and by the 1/7, who were defending against repeated infantry and armor incursions, probing attacks, and artillery barrages by the KPA’s 3rd Division.[13]
On July 29, 1950, three days after the killings began, the 7th Cavalry Regiment was withdrawn from its positions to Hwanggan as the U.S. retreat continued.[14]References
- ^ a b c d e f Office of the Inspector General, Department of the Army. No Gun Ri Review. Washington, D.C. January 2001
- ^ Hanley, Charles J.; Choe, Sang-Hun; Mendoza, Martha (2001). The Bridge at No Gun Ri. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-6658-6.
- ^ a b Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. 2007. December Newsletter. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ^ ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Robert Bateman (2002). No Gun Ri: A Military History of the Korean War Incident. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0811717632.. pg 118
- ^ ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002, 20:53 mins (Jackman), 30:50 mins (McCloskey).
- ^ "Memories of a Massacre". Wichita (Kansas) Eagle. July 23, 2000. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
- ^ "Kansas veteran's memories vivid of civilian deaths". The Kansas City Star. September 30, 1999.
- ^ Reliable Sources? Examining the Discrepancies in Eyewitness Accounts," U.S. News and World Report, 12 May 2000
- ^ ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 21:10–22:00 mins, retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ^ Kuehl, Dale C. "What happened at No Gun Ri? The challenge of civilians on the battlefield". U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. June 6, 2003. Retrieved February 10, 2012. Biblioscholar (2012). Pages 70, 91. ISBN 1249440270
- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
{{ cite book}}
: Text "Page 203" ignored ( help)
Here's the proposed revision, with a superfluity of quotes:
As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as they headed down the main road, and all were ordered to spend the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri. When some evacuees ventured away in the night, possibly to relieve themselves or for other reasons, the Americans opened fire, witnesses said. Seven were killed, including five from one family, Korean investigators would later determine. In the morning the evacuees found the soldiers had left. [1]: 70, 92
A brief summary of subsequent events, based on South Korean government reports:
On the morning of July 26, the villagers continued on the road south, which runs eastward in this area. When they approached the vicinity of No Gun Ri, soldiers stopped them at a roadblock and ordered the group onto the parallel railroad tracks, where the soldiers searched them and their belongings. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when suddenly warplanes appeared and attacked, strafing the group, possibly dropping bombs. Witnesses later estimated 100 were killed then. Villagers who survived initially sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks. Gunfire and soldiers drove them from there and into the double tunnels beneath a concrete railroad bridge nearby, just outside No Gun Ri. The U.S. soldiers then fired into both ends of the tunnels over four days (July 26-29, 1950), resulting in what survivors estimated were an additional 300 deaths. [2] [1]: 70–71
Survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950, recalled the air attack in a 2007 German television documentary: "Suddenly bombers flew over and opened fire without warning. They came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed." [3] Chun Choon-ja, an 11-year-old girl at the time, said her mother was breast-feeding when the planes struck. “It was strangely dark. … I couldn’t see my family. Soon after, I found my mom dead … My baby brother was still alive suckling my mom’s dead breast.” [4]
The dug-in troops of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, then opened fire on the refugees, some of whom fled to the low, narrow culvert beneath the embankment. [1]: 70 Gunfire followed them. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl at the time. "I told my mother, 'I've been shot,' but she had my brother and sister, and she had to save them. She said, 'Follow me if you can' and went on." [5]
On the tracks above, Yang Hae-chan and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw soldiers walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them if they moved. [5] [6] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [7]
Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops soon opened fire with machine guns. [1]: 71 [8]
"Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3]
Yang led his older sister into a tunnel where the 13-year-old Yang Hae-sook, blinded in the bombing, “thought I could save my life if I squeezed in between the dead bodies.” [9] Chung Koo-ho, whose mother and sister were killed, said in a 2009 South Korean documentary, "Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name." [6] The soldiers turned searchlights on the tunnels at night, and continued shooting, he said. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” As trapped survivors cried out for water, he said, he drank bloody water from a stream running through one tunnel. [10]
Seventh Cavalry veterans recalled similar scenes of the air attack, of bodies strewn on the railroad tracks, bodies piling up in the tunnel entrances, and continuous small arms fire. [11]: 124–146
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. "I'm secure in my own mind, that the order came from division or higher,” Lawrence Levine said. Said James Crume, "All I know is the order was given _ `You're not going through,' and the order was given to the heavy weapons company, and that was it." Levine and Crume agreed with battalion veteran George Early that the ground fire opened with a mortar barrage. “When it hit and exploded, of all things, it landed directly dead center of all these people,” Early said. Levine recalled the small-arms fire that followed: "It was probably the first time a lot of, if not all of them had been okayed to fire on people, and so the firing turned into a frenzy." [12] [13]
