Excellent book. Should be required reading for all army officers. -- retired army officer, Virginia
I found Korea Between the Wars informative and interesting. I read it cover to cover which is unusual for me since I have not read a book in years. It brought back memories of my time in the Navy during W.W.II. -- former navy enlisted man, California
I have been an avid reader for about 50 years and I cannot remember when I found anything so hard to lay down as your good work. It is a very special source of information to anyone with the subjective interest that all of us have from the old Red Star Division have. Although I am not a writer and have little of value professionally to say, I do think it to be one of the easiest to read, most informative, and interestingly done works related to the Korean situation I have ever found in print. -- former soldier, Ohio
I just felt so sorry for that poor little soldier, I had to look at the back of the book to see if he ever got home...but then I thought, of course he got home, he wrote the book. -- lady senior citizen, Nevada
I think the book is fantastic...we were on the same ship (the General Haan) when we returned home. -- former soldier, Ohio
I want to thank you for the book. It was just great. It answered a lot of questions I had about what happened to the 63rd Infantry after I left for home in 1945. -- former soldier, Illinois
I was so intrigued with Korea Between the Wars, I read it cover to cover. Your accounts of your life were so similar to my experiences, I felt as if I were in a lost dream. -- former soldier, Oregon
The experiences you describe rekindled many long forgotten memories of my three years in the service during W.W.II.... Your description of life as an enlisted man was good, as were the conditions under which you lived. My recollection of the heat and humidity of the South Pacific and the bitter cold of China, the food or lack of food, the duty were very significant for me.... Your book has encouraged me to do something my family and several close friends have suggested, that is to write down some of my war time experiences. -- former marine, California
You have described very well details, such as "chigeh" and "washing with stick at stream". Since I grew up in a small town, I saw everything you mentioned long time ago and can understand. But, my sons who grew up in Seoul, did not know before they read the book. The book reminded me of many things I had seen long ago. -- college professor, South Korea
Product Description
History books are silent on the lives and experiences of the U.S. Army ground troops that occupied South Korea during the period between World War II and the Korean War. Ample material can be found describing the political events and military strategies of the time, but the realities of life during the occupation, as seen by soldiers on the ground in Korea, are locked in the memories of the men still living who served there -- men now approaching their seventh and eighth decades.
Korea Between the Wars is both a memoir and a history. It is the story of a young enlisted man, the author, who served in South Korea from January 1947 through February 1948 at Camp Hillenmeyer, a former Japanese air base now Kunsan Air Force Base. The story is told with liberal use of excerpts from many of approximately two hundred letters written from Korea by the author to his family. The excerpts are linked together by recollections refreshed by the letters and by never-to-be-forgotten memories of the time.
Korea Between the Wars is an account of a peacetime army of occupation forgotten, or neglected, by a military establishment in a decline that continued up to and through the Vietnam War. It tells of bone-chilling cold, shortages of fuel, dirty bodies and grimy clothes, and hunger to the point of starvation. Against this backdrop of privation, it describes the work and play, the frustrations and pleasures, and the everyday lives of enlisted men who served in the 63rd Infantry Regiment of the 6th Infantry Division.
The author's narrative contains much more than details of army life. In his letters to his family, he describes Korean towns and countrysides, the people, their homes, and their ways of life. His assignments at Camp Hillenmeyer brought him into close contact with Korean laborers and construction crews that provided him ample opportunity to study their work ethics and ways. The latter, some of which seemed primitive even fifty years ago, provided the author with material for letters home.
Korea Between the Wars also recounts the hardships of the Korean people imposed by food shortages, political turmoil, and difficult relations with American soldiers. And, it tells of the numerous portents of the war that was to come between North and South Korea.
In the final chapter of the book, the author looks back at his experiences as a young soldier in South Korea. In the interveninq years, he has spent considerable time reading and researching the history of the period in an attempt to understand the events that led to the Korean War, the difficulties experienced by the ground troops during the occupation, and the fragile relations between the American occupation forces and the Korean people.
End papers include two appendices (a history of the 63rd Infantry Regiment; a list of references and recommended reading) and an index of people mentioned in the book. Copies of maps of Camp Hillenmeyer and surroundings, drawn by the author in his letters to his family, are included in the text. Also included in the book is a twelve-page section of pictures, enhanced and printed on glossy stock, taken by the author during his tour in South Korea.
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