2020
Roy Rogers Show
December 28, 2020
The Roy Rogers Show was broadcast on NBC from December 1951 to June 1957. Before changing his name, Rogers used his given name Leonard Franklin Slye to co-found the Sons of the Pioneers.  https://youtu.be/s3FclAQDCxU IMDb Set in the fictional town of Mineral City, the Roy Rogers Show starred Roy Rogers as a ranch owner, Dale Evans (born Lucille Wood Smith) as the owner of the Eureka Café and Hotel and Pat Brady (born Robert Ellsworth Patrick Aloysious O'Brady) as Roy’s sidekick and Dale's cook. Brady drove an erratic jeep named Nellybelle, while Roy, accompanied by his German Shepherd Bullet, rode his Palomino Trigger. Rogers became one of the most popular Western stars of his era. Known as the "King of the Cowboys", he appeared in over 100 films and numerous radio and television episodes of The Roy Rogers Show. Source: Wikipedia
Christmas Home on the Home Front and in Korea
December 25, 2020
https://youtu.be/fkfs6hd3sMc From the time the liaison officers of both coalitions met in July 1951, until the armistice agreement was signed in July 1953, the Korean War continued as a stalemate. Both sides had given up trying to unify Korea by force and the movement of armies on the ground never again matched the fluidity of the first year of the war.  Source: Britannica The principal battles of the stalemate in 1951 included: the Battle of Bloody Ridge (18 August–15 September 1951), the Battle of the Punchbowl (31 August-21 September 1951) and the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge (13 September–15 October 1951).
Amahl and the Night Visitors
December 24, 2020
https://youtu.be/VUKvrNeNgk8 Amahl and the Night Visitors was a one-act production by Gian Carlo Menotti that was the first opera specifically composed for television in America. The story: One night in Judea, a disabled shepherd boy-turned-beggar and his mother are visited by the Three Kings who are on their way to Bethlehem to visit the newborn Christ Child. The opera was first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on Christmas Eve December 24, 1951, in New York City as a live broadcast from the Rockefeller Center. It was the debut production of the Hallmark Hall of Fame.
Your Hit Parade
December 21, 2020
  Your Hit Parade's first radio broadcast was in 1935.  It continued on TV from 1950 to 1959. The show's sponsor was the  American Tobacco Company Lucky Strike Cigarette. Wikimedia Commons https://youtu.be/-2lhHs3UtnA https://youtu.be/6QZ-c6Lxfiw If you remember those days, how many of these song titles evoke a familiar, emotional feeling? THE TOP HITS OF 1951 Would I love you -Doris Day Because of you - Tony Bennett Cry - Johnny Ray  Come on in my house - Rosemary Clooney How high the moon - Les Paul and Mary Ford Why did I tell you I was going to Shanghai - Doris Day Too young - Nat King Cole If - Perry Como The lullaby of Broadway - Doris Day Mockingbird hill - Les Paul and Mary Ford The little white cloud that cried -Johnny Ray Be my love - Mario Lanza Jezebel - Frankie Laine It's no sin - Eddie Howard Cold, cold heart - Tony Bennett Sweet violets - Dinah Shore Ask me / lonesome and sorry - Doris Day Tennessee waltz - Patti Page On top of old smoky - The Weavers My heart cries for you - Guy Mitchell Domino - Dinah Shore So long it's been good to know ya - The Weavers Detour - Patti Paige Down yonder - Del Wood My life's desire - Doris Day This is my song - Patti Paige Tell me why - The Four Aces The syncopated clock - LeRoy Anderson orchestra Mister and Mississippi - Patti Paige We kiss in a shadow - Doris Day and Frank Sinatra Rose, Rose I love you - Frankie Laine Flamingo - Earl Bostic orchestra The loveliest night of the year - Mario Lanza In the cool, cool, cool of the evening - Bing Crosby Kisses sweeter than wine -The Weavers The glory of love - The five Keys Hello young lovers - Perry Como https://youtu.be/5c-rVoBdZDE
Truman Declares a National Emergency
December 17, 2020
On December 15, 1951, U.S. President Harry Truman gave a radio address from the White House and announced that he would proclaim a national emergency "because of great danger created by the Soviet Union."
