Record-Bulletin PROSSER
Special Veterans’ Edition November 8, 2023
WWII The Battle of Iwo Jima
This Pulitzer Prize-winning photo has become synonymous with American victory. Taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima pictured are members of the United States Marine Corps 5th Division as they raise an American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Photo is by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, it is one of the most reproduced, and copied, photographs in history.
Korean War US Troops Statistics Source: Dept. of Defense US Deaths: Hostile: 33,739 Non-Hostile: 2,835 Total In-Theatre: 36,574US Wounded in Action - 103,284 Timeline (Source: CNN News) November 1947 - The United Nations General Assembly approves elections to be held throughout Korea to choose a provisional government for the entire county. The Soviet Union opposes this. May 10, 1948 - The people of South Korea elect a national assembly, setting up the government of the Republic of Korea. The north refuses to take part. September 9, 1948 - North Korean Communists establish the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. June 25, 1950 - 135,000 soldiers from the communist North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) cross the 38th parallel and invade Republic of Korea (ROK). June 25, 1950 - The UN Security Council denounces North Korea’s actions and calls for a cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of the NKPA to the 38th parallel. June 26, 1950 - US President Harry S. Truman directs General Douglas MacArthur to evacuate American dependents from Korea and to assist the ROK Army. June 30, 1950 - Truman orders ground troops into action. July 1950 - In the first month of the war, US soldiers kill significant numbers of Korean civilians under a bridge, near a village called No Gun Ri. It is unclear whether the soldiers were ordered to kill civilians or acted on their own. July 5, 1950 - For the first time since the end of World War II, US troops go into battle, at Osan, 30 miles south of Seoul. The first American casualty of the Korean War dies here, Private Kenneth Shadrick of West Virginia. June 23, 1951 - Jacob Malik, a Soviet delegate to the UN, proposes a cease-fire. July 10, 1951 - Truce talks begin at Kaesong. October 25, 1951 - Truce talks are moved to Panmunjom. November 27, 1951 - Both sides agree the existing battle lines would be the final dividing line between North and South Korea if a truce is reached in 30 days. April 1952 - Truce talks are deadlocked over voluntary repatriation. October 8, 1952 - Truce talks are adjourned. April 26, 1953 - Truce talks are resumed, and the Communists agree to voluntary repatriation. July 27, 1953 - Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Chinese
Vietnam War US Troop Statistics - Source: Dept. of Defense 3,403,000 served in Southeast Asia 2,594,000 served in South Vietnam The original American flag raised on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, during World War II is installed in its new home at the National Museum of the Marine Corps Quantico, Va, Oct. 13, 2006.
The total of American servicemen listed as POW/MIA at the end of the war was 2,646. As of April 14, 2023, 1,579 soldiers remain unaccounted for. US Deaths: Battle: 47,434; Non-Battle: 10,786. Total In-Theatre: 58,220 - 1 - Total million civilian deaths Timeline (Source: CNN News) September 2, 1945 - Vietnam declares independence from France. Neither France nor the United States recognizes this claim. US President Harry S. Truman aids France with military equipment to fight the rebels known as Viet Minh. May 1954 - The Battle of Dien Bien Phu results in serious defeat for the French and peace talks in Geneva. The Geneva Accords end the French Indochina War.
US President Harry S. Truman
People’s Volunteers and the UN sign an armistice agreement. The Republic of Korea refuses to sign.Terms of the armistice include creation of the demilitarized zone, the DMZ. Each side is 2,200 yards from a center point. The DMZ is patrolled by both sides at all times. 2007 - Present - The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency posts news releases online about recently accounted for service members’ remains. April 27, 2018 - During a day-long summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledge to formally end the Korean War, 65 years after hostilities ceased. Because of the involvement of the United Nations and countries such as the United States and China in the war, these nations will need to be signatories on an official peace treaty. (See pictures below.)
35,000 troops in South Vietnam. The United States sends more and more troops to fight the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese, with the number of US troops in Vietnam peaking at 543,000 in April 1969. August 2, 1964 - Gulf of Tonkin - The North Vietnamese fire on a US destroyer anchored in the Gulf of Tonkin. After US President Lyndon Johnson falsely claims that there had been a second attack on the destroyer, Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which authorizes full-scale US intervention in the Vietnam War. Johnson orders the bombing of North Vietnam in retaliation for the Tonkin attack. August 5, 1964 - Johnson asks Congress for the power to go to war against the North Vietnamese and the Communists for violating the Geneva Accords against South Vietnam and Laos. The request is granted August 7, 1964, in a Congressional joint resolution. January 30, 1968 - Tet Offensive - The North Vietnamese launch a massive surprise attack during the festival of the Vietnamese New Year, called Tet. The attack hits 36 major cities and towns in South Vietnam. April 1970 - Invasion of Cambodia - US President Richard Nixon orders US and South Vietnamese troops to invade border areas in Cambodia and destroy supply centers set up by the North Vietnamese. The invasion sparks more anti-war protests, and on June 3, 1970, Nixon announces the completion of troop withdrawal. May 4, 1970 - National Guard units fire into a group of demonstrators at Kent State University in Ohio. The shots kill four students and wound nine others. Anti-war demonstrations and riots occur on hundreds of other campuses throughout May. February 8, 1971 - Invasion of Laos - Under orders from Nixon, US and South Vietnamese ground troops, with the support of B-52 bombers, invade southern Laos in an effort to stop the North Vietnamese supply routes through Laos into South Vietnam. This action is done without consent of Congress and causes more anti-war protests in the United States. January 27, 1973 - A cease-fire is arranged after peace talks. March 29, 1973 - The last American ground troops leave. Fighting begins again between North and South Vietnam, but the United States does not return. April 30, 1975 - South Vietnam surrenders to North Vietnam as North Vietnamese troops enter Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City. May 25, 2012 - US President Barack Obama signs a proclamation that puts into effect the “Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War” that will continue until November 11, 2025. Over the next 13 years, the program will “honor and give thanks to a generation of proud Americans who saw our country through one of the most challenging missions we have ever faced.
July 21, 1954 - Vietnam signs the Geneva Accords and divides into two countries at the 17th parallel, the Communist-led north and US-supported south. 1957-1963 - North Vietnam and the Viet Cong fight South Vietnamese troops. Hoping to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, the United States sends more aid and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese government. The number of US military advisers in Vietnam grows from 900 in 1960 to 11,000 in 1962. 1964-1969 - By 1964, the Viet Cong, the Communist guerrilla force, has
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