"All of a sudden, machine guns started firing into the crowd of people under the bridge," recalled George Preece, a 2nd Battalion sergeant. [14] "It was assumed there were enemy in these people," said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson. [15] "The old man (company commander), yes, right down the line he’s running down the line, ‘Kill ‘em all,’ so what do you do?” Joseph Jackman, a G Company rifleman, told the BBC. “I shot, too. Shot at people. I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot em." [13] Norman L. Tinkler, an H Company machine gunner, remembered white-clad people moving toward the bridge, including "a lot of women and children. ... I was the one who pulled the trigger." He fired about 1,000 rounds and assumed "there weren't no survivors." [16] [17] Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, witnessed the slaughter: "I could see the tracers (bullets) spinning around inside the tunnel ... and they were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3] Others said some soldiers held their fire. Delos Flint, an F Company rifleman who was caught forward with the refugees and was injured in an initial blast, estimated half the soldiers near him – including himself – refused to fire: "I couldn't see killing kids, even if they were infiltrators." [14]
Three men from among 52 battalion veterans interviewed in the 1999-2001 U.S. investigation said there had been gunfire from among the refugees. [18]: 120, 157, 161fn27 Their statements were inconsistent, saying the gunfire came from the underpasses or from the railroad tracks, that a “burp gun” was found on the tracks or was seen in an underpass. In addition, no unit documents reported an encounter with infiltrators, even though it would have been the 7th Cavalry's first direct clash with the enemy, and any slain infiltrators its first enemy killed in action. [19]: 74 The surviving villagers denied strenuously any infiltrators were among their group, which had been forced from villages miles from the enemy and been searched. "This sort of thing is inconceivable. They checked our luggage,” said Chung Koo-ho. [4]: 21 [20]
During the refugee killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced only cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was still 2 miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. When the Americans withdrew from No Gun Ri early on July 29, leaving behind the dead refugees, they were "under no immediate enemy pressure," the official Army history noted. [19]: 82–83 [21]: 203 As troops pulled back, some finally saw the scene. "There were quite a few slaughtered there. … But you didn't know until you get down there and seen all the bodies at the mouth of the tunnel," said G Company’s Lyle Jacobson. [11]: 145
In the afternoon of July 29, North Korean soldiers appeared outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, perhaps two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [4]: 24 [10]
References
- ^ a b c d Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). ‘’No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report.’’ Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3. This committee's report cites the joint U.S.-South Korean Statement of Mutual Understandings of 2001 (one to four dead), and the 2001 South Korean investigative report (seven dead); its own inquest identified seven dead by name, including children.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ a b Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ Dobbs, Michael (2000-02-06). "Shoot Them All". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ a b Hanley, Charles J.; Choe, Sang-Hun; Mendoza, Martha (2001). The Bridge at No Gun Ri. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-6658-6.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ a b Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ "Memories of a Massacre". Wichita (Kansas) Eagle. July 23, 2000. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
- ^ "Kansas veteran's memories vivid of civilian deaths". The Kansas City Star. September 30, 1999.
- ^ Office of the Inspector General, Department of the Army. No Gun Ri Review. Washington, D.C. January 2001
- ^ a b Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". NBC News "Dateline". 1999-12-28.
- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
-- Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 15:30, 9 September 2015 (UTC)
Everyone should know by now that I am merciless when it come to trimming fat. If it feels adversarial then that means I'm doing things right. Most of the edits can be summarized thusly: There continues to be a significant problem with editorializing, sensationalizing, and otherwise not using a neutral encyclopedic tone. I only post here the strike-through version because what's stricken is so extensive that it plainly just needs a significant rewrite.
I know this is tedious, but we have to remember, the point here is not just to fix the article, but to fix it with a strong consensus. That way, if someone else comes along and tries to mess things up, we can say "big fat nope, see the consensus on the talk page here".
As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as they headed down the main road, and all were ordered to spend the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri.
When some evacuees ventured away in the night, possibly to relieve themselves or for other reasons, the Americans opened fire, witnesses said. Seven were killed, including five from one family, Korean investigators would later determine. In the morning the evacuees found the soldiers had left.NOTE 1 [1]: 70, 92
A brief summary of subsequent events, based on South Korean government reports:NOTE 2On the morning of July 26, the villagers continued on the road south, which runs eastward in this area. When they approached the vicinity of No Gun Ri, soldiers who? stopped them at a roadblock and ordered the group onto the parallel railroad tracks, where the soldiers searched them and their belongings. The refugees were resting
, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday,whensuddenly warplanes appeared and attacked, strafing the group, possibly dropping bombs.when they were attacked by aircraft who? Witnesses later estimated 100 were killedthen. Villagers who survived initially sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks. Gunfireand soldiersdrove them from there and into the double tunnels beneath a concrete railroad bridge nearby, just outside No Gun Ri. The U.S. soldiers then fired into both ends of the tunnels over four days (July 26-29, 1950), resulting in what survivors estimated were an additional 300 deaths. [2] [1]: 70–71 NOTE 3
Survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950, recalled the air attack in a 2007 German television documentary: "Suddenly bombers flew over and opened fire without warning. They came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed." [3] Chun Choon-ja, an 11-year-old girl at the time, said her mother was breast-feeding when the planes struck. “It was strangely dark. … I couldn’t see my family. Soon after, I found my mom dead … My baby brother was still alive suckling my mom’s dead breast.” [4]