Jet Magazine
December 10, 2020
Founded in 1951, the weekly magazine Jet focused on news, culture, and entertainment related to the African–American community.  Jet chronicled the Civil Rights Movement including the murder of Emmett Till, the Montgomery bus boycott, and the civilrights activities of Martin Luther King Jr. In 2016, Johnson Publishing sold Jet and its sister publication Ebony to the Black-owned investment firm Clear View Group. Jet Magazine
Chinese Treatment of Prisoners of War
December 3, 2020
The issue of Chinese treatment of UN prisoners of war is controversial. Cold war attitudes were often reflected in early reports which had limited actual data. On occasion, the Chinese People's Liberation Army was reported to provide emergency medical treatment for seriously-wounded UN soldiers and leave them for rescue as they departed the area. In contrast, many reports indicated murder and brutal treatment of POWs by the North Korean People's Army. December 4, 1950 - China released wounded American prisoners of war and allowed them to return to their retreating convoy, although they kept several officers of the same units, claiming that they would "buy them tickets from Shanghai to San Francisco". Two trucks brought the men to the American lines, and the men were told "Go back where you belong." A U.S. Army major commented, "It's pure propaganda, of course. But we got back 27 of our men." - Chicago Daily Tribune After the Korean war, some investigations reported that several thousand American prisoners died or were executed in POW camps, and many were tortured. Throughout the conflict, reports indicated that the Communists were subjecting American POWs to a re-education process popularly described as "brainwashing." But it also became clear that such re-education was largely ineffective. Nevertheless, 21 prisoners chose not to return home.  Pinterest https://youtu.be/zku0G_K_rLA The conclusions of professional and semi-professional scholars and writers about American POW behavior are mixed. First, never before Korea were American POWs confronted by a captor who worked hard to change their ideological persuasion. Second, never before had the American public been so gullible as to believe that such a chimera as the enemy's self-proclaimed "lenient policy" was, in fact, lenient. And, finally, for the first time, the public seemed to assume that such selfish, undisciplined behavior as existed among the POWs was something new in American military experience and that it was a direct consequence of a characterological deterioration in the nation itself. Whether or not such a deterioration has been taking place in American society, from the advent of the New Deal and the impact of progressive education as the critics strongly imply, is not under contention here. What is being contended, rather, is that if one really believes this and wants evidence to prove it, one will have to find examples other than among those Americans who died and those who survived in the prison camps of North Korea, 1950-53. Source: American Quarterly , Spring, 1970, Vol. 22, No. 1  The total number of Korean War MIAS/remains not recovered was 8,154.
Direct-dial Coast to Coast Telephone Service
November 30, 2020
https://youtu.be/C7YM9Sz9wxo The first direct-dial coast to coast telephone call was made in 1951 between the Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey and the Mayor of Alameda, California. Taking ~18 seconds to connect, the call was placed using AT&T’s direct distance dialing system which did not require operator assistance. The new method utilized a ten-digit phone number which included the three-digit area code system that had been implemented in the late 1940s.  https://youtu.be/h9OpJywavN0
Sexist and Prejudicial Public Service Announcements
November 23, 2020
https://youtu.be/xuZzHOKhKAI https://youtu.be/Oe7qdnBTJy8
Battle of Hoa Binh – French Indochina War
November 19, 2020
https://youtu.be/pl-0uqJhi3o From 1887 to the mid-1900s, French Indochina was the collective name for the French colonial regions of Southeast Asia composed of Cochin-China, Annam, Cambodia, Tonkin, Kwangchowan and Laos. http://foreignlegion.info/units/1st-foreign-parachute-regiment/ The First Indochina War occurred from 1945 -1954. The conflict pitted the French Far East Expeditionary Corps, supported by Vietnamese National Army of Bảo Đại, against the Việt Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) led by Hồ Chí Minh and the People's Army of Vietnam led by General  Võ Nguyên Giáp. Although most of the fighting took place in the northern Tonkin region of Vietnam, the conflict engulfed the entire country and extended into the neighboring French Indochina protectorates of Laos and Cambodia. After several years of low-level rural insurgency against the French, in 1949 the conflict turned into a conventional war between armies equipped with modern weapons supplied by the United States, China and the Soviet Union. French Union forces included troops from France's former empire (Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Laotian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese ethnic minorities), French professional troops and units of the French Foreign Legion.  French efforts were hindered by the limited usefulness of armored tanks in a jungle environment, lack of strong air support and the use of foreign recruits. Incorporating a Chinese guerrilla warfare doctrine and the use of simple and reliable war material provided by the Soviet Union, General Giáp recruited a sizable regular army with wide popular support. Giáp's forces deployed novel tactics including: direct fire artillery, convoy ambushes and massive use of anti-aircraft guns to impede land and air supply deliveries.. In 1951 French aims in Indochina included the development of Vietnam as an independent state within the French Union and the establishment of a viable Vietnamese national army. Following a string of defensive victories in early 1951, French colonial forces in Indochina sought to go back on the offensive against the Việt Minh in the Battle of Hòa Bình. The battle of Hòa Bình continued from November 1951 to February 1952. Initially, French forces attempted to draw General Giáp's forces out into the open; but heavy Việt Minh pressure on their positions soon forced the French to go on the defensive. Although suffering heavier casualties than the French, the Việt Minh nevertheless were ultimately victorious in the battle. https://youtu.be/tylzToz8ZPY
Bob and Ray
November 16, 2020
Wikipedia Bob and Ray was the name of a popular American radio comedy show with Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding whose career spanned five decades. The duo typically satirized radio and television interviews, with deadpan, off-the-wall dialogue presented as if it were a serious broadcast. Bob and ray signed off with the line: Write if you get work and remember to hang by your thumbs Bob & Ray March 1951 https://youtu.be/Is-sVmpUY0g
USSR Acknowledges It Has Atomic Bomb
November 12, 2020
After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the USSR utilized intelligence gathered from the German nuclear weapons project and the American Manhattan Project to aggressively pursue the development of a Russian atomic bomb. In August 1949, the Soviet Union secretly conducted its first successful weapon test  Although President Harry Truman announced in September 1949, that there had been an atomic explosion in Russia, he did not say specifically that it was an atom bomb that had been exploded. In October 1951 Josef Stalin acknowledged that the USSR had an atomic bomb
An American in Paris
November 9, 2020
https://youtu.be/azQoXniMSi0 An American in Paris was a 1951 American musical comedy inspired by the 1928 orchestral composition An American in Paris by George Gershwin. The film starred Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary and Nina Foch, Popular songs in the movie included I Got Rhythm, Love Is Here to Stay, I'll Build A Stairway to Paradise and S Wonderful. https://youtu.be/7EjF-I6aMc0 The climax of the film was a 17-minute dialogue-free dance featuring Kelly and Caron. https://youtu.be/4P_tyRcAGeg  An American in Paris won six Academy Awards including Best Picture in 1952.
