Well, my grandson served in the 3rd on the charge up. We didn't hear from him
from Feb. 25 until almost the end of May. One of my strongest impressions of

I'm glad he got through it, and I hope he comes safely home.

influenced in my thinking by my time assigned to the 3rd in Korea in 1950 with
a TACP. When we went into to the Wonsan area we were told not to worry, just
some final mopping up operations, the NKs were all done, although they still
had some fight in them. Those "mopping up" operations were inflicting hundreds
of casualties on the troops. But that was nothing compared to what happened
when the Chinese poured in and the 3rd began a fighting retreat centered on

Well, I doubt Syria or Iran can or would be willing to back up Saddam
as China backed up North Korea.

A friend of mine served with the British army in Korea and used to
tell stories about the Americans' dislike of personal combat--using
artillery instead of sending out a patrol, etc. But when you read of
the campaigns in WWII and Korea, what's astonishing is the williness
to take huge casualties. Units routinely lost 10 percent of their
strength in 48 hours--that sort of thing.

I suppose it was Vietnam that changed that, as it changed so many
things.

It is always good to hear from you, Chris. Your posts are a pillar of
sanity on this newsgroup. I especially appreciated learning a bit more
of your personal history.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
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