The dug-in troops of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, then opened fire on the refugees, some of whom fled to the low, narrow culvert beneath the embankment. [1]: 70 Gunfire followed them. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl at the time. "I told my mother, 'I've been shot,' but she had my brother and sister, and she had to save them. She said, 'Follow me if you can' and went on." [5]
On the tracks above, Yang Hae-chan and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw soldiers walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them if they moved. [5] [6] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [7]
Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops soon opened fire with machine guns. [1]: 71 [8]
"Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3]
Yang led his older sister into a tunnel where the 13-year-old Yang Hae-sook, blinded in the bombing, “thought I could save my life if I squeezed in between the dead bodies.” [9] Chung Koo-ho, whose mother and sister were killed, said in a 2009 South Korean documentary, "Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name." [6] The soldiers turned searchlights on the tunnels at night, and continued shooting, he said. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” As trapped survivors cried out for water, he said, he drank bloody water from a stream running through one tunnel. [10]
Seventh Cavalry veterans recalled similar scenes of the air attack, of bodies strewn on the railroad tracks, bodies piling up in the tunnel entrances, and continuous small arms fire. [11]: 124–146
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. "I'm secure in my own mind, that the order came from division or higher,” Lawrence Levine said. Said James Crume, "All I know is the order was given _ `You're not going through,' and the order was given to the heavy weapons company, and that was it." Levine and Crume agreed with battalion veteran George Early that the ground fire opened with a mortar barrage. “When it hit and exploded, of all things, it landed directly dead center of all these people,” Early said. Levine recalled the small-arms fire that followed: "It was probably the first time a lot of, if not all of them had been okayed to fire on people, and so the firing turned into a frenzy." [12] [13]
"All of a sudden, machine guns started firing into the crowd of people under the bridge," recalled George Preece, a 2nd Battalion sergeant. [14] "It was assumed there were enemy in these people," said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson. [15] "The old man (company commander), yes, right down the line he’s running down the line, ‘Kill ‘em all,’ so what do you do?” Joseph Jackman, a G Company rifleman, told the BBC. “I shot, too. Shot at people. I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot em." [13] Norman L. Tinkler, an H Company machine gunner, remembered white-clad people moving toward the bridge, including "a lot of women and children. ... I was the one who pulled the trigger." He fired about 1,000 rounds and assumed "there weren't no survivors." [16] [17] Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, witnessed the slaughter: "I could see the tracers (bullets) spinning around inside the tunnel ... and they were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3] Others said some soldiers held their fire. Delos Flint, an F Company rifleman who was caught forward with the refugees and was injured in an initial blast, estimated half the soldiers near him – including himself – refused to fire: "I couldn't see killing kids, even if they were infiltrators." [14]
Three men from among 52 battalion veterans interviewed in the 1999-2001 U.S. investigation said there had been gunfire from among the refugees. [18]: 120, 157, 161fn27 Their statements were inconsistent, saying the gunfire came from the underpasses or from the railroad tracks, that a “burp gun” was found on the tracks or was seen in an underpass. In addition, no unit documents reported an encounter with infiltrators, even though it would have been the 7th Cavalry's first direct clash with the enemy, and any slain infiltrators its first enemy killed in action. [19]: 74 The surviving villagers denied strenuously any infiltrators were among their group, which had been forced from villages miles from the enemy and been searched. "This sort of thing is inconceivable. They checked our luggage,” said Chung Koo-ho. [4]: 21 [20]HOLY CRAP, NOTE 4During the refugee killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who
advanced only cautiouslyadvancing from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was still 2 miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. When the Americans withdrew from No Gun Ri early on July 29, leaving behind the dead refugees,they were "under no immediate enemy pressure," the official Army history noted. NOTE 5 [19]: 82–83 [21]: 203As troops pulled back, some finally saw the scene. "There were quite a few slaughtered there. … But you didn't know until you get down there and seen all the bodies at the mouth of the tunnel," said G Company’s Lyle Jacobson. [11]: 145Note 6In the afternoon of July 29, North Korean soldiers appeared outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, perhaps two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [4]: 24 [10]
References
- ^ a b c d Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). ‘’No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report.’’ Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3. This committee's report cites the joint U.S.-South Korean Statement of Mutual Understandings of 2001 (one to four dead), and the 2001 South Korean investigative report (seven dead); its own inquest identified seven dead by name, including children.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ a b Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ Dobbs, Michael (2000-02-06). "Shoot Them All". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ a b Hanley, Charles J.; Choe, Sang-Hun; Mendoza, Martha (2001). The Bridge at No Gun Ri. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-6658-6.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ a b Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ "Memories of a Massacre". Wichita (Kansas) Eagle. July 23, 2000. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
- ^ "Kansas veteran's memories vivid of civilian deaths". The Kansas City Star. September 30, 1999.
- ^ Office of the Inspector General, Department of the Army. No Gun Ri Review. Washington, D.C. January 2001
- ^ a b Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". NBC News "Dateline". 1999-12-28.
- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
Timothyjosephwood ( talk) 13:17, 11 September 2015 (UTC)
Here's a revised, heavily trimmed proposed edit for the "Events" section, following some of TJWood's suggestions, including eliminating the discussion of the preliminary deaths at Ha Ga Ri, and eliminating the discussion about "hostile fire," which is already dealt with in the "Investigations" section. This also reduces the survivors' quotes from 404 words to 235 words and the ex-soldiers' quotes from 410 words to 167 words. This horrific event plainly deserves more than that; My Lai Massacre has 1,800 words of description (without, disgracefully, having anything from Vietnamese, just GI quotes), while this totals just 700 words. But 1) TJW seems to fear arousing sympathy in the reader, and 2) I just want to get on with this and get it done. Therefore, please, let's do so. Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 19:35, 12 September 2015 (UTC)
As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as they headed down the main road. They spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri, and in the morning of July 26 found the soldiers had left. Continuing on the road south, the villagers were stopped by U.S. soldiers at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and ordered onto the parallel railroad track, where soldiers searched them and their belongings. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when warplanes attacked them, strafing the group, possibly dropping bombs. [1]: 67–70 [2] The planes "came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed," recalled survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950. [3] Survivors initially sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but gunfire followed. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl who was wounded. [4] On the tracks above, Yang and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw soldiers walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them. [4] [5] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [6] Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops soon opened fire with machine guns, and it continued for the next three days. [1]: 71 [7] "Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3] At night, the Americans turned searchlights on the tunnels and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” [8]
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They and others recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [9] [10] Ex-rifleman Joseph Jackman said his G Company commander ran down the line shouting, “Kill ‘em all!” He said he opened fire, and “I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot ‘em." [10] Said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson, "It was assumed there were enemy in these people." [11] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [12] One observing from a distance, Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, said he saw tracer bullets spinning around in the tunnel. “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3]
During the refugee killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced only cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was still 2 miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. [13]: 82–83 The 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri in the predawn hours of July 29. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers appeared outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, perhaps two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [8] [15]
References
- ^ a b Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). ‘’No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report.’’ Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
-- Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 19:35, 12 September 2015 (UTC)
Alright. This is mostly minor copy editing, which is a good sign if that's all I can find to bitch about. The only additional things that I would like to address are the two anonymous references to soldiers and the reference to the air attack. Do we know who these people were? I'm assuming they're all references to US or UN forces. But I think it would be clarifying if we could add that.
I know that this horse has been dead for a while, and I don't know if anyone else here has served, but as someone who's done a few too many pushups because I called my weapon a "gun" or my patrol cap a "hat", we really should be using correct terminology. "Military aircraft" can easily replace "aircraft" if you think the latter is ambiguous. I would like to go further and specify what types of aircraft if we have that information. I'm not sure were do. Strafing is a close-ish operation, but I don't think many civilians, and probably military personnel, could look up and say "gee, that's a C-10". Also "machine gun" is not a thing. It should be small arms or small arms and light weapons if it includes things like mortars, which it seems to. Alternatively we could say "automatic weapons fire" if you think "small arms" makes the average person think of a pistol rather than nearly anything that isn't vehicle mounted.
Change these edits:
As North Korean forces, on July 25, seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as traveling down the main road. They spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri, and in the morning of July 26 found the soldiers had left. Continuing on the road south, the villagers were stopped by U.S. soldiers at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and ordered onto the parallel railroad track, where (US Soldiers?) soldiers searched them and their belongings. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when
warplanes attacked themthey were attacked by military aircraft (do we know who?), strafing the group,possiblyand by some accounts dropping bombs. [1]: 67–70 [2] Theplanesaircraft "came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed," recalled survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950. [3]Survivors initially sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but gunfire followed. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl who was wounded. [4] On the tracks above, Yang and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw soldiers (UN soldiers? Korean?) walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them. [4] [5] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [6] Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops
soonopened fire withmachine gunssmall arms and light weapons, and this continued for the next three days. [1]: 71 [7] "Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3] At night, the Americans turned searchlights on the tunnels and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” [8]Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They and others recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [9] [10] Ex-rifleman Joseph Jackman said his G Company commander ran down the line shouting, “Kill ‘em all!” He said he opened fire, and “I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot ‘em." [10] Said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson, "It was assumed there were enemy in these people." [11] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [12] One observing from a distance, Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, said he saw tracer bullets spinning around in the tunnel. “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3]
During the
refugeekillings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advancedonlycautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line wasstill 2two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre, when US forces began a strategic withdrawal. [13]: 82–83 The 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri in the predawn hours of July 29. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiersappearedarrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive,perhapsabout two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [8] [15]References
- ^ a b Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). ‘’No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report.’’ Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
To get this:
As North Korean forces, on July 25, seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as traveling down the main road. They spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri, and in the morning of July 26 found the soldiers had left. Continuing on the road south, the villagers were stopped by U.S. soldiers at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and ordered onto the parallel railroad track, where (US Soldiers?) soldiers searched them and their belongings. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when they were attacked by military aircraft (do we know who?), strafing the group, and by some accounts dropping bombs. [1]: 67–70 [2] The aircraft "came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed," recalled survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950. [3]