Radio Moscow
November 5, 2020
https://youtu.be/cznCttle760 Radio Moscow's interval signal. Radio Moscow (Pадио Москва) was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics until 1993. After the fall of the Soviet Union It was reorganized with a new name: Voice of Russia, which has also since been reorganized and renamed Radio Sputnik. At its peak, Radio Moscow broadcast in over 70 languages using transmitters in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Cuba. Radio Moscow https://youtu.be/t0OqqP2n_FY
Chinese People’s Liberation Army Attack
November 2, 2020
https://youtu.be/BjlrJzCfTMI I have been researching this topic for a historical novel I am writing about the Korean War. This video clip is not representative of Chinese attacks in the Korean War—People's Liberation Army attacks were typically carried out by smaller attack teams concentrating on a particular enemy line of defense. Quite familiar to most Americans, human wave Banzai charges were used in the Pacific War WWII by the Imperial Japanese Army. During the Chinese Civil War, Nationalist Chinese accused the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) of using unarmed civilians as human shields in human sea attacks to drain Nationalist ammunition during battles. Although attacks by the People's Liberation Army troops during the Korean War have often been depicted in the West as human wave attacks, they are more properly described as Chinese short attacks— a combination of infiltration and shock tactics in which the Chinese assault team would crawl undetected within hand grenade range, then launch surprise attacks to breach the defenses by relying on maximum shock and confusion. automototale.com Usually carried out at night, Chinese short attacks, announced by an eerie cacophony of bugles, whistles, drums and cymbals,  thrust small fire teams on a narrow front against the weakest point in enemy defenses. If the initial shock failed to breach the defenses, additional fire teams would attack the same point until penetration was achieved. Then the bulk of the Chinese forces would attack the enemy from behind. Masked in the terrain, Chinese short attacks were carefully timed to minimize casualties and often repeated indefinitely until either the defenses were penetrated or the attacker's ammunition supply was exhausted, regardless of the chances of success or human cost. Main Source: Wikipedia _________________________At 2200, a red flare rose above the high ground to the east. Then, with a whistle blast, a company-sized unit of PLA charged the perimeter of RCT-31. With clanging cymbals and bugle calls, the Chinese infantrymen shrieked something that, to Nick, sounded like “you die!” Red and green tracers arced back and forth as machine gun bullets and mortar shells streaked through the bluish-white light of the star shells slowly parachuting down over the frozen hillside. White-quilted soldiers, firing burp guns and flinging fragmentation hand grenades, rushed into the perimeter of Able Company. Crouching behind the log barrier, Nick fired his M1 carbine as fast as he could. But the PLA kept charging—farmers and peasants leaping like Kung Fu fighters over the bodies of their fallen comrades. They were almost on top of Nick. Was this the end? - Excerpt from my upcoming historical fiction novel about events leading up to the battle of Chosin Reservoir
Halloween Trick or Treat 1951
October 31, 2020
Armed Forces Radio Service
October 29, 2020
After WWII, the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) employed mobile radio vans and commandeered Japanese stations on the mainland, Korea, the Marianas, and the Ryukyus. After the Korean War broke out, broadcasts to Korea from Japan were transmitted from the Far East Network (FEN) headquarters in the Radio Tokyo building. https://youtu.be/VVKFXlpuiXM
Man from Planet X, The Thing & Day the Earth Stood Still
October 26, 2020
Meanwhile, on the home front the public was fascinated by outer space. https://youtu.be/K6iF5sINVns https://youtu.be/05-qogh7GA0
Battles of Bloody Ridge and Heartbreak Ridge
October 22, 2020
