When World War Two ended, the British SOE became no more, instead there was the MI 5 the domestic intelligence and MI 6 the foreign intelligence, also called SIS, the Secret Intelligence Service (007's employer). In the US the OSS was also split. The civilian branch went to the State Department and became today's INR, Intelligence and Research and the military portion of the OSS was given to the War Department. In 1946 a new civilian intelligence organization was created and in 1947 the Central Intelligence Agency was born. So, like the British, we had our domestic branch of intelligence, the FBI, and the foreign intelligence, the new CIA. However, we no longer had the military capability of the OSS, there was no organization within our military that could carry out the missions of OSS like the legendary Detachment 101 in Burma and Detachment 202 in China, not to mention all the work done in the European theater. It became quite clear that we needed something like the OSS when the Korean War broke out. The 8240th Army Unit and the UNPFK was part of the answer.
In 1950 the US Congress, in the midst of the Korean War, mandated that the US Army create a unit capable of conducting unconventional warfare behind enemy lines like the OSS. Thus, the US Army Special Forces was born in 1952 and training and recruitment of personnel began immediately at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. A former OSS officer, Aaron Bank, now a Colonel was charged with setting up and training the first batch of US Army Special Forces personnel. Bank, as you may recall, was the young OSS captain that initially met with Ho Chi Min in Indochina during World War Two. Bank was fluent in French and had spent most of his war years in Europe, but for this meeting with Ho he was brought over because of his fluency in French, there were no Vietnamese speakers in the US Army at that time, and most Vietnamese, like Ho, spoke French.
At the same time in 1950 when Congress mandated the establishment of the Special Forces, Congress also passed the Lodge Act. Congressman Henry Cabot Lodge authored this bill which allowed the enlistment of foreign nationals, particularly those displaced personnel (DPs) from eastern European countries that were now part of the Communist Bloc. The Lodge Act allowed these foreign nationals to enlist in the US Army for a five year period. The idea was to recruit personnel with foreign language capabilities into the Special Forces for the purpose of fighting communism! The Lodge Act provided for some very interesting personnel in the early Special Forces!
When the first batch of personnel were graduated from the Special Forces training, about half of them were sent to Germany, to Bad Tolz, where the 10th Special Forces Group was established. The remaining personnel were split into two groups. One small group was assigned to the 8240th Army Unit in Korea while the other group remained in Fort Bragg to form the 77th Special Forces Group. The 10th in Germany was charged with responsibility for all of Europe. Many of its members were products of the Lodge Act and were fluent in various European languages and had been in Soviet Red Army or other Eastern European armies as well as the French Foreign Legion. The 77th in Fort Bragg was charged with taking care of the rest of the world! Quite a large territory to cover for one Special Forces Group! The 77th motto was "Any Time, Any Thing, Any Place, Any How!" a very appropriate motto for a unit that covered the entire globe! However, it soon became apparent that the 77th couldn't do it all. Members of the 77th were never at home, always flying to various trouble spots. Most of the troubles or "brush fire" wars at that time were in Asia, so it was clear that a group specifically assigned to Asia had to be raised.
As soon as the Korean War ended or a cease fire was made in 1953, a detachment of undisclosed number of personnel was dispatched from the 77th in Fort Bragg to Camp Drake, Japan and established the 8231st Army Unit. Also a detachment from the 77th set up house in Hawaii as the 14th SF Detachment. Although the Korean War had come to an end, sort of, things were getting worse by the minute in Indochina. Despite our promises to Ho Chi Min during World War Two, once the war ended, we turned our back on him and supported the French who did not want to give up their colony in Indochina. Ho, with his Viet Min, began waging a guerrilla war against the French and was gaining ground daily. The French, despite superior strength both in men and arms, suffered a humiliating defeat at a place called Dien Bien Phu, and 1956 became the end of French era in Indochina. Vietnam was split in half, like Korea (you'd think we learned something from our experience in Korea!) and the northern half was under Ho Chi Min and the communist Viet Min while the southern half was under the corrupt, Bao-Dai and the "free" Vietnam. Countrywide elections were to take place (where have we heard that before?), but like in Korea, it never happened and the northern part launched a guerrilla campaign against the south using recruits from the south that called themselves Viet Cong.
A year after the French were kicked out of Indochina, it became clear that we needed a Special Forces presence in Asia more than the small teams that we kept dispatching from the 77th. In 1957 the 8231st Army Unit in Camp Drake together with the 14th Detachment from Hawaii and additional personnel from the 77th set up in Camp Sukiran, Okinawa and became the 1st Special Forces Group. The 1st Special Forces Group's sole responsibility was Asia, however, as we all know, Asia is a pretty big place and a mere Special Forces Group of less than 400 men (that was the size of a Special Forces Group in those days) could hardly cover all that territory. So, the 77th continued to send personnel on various missions in Asia while the 1st was up to its neck in missions that ranged from training to combat in Southeast Asia and top secret missions that are still kept under the lid.