Survivors initially sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but gunfire followed. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl who was wounded. [4] On the tracks above, Yang and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw soldiers (UN soldiers? Korean?) walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them. [4] [5] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [6] Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops opened fire with small arms and light weapons, and this continued for the next three days. [1]: 71 [7] "Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3] At night, the Americans turned searchlights on the tunnels and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” [8]
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They and others recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [9] [10] Ex-rifleman Joseph Jackman said his G Company commander ran down the line shouting, “Kill ‘em all!” He said he opened fire, and “I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot ‘em." [10] Said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson, "It was assumed there were enemy in these people." [11] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [12] One observing from a distance, Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, said he saw tracer bullets spinning around in the tunnel. “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3]
During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre, when US forces began a strategic withdrawal. [13]: 82–83 The 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri in the predawn hours of July 29. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [8] [15]
References
- ^ a b Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). ‘’No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report.’’ Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
Timothyjosephwood (
talk)
13:32, 13 September 2015 (UTC)
- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
ELABORATING ON AIR OPERATIONS (to aid your understanding;might be important for later discussions): In late July 1950, only U.S. planes were operating in the 1st Cavalry Division area; a few Australians had arrived but were flying elsewhere; the SKs had no air force, and the tiny NK air force had been eliminated two weeks earlier. Each U.S. Air Force mission (four planes jointly flying one operation) produced a mission report, written by a unit intelligence officer who debriefed the pilots upon return to base. Roughly half the mission reports from this period, as of the early 2000s, were either missing from the archives or inaccessible because they had not been processed. But those that were available showed extensive attack operations in the 1st Cav area, including the No Gun Ri area, particularly by two Air Force fighter-bomber squadrons, the 8th and the 35th. The U.S. Army investigators of 1999-2001 suppressed the 35th FBS mission reports, claiming to the SKs they couldn't be found. But they were found by journalists and were particularly incriminating, showing strafing attacks on obvious civilians (not at NGR) in July, and attacks on "troops," an "unidentified object" and a "road" in the NGR vicinity on July 26-27. None of these could be precisely correlated, however, with a "midday" attack on July 26 on a "white-clad group" or a "group on railroad tracks" or such, and so the unit affiliation of the initial air attackers at NGR remains, essentially, a mystery. (Some Korean witnesses recall further air attacks when they were under the bridge; these 35th FBS reports might refer to those.)
--
Charles J. Hanley (
talk)
17:27, 13 September 2015 (UTC)
Wait, I thought we had reached agreement... Timothyjosephwood ( talk) 21:20, 13 September 2015 (UTC)
GeneralizationsAreBad,
Wikimedes,
Iryna Harpy,
Irondome,
Binksternet,
Timothyjosephwood, to help speed things along, below is a finished version of the proposed Events section as agreed to by TJWood, me and, I believe, GAB, with the latest changes in bold, including a couple of clarifying words just now added by me. Unless there's further comment, TJW has asked that another editor post the new text (remembering to un-bold the bold). I hope one of you will do so. Meanwhile, let’s move on to the “Casualties” section. Thanks.
Charles J. Hanley (
talk)
14:50, 14 September 2015 (UTC)
As North Korean forces, on July 25, seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees as traveling down the main road. They spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri, and in the morning of July 26 found the escorting soldiers had left. Continuing on the road south, the villagers were stopped by American troops at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and ordered onto the parallel railroad track, where U.S. soldiers searched them and their belongings. The estimated 600 refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when they were attacked by military aircraft, which strafed them and by some accounts dropped bombs. [1]: 67–70 [2] The aircraft "came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away. But in that first attack very many people were hit and killed," recalled survivor Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950. [3]
Survivors first sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but gunfire followed. "They were shooting at us from this side. We ran out the other side, but they were shooting at us there, too," said Kum Cho-ja, a 12-year-old girl who was wounded. [4] On the tracks above, Yang and Chung Koo-hun, then a teenager, said they saw U.S. soldiers walking among the wounded civilians and shooting them. [4] [5] “It was like they were hunting us down,” Yang said. [6] Survivors made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge (each tunnel 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), and others were forced into the tunnels by American soldiers. The 7th Cavalry troops opened fire with machine guns and rifles, and this continued for the next three days. [1]: 71 [7] "Children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed. Park, who was badly wounded, said those still alive began piling up corpses as shields against the gunfire. [3] At night, the Americans turned searchlights on the tunnels and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho. “On the second night, my mother was shot. At the time, she was hugging me and my younger sister to her breast to protect us from the gunfire. She was killed by four bullets to her head and her back.” [8]
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They and others recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [9] [10] Ex-rifleman Joseph Jackman said his G Company commander ran down the line shouting, “Kill ‘em all!” He said he opened fire, and “I don’t know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there. It didn’t matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot ‘em." [10] Said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson, "It was assumed there were enemy in these people." [11] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [12] One observing from a distance, Thomas H. Hacha, dug in nearby with the sister 1st Battalion, said he saw tracer bullets spinning around in the tunnel. “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming." [3]
During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. [13]: 82–83 In the predawn hours of July 29, the 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [8] [15]
References
- ^ a b Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report. Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Slobodzian, Joseph A. (2000-03-04). "Survivors of a Horror of War State Their Case 400 South Koreans Died at No Gun Ri". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
-- Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 14:50, 14 September 2015 (UTC)
Thanks for the comments. I think we've all bowed out of this discussion at times, and I think we all know this can be exhausting. I fear the over reliance on quotes was a bit lost on me because, in my mind, I was focused on how much less reliant on quotes it was than what we started with. So I've tried my hand at a pretty significant rewrite, to try to say what the sources say without the section being 70% in quotation marks.