By the summer of 1951, the Korean War had reached a stalemate a few miles north of the 38th parallel where UN and Communist forces clashed in several relatively small but bloody battles. The Battle of Bloody Ridge from mid-August to early September 1951 was an attempt by American and Republic of Korea (ROK) forces to seize a ridge a few miles north of the 38th parallel that was being used by the North Korean People's Army (NKPA) as an observation post to call in artillery fire on a UN supply road. After a series of fierce hand-to-hand assaults and repulsions, the NKPA finally abandoned the hill. 2,700 UN and ~15,000 NKPA troops were killed or wounded with few prisoners taken by either side.  After withdrawing from Bloody Ridge, the NKPA set up new positions only ~1,500 yards away on a seven-mile-long hill that became known as Heartbreak Ridge. With intense attacks and counterattacks, the battle for Heartbreak Ridge from mid-September to mid-October 1951 proved even more difficult than that for Bloody Ridge. With continual NKPA reinforcements and resupply, it became clear that repeated UN infantry assaults on the ridge would not succeed. A new UN plan was devised to cut the ridge off from further reinforcement. On October 11th, with >30 tanks, artillery and airplane support, the UN 2nd Division attacked the ridge just as the Chinese 204th Division was moving up to relieve the NKPA. The Chinese division suffered heavy casualties but managed to damage five Sherman tanks before the Americans halted the offensive. On October 12, with reinforced anti-tank trenches and a battalion of anti-tank guns, Chinese forces halted a UN attack, destroying or damaging 18 tanks. Subsequent battles were extremely brutal and costly. After 30 days of combat, American and French forces eventually secured Heartbreak Ridge. But with 38 armored vehicles destroyed and nine damaged, UN forces did not penetrate the valley to reach the town of Mundung-ni. The defense of the Mundung-ni Valley is now celebrated in North Korea as the victorious battle of Height 1211 With the loss of >3,700 American and French and an estimated 25,000 North Korean and Chinese casualties, the UN command decided that battles like Heartbreak Ridge were not worth the high cost in blood for the relatively small amount of terrain captured. Pinterest https://youtu.be/Mz_gA_TjVTo https://youtu.be/UCqTRjzkLRw 1986 movie
Dragnet – Danger Ahead
October 19, 2020
Dun Da dun dun ~ Walter Schumann's ominous, four-note introduction to the TV show Dragnet was recognized by most Americans in the 1950s to signify "danger ahead." Dragnet was an American television series, based on the radio series of the same name, both created by  Jack Webb. Webb played the Los Angeles police detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Ben Alexander co-starred as Friday's partner, Officer Frank Smith. The police term Dragnet describes coordinated measures for apprehending suspects, including road barricades and traffic stops, DNA tests, and general increased police alertness. The term is derived from dragging a fishing net across the bottom or through a promising area of open water.
United Nations Forces in the Korean War
October 15, 2020
https://youtu.be/LYE0nfqnqc0   Sixteen UN nations supplied fighting units and five sent military hospitals and field ambulances. Australia was one of the very first to contribute military personnel from all three services. The single largest UN contributor was the United States of America (USA) which at one stage had 140,000 personnel deployed in direct combat roles in Korea. Great Britain, Canada, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Colombia, Ethiopia, South Africa, New Zealand, Turkey, Greece, Thailand, Philippines and Luxembourg sent fighting units. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, India, Italy contributed military hospitals and field ambulances to the cause.                                        Source: United Nations Forces in the Korean War   
Cost of Living 1951
October 12, 2020
https://youtu.be/WLmJaT9XeDA House: $7,300Average income: $3,515Ford car: $1424-$22538.3 cu. ft. General Electric refrigerator: $330Milk: $.92Gas: $.20Bread $.16Postage stamp: $.031 lb. of buttered peanut brittle: $.2514 oz. can of Hershey’s Syrup: $.17Sliced Bacon: $.63 per lbCoca Cola, 6 bottles: $.37Canada Dry Ginger Ale, (2) 28 oz bottles: $.39Post Sugar Crisp, 6 oz pkg: $.15Jerry Mahoney Ventriloquist dummy: $14.95 Source: FiftiesWeb https://youtu.be/SfbqK5MNbHk https://youtu.be/JsySZ11ohGg
Korean War Armistice Talks Begin
October 8, 2020
https://youtu.be/Znm5Xf7Xrlw In July 1951, peace talks began between the U.N. and North Korea in the village of Kaesong (later moved to nearby Panmunjon), just north of the future Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The desire to secure more territory and unresolved disagreement regarding the repatriation of prisoners-of-war (some of whom were reluctant to be returned to their home countries) dragged the talks out for another two years. Digital Archive of peace talks Unfortunately, the prolonged negotiations (which resulted in little change in the relative positions of opposing forces) resulted in many more civilian and military deaths on both sides. Korean War Memorial - Washington D.C.
