Monday, July 02, 2012
 
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Illinois and the Korean War, July 1952

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[July 02, 2012]  SPRINGFIELD -- The state of Illinois is commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War by supplying information each month about the state's involvement in the conflict.

The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, Illinois Korean Memorial Association, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum along with media partners the Illinois Press Association and the Illinois Broadcasters Association are sponsoring "Illinois Remembers the Forgotten War." For more information, visit www.illinois-history.gov or www.veterans.illinois.gov

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Illinoisans killed in action in Korea, July 1952
By county of residence
(Source: U.S. Department of Defense records)

Adams:

  • Cpl. Dewey E. Wright, Marines, July 10.

Boone:

  • Cpl. Ronald L. Murphy, Army, July 18. 

Cook:

  • Cpl. Richard W. Boer Jr., Army, July 3.

  • Sgt. 1st Class John Decerno, Army, July 31.

  • Pvt. Zane E. DeLong, Marines, July 30.

  • Pvt. 1st Class Charles Gangl, Marines, July 23.

  • Cpl. John R. Hronek, Army, July 18.

  • Pvt. Ronald J. Kloeckner, Army, July 28.

  • Pvt. 1st Class Paul C. Knutson, Army, July 26.

  • Pvt. 1st Class Harry Woodfolk Jr., Army, July 23.

  • Pvt. 1st Class Casemir J. Ziared, Marines, July 7.

DeKalb:

  • Pvt. 1st Class Harold E. Byers, Army, July 31.

Fayette:

  • Pvt. Harold C. Buchholz, Army, July 10.

LaSalle:

  • Pvt. 1st Class Virgil C. Shelley Jr., Marines, July 3.

Macoupin:

  • Sgt. William J. Ficker, Army, July 23.

Pope:

  • Pvt. 1st Class Lewis E. Canie, Army, July 21.

Rock Island:

  • 1st Lt. James G. Vretis, Air Force, July 11.

Sangamon:

  • Pvt. 1st Class Robert L. Hewitt, Army, July 3.

Whiteside:

  • Sgt. 1st Class Raymond H. Hogarth, Army, July 4.

Key events during the Korean War, July 1952

The fight for Hill 266, known to those who fought for it as "Old Baldy," flared up again in July. Taking advantage of the arrival of fresh, inexperienced troops from the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division relieving the battle-hardened soldiers of the 45th Division, the Chinese attacked in force on the night of July 17. The 23rd Infantry Regiment repelled the first wave of the attack thanks to timely artillery support and the quick arrival of reinforcements. But the second Chinese assault wave advanced behind an intense artillery and mortar barrage and seized the crest of the hill. Counterattacks by the 23rd Regiment, supported by airstrikes and artillery, could not drive the Chinese from their newly won positions. By July 20, U.S. troops had regained only a small portion of Old Baldy before heavy rains turned the area into a quagmire of mud, shell craters and casualties.

When the rain eased off at the end of July, the 23rd Infantry Regiment, again supported by artillery and mortars, launched another attack on the entrenched Chinese. After bitter hand-to-hand combat with small arms and grenades, the American soldiers finally recaptured the crest of the hill early on Aug. 1 and dug in to prepare for the inevitable Chinese counterattack.

In a continuation of the air raids that had begun in June, on July 23 U.S. Navy and United Nations planes launched massive airstrikes against North Korea's hydroelectric power grid, causing an almost complete blackout for more than two weeks. The 491-mile Yalu River, dividing the Korean peninsula from China, was important for irrigation and inland navigation, but its main value for North Korea and China was the electricity generated by its string of hydroelectric plants. Following the air offensive, power was even lost in northeast China, where the region's power grid was degraded by nearly 25 percent. The attacks on the Yalu River power plants were yet another way to put pressure on the Chinese, along with a steady flow of casualties returning north from the Korean battlefields. The Americans hoped this added pressure would translate into a greater willingness from the otherwise intransigent Communists to negotiate in good faith at the Panmunjom armistice talks.

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Meanwhile, back in the States, most Americans were engrossed in other news and largely overlooked events in Korea. Sports fans were focused on the 1952 Summer Olympics taking place in Helsinki, Finland. Also, the presidential race was heating up as both parties had their conventions in July. Republicans, sensing victory after a 25-year hiatus from the White House, selected World War II hero Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as their candidate. The Democrats chose Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson to carry their banner. The nation was growing increasingly weary with the stalemate in Korea, and the war became one of the election's main issues.

Illinois Korean War Memorial

The Illinois Korean War Memorial is located in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery, the same cemetery that contains the Lincoln Tomb. Oak Ridge is the nation's second-most visited burial ground, behind only Arlington National Cemetery.

Dedicated on June 16, 1996, the memorial consists of a 12-foot-tall bronze bell mounted on a granite base. At the circumference of the base are four niches, each with a larger-than-life figure representing a branch of the armed services. Inscribed on the base are the names of 1,754 Illinoisans killed in Korea.

The Illinois Korean War Memorial is administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and may be visited daily free of charge.  

Korean War veterans oral history project
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum  

The oral history program at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum offers "Veterans Remember," a collection of interviews with Illinois residents about their wartime experiences, at the library's website, www.alplm.org/oral_history/home.html. The audio interviews concern the experiences of Illinois veterans who fought in several conflicts, including the Korean War, as well as the experiences of those on the home front. Visitors to the website can listen to or watch the interviews in their entirety. Several of the interviews have transcripts, and most have still images as well.

Website visitors will need a computer capable of playing MP3 audio files or MPG compressed video files in order to listen to the interviews. The transcripts and still images are also accessible. Volunteers conducted and edited many of the interviews and developed the transcripts that accompany them.

Korean War National Museum

The Korean War National Museum, or KWNM, celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Korean War with a new board of directors, new professional staff and a renewed focus on getting a world-class museum built now, in the lifetime of the Korean War veterans. Recent news media reports outlined a proposal of the KWNM to obtain 7,000 square feet of prime space on Navy Pier in Chicago for a state-of-the-art, world-class museum where visitors could come to honor and learn about the service and sacrifices of the Americans, South Koreans and their U.N. allies in the "forgotten victory." Those plans are continuing to be developed, and the KWNM hopes to be able to share some exciting news soon.

Meanwhile, the Denis J. Healy Freedom Center, at 9 South Old State Capitol Plaza in Springfield, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.

The KWNM welcomes donations of photographs, documents, diaries and artifacts of those who served in the Korean War. To learn more about the KWNM, or to volunteer or donate, visit www.kwnm.org or look for the museum on Facebook.

Korean War booklet

The Illinois Korean Memorial Association, an all-volunteer organization, has published a booklet, "A Brief History of the Korean War," copies of which have been provided free of charge to public libraries, high schools and junior high schools in Illinois. Individuals may obtain a copy by sending a $10 check or money order to: Illinois Korean Memorial Association, P.O. Box 8554, Springfield, IL 62791.

Tax-deductible donations are welcome. All donations go to the book project and to the upkeep of the Illinois Korean War Memorial.

[Text from file received from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]

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