I initially tried to do the strike through pre-edit thing, but I changed so much around that it just became a jumbled mess and I couldn't make heads or tails of where I was and what I was changing or not. So I abandoned that and just edited it. Timothyjosephwood ( talk) 12:28, 15 September 2015 (UTC)
As North Korean forces, on July 25, seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, 1st Cavalry Division troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. They were joined by other refugees traveling down the main road, and spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri. In the morning of July 26 they found the escorting soldiers had left. Continuing on the road south, the villagers were stopped by American troops at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and ordered onto the parallel railroad track, where they and their belongings were searched. The estimated 600 refugees spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when they were attacked by military aircraft, which strafed them and by some accounts dropped bombs. [1]: 67–70 [2] The aircraft "came back again and again firing at us. Chaos broke out among the refugees." recalled Yang Hae-chan, who was 10 years old at the time. [3]
Survivors sought protection in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but were driven out of the position and eventually made their way to the nearby twin underpasses of the No Gun Ri railroad bridge. Each tunnel of the bridge measured 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high. [4] [5] There, the 7th Cavalry troops opened fire on the group, which included women and children, beginning with a mortar strike. [6] [7] This continued using machine guns and rifles, and went on through the next three days, including night firing with the use of search lights. [1]: 71 [8] [9] [3] Those in the tunnel were pinned in their position by fire from both sides, and eventually resorted to using bodies as barricades to provide cover. [3] [4]
Some disagreement exists as to the source of the orders to fire on the refugees, with some indicating that they originated at the divisional level, and others recalling orders issued on the line from their company commander. [10] [7] While it was assumed at the time that there were enemies among the group, as many as half of soldiers in places refused to fire. [11] [12]
During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, advancing cautiously from Yongdong. As of 28 July, the third day of the massacre, the enemy front line was at least two miles from No Gun Ri. [13]: 82–83 In the predawn hours of July 29, the 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from the area. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [9] [15]
References
- ^ a b Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report. Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea. December 27, 2007, newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, 11:20–12:18 mins , retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ a b Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post. p. A24.
- ^ Munwha Broadcasting Corp., South Korea, "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day," September 2009.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ a b Timewatch: Kill 'Em All - American War Crimes in Korea. BBC, October Films. February 1, 2002.
- ^ Ministry of Defense, Republic of Korea. The Report of the Findings on the No Gun Ri Incident. Seoul, South Korea. January 2001.
- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
This may be overkill, as I've reduced the section to exactly one quote. Maybe it's easier to pick what we add rather than starting with tons of quotes and picking what we take away. I do agree that it seems like the quotes, while they may be accurate and correctly sourced, are a bit handed-picked to select for the ones that use the most sensationalist language. Timothyjosephwood ( talk) 12:41, 15 September 2015 (UTC)
-- Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 18:01, 15 September 2015 (UTC)
Here’s another revision, leading off with a simple synopsis clearly attributed to an official source, the inquest committee whose report was the most recent compilation of consensus knowledge. That's followed by material from individual witnesses advancing the narrative by elaborating on the spare statements in the synopsis. Some quotes are dropped, some are relegated to footnotes. Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 18:46, 16 September 2015 (UTC)
A synopsis of the July 25-29, 1950, events based on a South Korean government inquest committee’s report of 2005:
As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, U.S. troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. These villagers were joined by others as they walked down the main road south, and the estimated 600 refugees spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri. Seven refugees were shot dead by U.S. soldiers when they strayed from the group in the night. In the morning of July 26, the group found the escorting soldiers had left. They continued down the road, were stopped by American troops at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and were ordered onto the parallel railroad tracks, where U.S. soldiers searched them and their belongings, confiscating knives and other items. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when military aircraft appeared and strafed and bombed them. Panicked survivors first sought shelter in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but soldiers and U.S. ground fire drove them from there into a double tunnel beneath a concrete railroad bridge. The U.S. soldiers then fired into both ends of the tunnels over four days (July 26-29, 1950). [1]: 69–71
Recalling the air strike in a 2007 German television documentary, Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950, said the attacking planes returned repeatedly and “chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away.” [2] He and another survivor said soldiers reappeared and began shooting wounded people on the tracks. [3] Inside the bridge underpasses (each 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), under machine gun and rifle fire from 7th Cavalry troops, “children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, and the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed while she was badly wounded. [2] Trapped refugees began piling up bodies as shields. [4]
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [5] [4]Some battalion veterans recalled front-line company officers ordering them to open fire. [6] "It was assumed there were enemy in these people," said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson. [7] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [8] “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming," recalled Thomas H. Hacha of the sister 1st Battalion, observing from a nearby foxhole. [2] Although some refugees managed to escape that first night, the U.S. troops turned searchlights on the tunnels at nighttime and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho, whose mother died shielding him and his sister. [9] [10] [11]
During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. [12]: 82–83 In the predawn hours of July 29, the 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri. [13]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [10] [14]
References
- ^ Committee for the Review and Restoration of Honor for the No Gun Ri Victims (2009). No Gun Ri Incident Victim Review Report (English translation). Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea. ISBN 978-89-957925-1-3.
- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post.