Ernie Kovacs Popular TV Comedian
October 5, 2020
https://youtu.be/U2AWAZ0gojY Ernest Edward Kovacs (1919 – 1962, was a popular American TV comedian, actor, and writer. Often spontaneous, his zany comedy style influenced numerous TV comedy programs for years after his death. Frequently his slapstick humor included unusual behaviors such as hosting a pet marmoset or wrestling a jaguar. While Kovacs and his wife Edie Adams received Emmy nominations for their comedy series in the 1950s, it was not until after his death in an automobile accident in 1962 that he received an Emmy for Outstanding Electronic Camera Work and the Directors' Guild award.  Later, he was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television. Source: Wikipedia https://youtu.be/416o9b_pjQk
Family Bomb Shelters for Atomic Attack
October 1, 2020
https://youtu.be/8UW0LgiHFQQ As Cold War tension regarding the threat of Soviet nuclear attack rose in the 1950s, children learned to duck and cover under their school desks and many families across the country built fallout shelters in their basements and backyards. Community shelters were constructed beneath municipal buildings, and emergency government bunkers were carved into hillsides. Source: History.com https://youtu.be/hLoiQ9pZjfk
Did The U.S. Deploy Bioweapons During the Korean War?
September 28, 2020
https://youtu.be/Y4ALYK8c5Yg A 1950s report published in Peking by an international commission concluded that the U.S. used bioweapons on North Korea. The report raised doubts about claims that captured Americans were brainwashed into confessing the use of such weapons. https://youtu.be/B43PLaebJ_M Chinese film of 1953, purporting to show soldiers (?) in white body suits in Korea. Chinese scientists testing reactions to chemical spraying. Biological warfare. However, documents acquired in the 1990s from the former Soviet Union concluded that the accusations of United States use of biological weapons during the Korean conflict were fraudulent. Former USSR - World Atlas Biological warfare in a historical perspective - A review by R.Roffey, A.Tegnell, F.Elgh During World War I Germany infected horses being shipped to the Allies with anthrax or glanders.  During World War II the USA, Russia, the UK, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, and Hungary tried to acquire biological weapons capability but use was limited. In contrast, the Japanese biological weapons program became advanced with the production of plague, anthrax, typhoid, cholera and dysentery agents tested on prisoners of war and used against Chinese populations.  In 1943, work on biological warfare agents began at Fort Detrick, Maryland. The US program during WWII developed small-particle-size aerosol dissemination of wet or dry preparations of pathogens and a production facility for bacterial agents was opened in the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas. At its peak in the 1950-60s, the program involved a number of agents including: Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis, Brucella suis, Coxiella burnetti, Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus, yellow fever, botulin, staphylococcal enterotoxin, and the anti-crop agents Pyricularia oryzae and Puccinia graminis. In 1969 the U.S. joined the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, agreeing to stop further offensive biological weapons development and to use the facilities for peaceful purposes or for bio-defense work only. In 1992 Russia banned ongoing biological weapons development. But concerns still exist regarding possible residual programs and U.S.intelligence reports suggest several states (e.g., Iran, North Korea, Syria) still have active programs.
The Caine Mutiny Wins The Pulitzer Prize
September 24, 2020
The Caine Mutiny, a novel by Herman Wouk, won the 1951 Pulitzer Prize. Derived from Wouk's personal experiences aboard destroyer-minesweepers in the Pacific during WWII, the novel deals with the moral and ethical decisions made at sea by a ship captain. The non- violent mutiny takes place during Typhoon Cobra, in December 1944. The court-martial of the mentally-unstable Captain provides the dramatic climax to the plot. In 1954, the novel was made into a motion picture starring Humphrey Bogart. https://youtu.be/KekChFdIe00
First H-Bomb Test on Eniwetok Atoll
September 21, 2020
https://youtu.be/oR3_7A_rQD0 In January 1950, President Harry Truman, despite strong reservations of the Atomic Energy Commission, made the controversial decision to intensify research and production of thermonuclear weapons. On May 12th, 1951, the United States, detonated the first hydrogen bomb on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands.   The bomb was based on the combination of a nuclei of heavy hydrogen (deuterium) and the process of fission. Operation Greenhouse was designed to reduce the size, weight and amount of fissile material necessary for nuclear weapons, while increasing the destructive power.
Rosenbergs sentenced to death for espionage
September 17, 2020
https://youtu.be/5iUyF3YttgA Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were charged with conspiracy to commit espionage and brought to trial on March 6, 1951; On March 29 they were found guilty, and on April 5,1951 the couple was sentenced to death. https://youtu.be/7lfJC5bx3Us Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed by electric chair at Sing Sing Prison on June 19, 1953. Both proclaimed their innocence up to the time of their deaths.
UNIVAC – First Commercial Computer Built
September 14, 2020
https://youtu.be/kignGE77l_I The UNIVAC I was the first American computer designed to provide fast execution of relatively simple arithmetic and data transport operations for commercial purposes, as opposed to the complex numerical calculations required of scientific computers.By adding offline card processing equipment, the UNIVAC was designed to compete with existing punch-card machines. To promote sales, the Remington Rand Corporation joined with CBS to have UNIVAC I predict the result of the 1952 Presidential election. UNIVAC I accurately predicted an Eisenhower victory over Adlai Stevenson, the candidate pollsters favored.  UNIVAC I used about 5,000 vacuum tubes, weighed 16,686 pounds, 7 consumed 125 kW, and could perform about 1,905 operations per second running on a 2.25 MHz clock.  Source: Wikipedia
Korean War Draft Age Lowered From 21 to 18 Years
September 10, 2020
https://youtu.be/vEji28QamlM With WWII already begun in Europe and Asia, Congress narrowly passed the first peacetime draft in U.S. history. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act into law in September 1940. All males of ages 21 to 36 were required to register for the draft. The Act expired in March 1947, but President Harry S. Truman pushed for an extension of the draft and Congress reenacted the Selective Service Act in June 1948. Experiencing an overload of volunteers, the Selective Service System implemented a “draft holiday” in early 1949 with expiration due in June 1950. With the onset of the Korean war in June 1950, Congress extended the act for another year. This time all males aged 18-26 were required to register for the draft. The Act was reauthorized in 1951 as the Universal Military Training and Service Act. During the Korean War > 1.5 million men were inducted into the armed services. An additional 1.5 million were inducted between 1954 and 1961. Source: Encyclopedia Britannica
Chinese PLA and UN Forces Ping-Pong Back & Forth
September 3, 2020
https://youtu.be/ygEm0sIZF8M May 16, 1951 - Chinese Communist Forces launch a second offensive in Korea and gain up to 20 miles of territory. May 21, 1951 - The U.S. Eighth Army counterattacks to drive the Communist Chinese and North Koreans out of South Korea. Mid-June, 1951 - UN forces advance approximately 2–6 miles north of the 38th Parallel. With the start of ceasefire negotiations underway, the UN advance stops on the Kansas-Wyoming Line. Despite some limited attacks, this remains the frontline through 2 more years of stalemate. July 13, 1951 - Truce talks between the UN and the communists begin at Kaesŏng. However, fighting continues for two more years.  "The defeat of the Communist advance into South Korea and the restoration of a firm defensive line roughly along the 38th Parallel decided the outcome of the war and guaranteed the future of South Korea. U.S. and UN resolve in the subsequent summer fighting brought the Chinese and North Koreans to the peace table. The American response to the shock of the Chinese intervention evolved into a firm determination to limit the objectives of the war to the continued existence of South Korea." Source: U.S. army Center of Military History
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
August 31, 2020
https://youtu.be/aVEwfJ4s8kc There is no movie - This is a School project by Mickofferson The Catcher in the Rye written by the enigmatic recluse J.D. Salinger was first published in serial form in the New Yorker magazine in 1945–1946, then as a novel in 1951. J.D. Salinger - Wikipedia Narrated from the point of view of the young Holden Caulfield, the novel was originally intended for adults, but is often read by adolescents for its themes of angst and alienation, and as a critique on superficiality in society. Translated widely, the novel has sold more than 65 million copies worldwide. Source: Wikipedia
President Truman Relieves Gen MacArthur of Command
August 27, 2020
https://youtu.be/U7Siq4eFS-8 With the UN military situation in Korea improving in early 1951, President Harry S. Truman was contemplating offering a peace negotiation to Communist China. However, in late March 1951 General Douglas MacArthur independently challenged China to admit defeat, thereby simultaneously challenging both China and President Truman. Truman's proposed peace negotiation announcement was then shelved. In April 1951 the Republican leader in the House of Representatives read aloud a letter from MacArthur that was critical of Truman's Europe-first policy and limited-war strategy. The letter concluded with: It seems strangely difficult for some to realize that here in Asia is where the communist conspirators have elected to make their play for global conquest, and that we have joined the issue thus raised on the battlefield; that here we fight Europe's war with arms while the diplomats there still fight it with words; that if we lose the war to communism in Asia the fall of Europe is inevitable, win it and Europe most probably would avoid war and yet preserve freedom. As you pointed out, we must win. There is no substitute for victory. In April 1951 President Truman relieved General MacArthur of his command. In 1956 President Truman wrote: If there is one basic element in our Constitution, it is civilian control of the military. Policies are to be made by the elected political officials, not by generals or admirals. Yet time and again General MacArthur had shown that he was unwilling to accept the policies of the administration. By his repeated public statements he was not only confusing our allies as to the true course of our policies but, in fact, was also setting his policy against the President's... If I allowed him to defy the civil authorities in this manner, I myself would be violating my oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. General Source: Wikipedia https://youtu.be/CBAcq_hXtnc