'They were checking every wounded person and shooting them if they moved,' said Chung (Koo-hun).- ^ a b October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Yang Hae-chan: 'The floor inside the tunnel was a mix of gravel and sand. People clawed with their bare hands to make holes to hide in. Other people piled up the dead, like a barricade.'- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Joseph Jackman: 'The old man (company commander), yes, right down the line he's running down the line, "Kill 'em all!" ... I don't know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there, it didn't matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot 'em.'- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Cite error: The named reference
”Committee”
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day". Munwha Broadcasting Corp. (in Korean). South Korea. September 2009.
Chung Koo-ho: 'Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
-- Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 18:46, 16 September 2015 (UTC)
Some copy editing. I shuffled the first two paragraphs together so that things flow more chronologically. (Looking back, I didn't include this in the strike through version. Apologies.)
I tried to move things around some in the third paragraph. I moved the Hacha quote and trimmed the Park quote (two quotes about screaming is redundant). I moved the night fire sentence because it actually advances the story so-to-speak. And...then...I don't know. The first two paragraphs gives a clearish chronology of "day prior, night prior, morning of, day of, night of..." and then the story goes away. We wake up two days later with the 2D BN in retreat. Granted, I've gutted the third para, but I think it lacked focus to begin with. It's still out of chronological order, returning briefly to how the attacks began, digressing to issues of where the orders came from, and making some statements that don't clearly fit in the time line.
I guess my question is what happens between the night fire and the few refugees escaping on the first night, and the morning of the 29th when the CAV was in retreat? It just seems a little bit like cheating to say "this continued for four days", and treat the whole period as an instantaneous event. Is this a story we can tell? Are things really so uncertain that the most we can say is "this continued for four days"?
I apologize again for being such a thorn. I'm still trying, as best I can, to approach this from a state of relative ignorance to try to evaluate how things look to a relatively ignorant reader. Timothyjosephwood ( talk) 14:03, 17 September 2015 (UTC)
A synopsis of the July 25-29, 1950, events based on a South Korean government inquest committee’s report of 2005:As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, U.S. troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. [1] These villagers were joined by others as they walked down the main road south, and the estimated 600 refugees spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri. Seven refugees were
shot deadkilled by U.S. soldiers when they strayed from the group in the night. In the morning of July 26, the group found the escorting soldiers had left. They continued down the road, were stopped by American troops at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and were ordered onto the parallel railroad tracks, where U.S. soldiers searched them and their belongings, confiscating knives and other items. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when military aircraftappeared andstrafed and bombed them. Recalling the air strikein a 2007 German television documentary,Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950, said the attacking planes returned repeatedly and “chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away.” [2] He and another survivor said soldiers reappeared and began shooting the woundedpeopleon the tracks. [3]
PanickedSurvivors first sought shelter in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but soldiers and U.S. ground fire drove them from there into a double tunnel beneath a concrete railroad bridge.The U.S. soldiers then fired into both ends of the tunnels over four days (July 26-29, 1950).Inside the bridge underpasses (each 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), they came under heavy machine gun and rifle fire from 7th Cavalry troops from either sides of the tunnel, “children were screaming in fear and the adults were praying for their lives, andthe whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed while she was badly wounded. [2] “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming," recalled Thomas H. Hacha of the sister 1st Battalion, observingfrom anearbyfoxhole. [2] Trapped refugees began piling up bodies asshieldsbarracades and digging makeshift foxholes. [4] Although some refugees managed to escape that first night,theU.S. troops turned searchlights on the tunnelsat nighttimeand continued firing., said survivor Chung Koo-ho, whose mother died shielding him and his sister.[5] [6] [7]Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [8] [4]Some battalion veterans recalled front-line company officers ordering them to open fire. [9] "It was assumed there were enemy in these people," said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson. [10] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [11]
“They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming," recalled Thomas H. Hacha of the sister 1st Battalion, observing from a nearby foxhole. [2]Although some refugees managed to escape that first night, the U.S. troops turned searchlights on the tunnels at nighttime and continued firing, said survivor Chung Koo-ho, whose mother died shielding him and his sister. [5] [6] [12]During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. [13]: 82–83 In the predawn hours of July 29, the 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri. [14]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [6] [15]
References
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Committee
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).- ^ a b c d ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post.
'They were checking every wounded person and shooting them if they moved,' said Chung (Koo-hun).- ^ a b October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Yang Hae-chan: 'The floor inside the tunnel was a mix of gravel and sand. People clawed with their bare hands to make holes to hide in. Other people piled up the dead, like a barricade.'- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
”Committee”
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).- ^ a b c "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day". Munwha Broadcasting Corp. (in Korean). South Korea. September 2009.
Chung Koo-ho: 'Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name.'- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Joseph Jackman: 'The old man (company commander), yes, right down the line he's running down the line, "Kill 'em all!" ... I don't know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there, it didn't matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot 'em.'- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day". Munwha Broadcasting Corp. (in Korean). South Korea. September 2009.