Literature During the Korean War
August 20, 2020
Together with the Foot Soldiers 步兵과 더부러  Yu Ch’ihwan (1951) The pen we carry to fight should, like grenades, field artillery, flame throwers and the atomic bomb become a new weapon Ch’oe Sangdŏk (1901-1971) "After WWII Korean writers searched for a new function for literature which would undo culture from the remnants of colonization, and simultaneously strengthen the nation. Some writers argued that socialist realist literature would suit the needs of postcolonial Korea, while others started to propagate their vision of a so-called “pure literature” (sunsu munhak). In tandem with the political circumstances on the Korean peninsula, these two aesthetic doctrines would become the most dominant, and would eventually become directly linked to one of the two hegemonic political ideologies: Communism and Democracy..." Source: Wit, Jerôme de. Writing under wartime conditions : North and South Korean writers during the Korean war (1950-1953). For South Korean writers during the Korean War, nationalism and determining who represented the moral highground of the Korean nation formed an important battlefield. In their stories South Korean writers asserted that North Korean politicians and army officers had given up all rights to be part of the Korean nation by adhering to their “mistaken” (Communist) ideology. Meanwhile the common North Korean citizen (including the citizen soldier) was a victim of this group in power and was treated like a slave. Source: 1950s | Korean Literature Blog   After the partition between north and south, North Korea's subsequent literary tradition was shaped and controlled by the State. The "Guidelines for Juche Literature", published by the official Choson Writers' Alliance, emphasized that literature must extoll the country's leader. Only members of the Writers' Alliance are authorized to have their works published. Reading is a popular pastime in North Korea, where literacy and books enjoy a high cultural standing, elevated by the regime's efforts to disseminate propaganda as texts. Because of this, writers are held in high prestige. Source: Wikipedia North Korean literature is virtually nonexistent in English translation outside of North Korea. In contrast, a substantial body of South Korean literature has been translated. Source: B. Fulton Wikipedia  WRITERS North Korea South Korea
Chinese Ground Offensive Spring 1951
August 17, 2020
https://youtu.be/zswdDufm8b0 Excellent summary of Combat Activities In Korea, 20 April Through 20 May 1951 In April 1951 the Chinese Peoples Volunteer Army (PVA) launched the first phase of its Spring Offensive with three field armies totaling 700,000 men against the U.S. I Corps and US IX Corps. In May 1951, the PVA and Korean People's Army(KPA) launched the second phase of their Spring Offensive against the Republic of Korea (ROK) forces and US X Corps in the east. Although initially successful, PVA and KPA advances were halted by late May. At the end of May 1951, US Eighth Army counterattacked the overextended, exhausted PVA/KPA forces, inflicting heavy losses. Main source: Chinese Spring Offensive 
Chinese Spring Offensive Air War
August 13, 2020
https://youtu.be/HNgrTVzYDHA The Air Plan After their New Years' offensive, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army high command decided to use the People's Air Force in support of future ground operations. In preparation for this move, an air-ground training conference was held in Mukden.  By March 1951, in addition to more MIG-15s, the Chinese had acquired enough Ilyushin (IL-10) ground-attack planes to equip two air regiments. MIG-15 - Wikimedia Ilyushin (IL-10) ground-attack plane - Flickr.com Fearing UN retaliation on Chinese bases, the People's Air Force was forbidden to fly attack missions out of Manchuria against UN troops and installations. Airfields for support aircraft were therefore developed in North Korea. The Chinese air commander Liu Ya-lou planned to: establish air superiority over northwestern Korea repair and improve air facilities in the protected region restore forward airfields near the 38th parallel - Since the MIG-15s and IL-10s were short-range aircraft After the U.S. the Fifth Air Force demolished its forward fields at Kimpo and Suwon during the New Year's offensive and redeployed all jet fighters to Japan, U.S. jets' range was too short to maintain air superiority in the far northwest. The Chinese People's Air Force then assumed control of the air between the Yalu and Ch'ongch'on rivers. By the first week of March 1951, the Suwon airfield was sufficiently repaired to allow jets to stage through it and reenter MIG Alley. By the end of the month, the U.S. Fifth Air Force was back in even competition with the Chinese air force.  Wikipedia Main source: Offensive1951
Operation Ripper – Fourth Battle of Seoul
August 6, 2020
https://youtu.be/FV-uy5rXDCk With the UN Operation Ripper in March 1951, Seoul changed hands for the 4th time. Following the 8-day, late February offensive of Operation Killer that pushed PVA/KPA forces north of the Han River, Operation Ripper was intended to destroy the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and the Korean People's Army forces around Seoul and the towns of Hongch'on and Chuncheon. Conceived by General Matthew Ridgway, Operation Ripper aimed to bring UN troops to the 38th Parallel. Courtesy of the United States Military Academy Department of History