Chung Koo-ho: 'Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
--
As North Korean forces on July 25 seized the town of Yongdong, 7 miles (11 km) west of No Gun Ri, U.S. troops were evacuating nearby villages, including hundreds of residents of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri. [1] These villagers were joined by others as they walked down the main road south, and the estimated 600 refugees spent the night by a riverbank near Ha Ga Ri village, 3.5 miles (5.5 km) west of No Gun Ri. Seven refugees were killed by U.S. soldiers when they strayed from the group in the night. In the morning of July 26, the group found the escorting soldiers had left. They continued down the road, were stopped by American troops at a roadblock near No Gun Ri, and were ordered onto the parallel railroad tracks, where U.S. soldiers searched them and their belongings, confiscating knives and other items. The refugees were resting, spread out along the railroad embankment around midday, when military aircraft strafed and bombed them. Recalling the air strike Yang Hae-chan, a 10-year-old boy in 1950, said the attacking planes returned repeatedly and “chaos broke out among the refugees. We ran around wildly trying to get away.” [2] He and another survivor said soldiers reappeared and began shooting the wounded on the tracks. [3]
Survivors first sought shelter in a small culvert beneath the tracks, but soldiers and U.S. ground fire drove them from there into a double tunnel beneath a concrete railroad bridge. Inside the bridge underpasses (each 80 feet long, 22 feet wide and 40 feet high), they came under heavy machine gun and rifle fire from 7th Cavalry troops from either side of the tunnel, “the whole time they never stopped shooting," said survivor Park Sun-yong, whose 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were killed while she was badly wounded. [2] “They were dying down there. I could hear the people screaming," recalled Thomas H. Hacha of the sister 1st Battalion, observing nearby. [2] Trapped refugees began piling up bodies as barricades and digging makeshift foxholes. [4] Although some refugees managed to escape that first night, U.S. troops turned searchlights on the tunnels and continued firing. [5] [6] [7]
Two 2nd Battalion communications specialists, Larry Levine and James Crume, said they remembered orders to fire on the refugees coming from a higher level, probably 1st Cavalry Division. They recalled the ground fire beginning with a mortar round landing among the refugee families, followed by what Levine called a “frenzy” of small-arms fire. [8] [4]Some battalion veterans recalled front-line company officers ordering them to open fire. [9] "It was assumed there were enemy in these people," said ex-rifleman Herman Patterson. [10] Others said some soldiers held their fire. [11]
During the killings, the 2nd Battalion came under sporadic artillery and mortar fire from the North Koreans, who advanced cautiously from Yongdong. Declassified Army intelligence reports showed the enemy front line was two miles or more from No Gun Ri late on July 28, third day of the massacre. [12]: 82–83 In the predawn hours of July 29, the 7th Cavalry Regiment withdrew from No Gun Ri. [13]: 203 That afternoon North Korean soldiers arrived outside the tunnels and helped those still alive, about two dozen, mostly children, feeding them and sending them back toward their villages. [6] [14]
References
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Committee
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).- ^ a b c ARD Television, Germany. "The Massacre of No Gun Ri," March 19, 2007, retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ Struck, Doug (1999-10-27). "U.S., S.Korea gingerly probe the past". The Washington Post.
'They were checking every wounded person and shooting them if they moved,' said Chung (Koo-hun).- ^ a b October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Yang Hae-chan: 'The floor inside the tunnel was a mix of gravel and sand. People clawed with their bare hands to make holes to hide in. Other people piled up the dead, like a barricade.'- ^ Cite error: The named reference
”Committee”
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).- ^ a b "I Still Hear Screams". Newsweek. 1999-10-10.
- ^ "No Gun Ri Still Lives On: The Truth Behind That Day". Munwha Broadcasting Corp. (in Korean). South Korea. September 2009.
Chung Koo-ho: 'Even now if I close my eyes I can see the people who were dying, as they cried out someone's name.'- ^ Pyle, Richard (November 21, 2000). "Ex-GIs: U.S. troops in Korea War had orders to shoot civilians". The Associated Press.
- ^ October Films (2002-02-01). "Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea". British Broadcasting Corp.: Timewatch. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
Joseph Jackman: 'The old man (company commander), yes, right down the line he's running down the line, "Kill 'em all!" ... I don't know if they were soldiers or what. Kids, there was kids out there, it didn't matter what it was, 8 to 80, blind, crippled or crazy, they shot 'em.'- ^ "War's hidden chapter: Ex-GIs tell of killing Korean refugees". Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
- ^ Thompson, Mark (1999-10-11). "The Bridge at No Gun Ri". Time.
(Ex-Pfc. Delos) Flint estimates that half the troops near him fired on the civilians, and half--including himself--refused. 'I couldn't see killing kids,' he says, 'even if they were infiltrators.'- ^ Hanley, Charles J. (2012). "No Gun Ri: Official Narrative and Inconvenient Truths". Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 68–94. ISBN 978-0-415-62241-7.
{{ cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|editors=
ignored (|editor=
suggested) ( help)- ^ Appleman, Roy E. (1961). South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu (June–November 1950). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Choi, Suhi (2014). Embattled Memories: Contested Meanings in Korean War Memorials. Reno: University of Nevada Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-87417-936-1.
Do we have detailed information on troop positions during the period? I may be able to edit this map ( https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Map_of_NoGeunRi.png) to approximate the positions at the time.
__ Charles J. Hanley ( talk) 17:07, 17 September 2015 (UTC)