UN Forces Launch Major Counter-Offensive
July 30, 2020
https://youtu.be/hnlFxo3vUGA On January 25, 1950, after a series of cautious reconnaissance advances, the U.S. 8th Army, under the command of Gen Matthew Ridgway, initiated Operation Thunderbolt, a major attack against Chinese and North Korean forces near the Han River. The goal of Operation Thunderbolt was to inflict maximum punishment on the enemy while keeping major UN units intact.  GEN Ridgway stressed "good footwork combined with firepower.” 8th Army forces did not advance beyond carefully planned  “phase lines” until every assigned unit reached it.  After Operation Thunderbolt secured the southern bank of the Han River, the Chinese and North Korean forces moved their operations further east. In an attempt to regain the initiative, the Chinese counterattacked at the Battle of Hoengsong on February 11, briefly stopping US X Corps' advance. However, without rest and recuperation, the new Communist offensive faded at the Battle of Chipyong-ni on February 15. On February 21, 1950, with Communist forces incapable of further offensive operations, GEN Ridgway ordered Operation Killer to eliminate the remainder of Chinese and North Korean forces in the area. https://youtu.be/FShoMIgkuCg
Korean War Movies 1951
July 27, 2020
American Korean War films released in 1951 The Steel Helmet Fixed Bayonets! Korea Patrol I Want You Tokyo File 212 Submarine Command The Korean War was the first armed, global conflict in the Cold War between Democratic and Communist states. >5 million American troops fought in the war with >33,000 combat deaths and 92,000 injuries. In 1953, the war ended in an uneasy truce along the 38th parallel on the Korean Peninsula. Wikimedia Commons Nevertheless, aside from M*A*S*H and a few books and films, the Korean War remains somehow "forgotten" in American culture when compared with literature and films about WWII, the war in Vietnam, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. ~ USATODAY
Seoul City Sue – North Korean Propagandist
July 20, 2020
Anna Wallis Suh (1900–1969), nicknamed "Seoul City Sue," was a Methodist missionary, educator, and North Korean propaganda radio announcer broadcasting to United States forces during the Korean War. After joining the Shanghai American School (SAS) in 1938, Suh married fellow staff member Sŏ Kyu Ch’ŏl, thus losing her United States citizenship.  Late in WWII she was interned by the Japanese near Shanghai. After release, she resumed work at SAS for a year, before returning to Korea to teach school with her husband in 1946. In 1949 Suh was fired from the U.S. Legation school in Seoul due to suspicions regarding her husband's left-wing political activities. The Suhs remained in Seoul during the North Korean Army's invasion of South Korea in June 1950. In July 1950 Anna Wallis Suh began announcing an English language program for North Korean "Radio Seoul." After the Incheon landing in September 1950, the Suhs were evacuated north as a part of the general withdrawal of North Korean forces. Suh then continued her broadcasts on Radio Pyongyang. The Suhs also participated in the political indoctrination of US POWs at a camp near Pyongyang in February 1951. Wikipedia After the war, Suh was put in charge of English language publications for the Korean Central News Agency. In 1972 Charles Jenkins, an American deserter reported that Anna Suh had been shot as a South Korean double agent in 1969.
U.S. Bombing of Pyongyang
July 16, 2020
https://youtu.be/5v4_kNVCgXc The first intentional U.S. air raid on civilian populations in North Korea occurred with the bombing of the capital city Pyongyang in January 1951. (YouTube video is from 1952). Throughout the remainder of the war, a sustained U.S. air campaign targeted Pyongyang and other major cities of North Korea.  After running low on urban targets, U.S. bombers destroyed hydroelectric and irrigation dams in the later stages of the war, flooding farmland and destroying crops.                                  Source: Bombing of Pyongyang - Wikipedia   Wikipedia Wikipedia The U.S. dropped more bombs on North Korea than on Japanese targets in the entire Pacific theater during WWII. Whole cities were destroyed, with many thousands of innocent civilians killed and many more left homeless and hungry. Carpet bombing during the Korean War included 32,000 tons of napalm, often deliberately targeting civilians as well as military targets. Wikimedia Commons Gen. Curtis E. LeMay. (U.S. Air Force photo) "Over a period of three years or so, we killed off — what — 20 percent of the population," Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay, head of the Strategic Air Command during the Korean War, told the Office of Air Force History in 1984. Source: Vox
U.S. , Chinese and North Korean Winter Uniforms 
July 13, 2020
This Chinese soldier fighting in Korea 1950/53 is equipped with a Chinese Type 88 Hangyang rifle and wears a fur cap, the rice bag on his right side and bandoliers over his shoulders. Note also the cheap footwear and old-style leg wrappings. North Korean infantryman with a Soviet 7.62mm PPSh sub-machine gun. He is wearing a winter uniform of quilted jacket, over trousers and a cap with ear flaps. North Korean equipment was basic but functional and showed a close link to Soviet gear which was better quality than Chinese.
Korean War Comic Books
July 9, 2020
Following the sudden onset of hostilities in June 1950, the Korean War became the focus of a number of comic books. Beginning in 1951, E-C Comic's Two-Fisted Tales followed the United States into the Korean war.Two-Fisted Tales A few examples of Korean War Comic books