One of the first things that the 1st SF Group did after it established itself on Okinawa was to send a detachment to Korea to set up the so-called Detachment-K or "Resident Team" as it was popularly called. The responsibility of the "Resident Team" in Korea was to help establish ROK Special Forces and at the same time, conduct some classified missions. Some of the old hands with the 1st were reunited with their former Korean counterparts from the UNPFK days, since many of the former UNPFK members transitioned into ROK Army. At the same time, teams from the 1st were sent up to Honshu, in Japan to help develop the Japanese Self Defense Airborne Brigade and their elite Airborne Rangers. With all the things that the 1st had to do in Asia, there was still the big problem in Vietnam and Laos! Members of the 1st were rotated into Vietnam on 6 month TDY missions, but since there was so much going on in Indochina, the 77th from Fort Bragg continued to send teams to Vietnam. By 1960 a provisional Special Forces Group in Vietnam was set up by a newly created 5th Special Forces Group. The 77th became the 7th Special Forces Group and continued to send teams TDY to Vietnam and the 1st was up to its neck in Vietnam.
Just about all of the friendly Asian countries' airborne or Special Forces units were originally trained by either the 77th in early days and, of course, the 1st. The Thai and Philippine Special Forces were trained by the 1st, as were the ROK Special Forces. Interestingly, the Taiwan Special Forces were trained by the old 77th. It was the very first overseas training mission conducted by the 77th! Otherwise, just about all Asian airborne and SF units were trained by the 1st out of Okinawa. The 1st spent so much time in Thailand that eventually it established the 46th Special Forces Company in Thailand.
What most Americans don't know or didn't realize is that the US Army Special Forces has had boots on the ground, so to speak, in North Korea for many years. Ever since the establishment of the Detachment-K, teams from Okinawa, as well as from Fort Bragg, regularly have conducted recon missions into North Korea. Most recently an Army General mentioned the fact that our Special Forces teams have regularly entered North Korea and conducted recon successfully, an art form that was developed during World War Two by the Alamo Scouts and was perfected by SOG in Vietnam.
The 1st conducted many classified missions that were never discussed, and in many cases have not been disclosed even today when the missions have been declassified. Members of the 1st would regularly receive part of their classified mission training at a CIA base in the southern part of Okinawa, a place that was called Camp Chinen. The 1st also established the jungle training center on Irimoto Island, which was used by everyone, the 503rd Airborne which became 173rd when it was sent to Vietnam, and the Marines. The Marines had their "Northern Training Area" on the northern part of the island, but for jungle training they used Irimoto, as they still do. Although the 503rd conducted its airborne drops at Yomitan, the 1st used the waters off Hamby Airfield (just southwest of Sukiran) for water drops. The 1st had its hands full in Asia, and it was truly a Special Forces Group that was specifically designed for Asia.
After the end of the Vietnam War, foolishly, the Pentagon deactivated the 1st SFG. It didn't take long to realize that it was a mistake. The 1st was reactivated in Fort Lewis, Washington, and the 1st Battalion was moved back to Okinawa, to Tori Station. So, the 1st is back on Okinawa, not the entire group like before, and not in Sukiran, but a Battalion (the same thing as a company in the old SF) at Tori Station.
At this point I hope that the readers of this blog will indulge me in my trying to explain the name "Special Forces." Contrary to the common use by media and everyone else calling Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, and Marine Special Operations Capable (MARSOC) units "Special Forces," there is only one Special Forces in the US Armed Forces. That is the US Army Special Forces, nick-named the "Green Berets." All the other mentioned units are Special Operations units, not Special Forces. There is a reason why only the Army Special Forces wears a distinctive tab that clearly states Special Forces. This is not to take anything away from the Navy SEALs, the MARSOC, and the Army Rangers, they are all superb fighting units, the best in the world! They are all the best in their field, each one different, and like the Army Special Forces are under the umbrella of United States Special Operations Command, therefore, they are all Special Operations units, not Special Forces! Only the Army Special Forces are the Special Forces! There, I've said it. Sorry about the rant, but it annoys me to see and hear the misuse of the name Special Forces. It would be like calling the Navy SEALs Marines, or calling the Marine Force Recon members Rangers! I don't think either the Navy SEALs or the Marines would appreciate that!
Monday, June 30, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
From OSS and Alamo Scouts to SF - in Asia
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was established in 1942 in answer to America's lack of intelligence service that was specifically organized to operate during war time. Prior to OSS, much of America's overseas intelligence work was conducted by FBI as well as Navel and Army Intelligence. There was not a single body that was specifically designed to handle all foreign intelligence work. Perhaps it was this lack of unity in our intelligence services that brought about the situation where we were literally caught napping on December 7, 1941. FDR was convinced that the lack of centralized intelligence service was the main cause of the intelligence failure. So, he ordered the creation of the OSS, headed by a Medal of Honor recipient from World War One, a successful Wall Street lawyer who was a Colonel recalled to service, given a star, and literally told to create and lead the new OSS. Thus, Brigadier General William "Wild Bill" Donovan became the head of America's new spy organization, the OSS.
America had no template, no guidelines to follow. So, naturally, we simply copied what the British had done a few years earlier when they created the SOE, the Special Operations Executive, a wartime intelligence organization that trained special agents to not only conduct espionage work, but to infiltrate into enemy territory and conduct guerrilla warfare. The British, at the time were ahead of us in special warfare. Churchill had earlier ordered the creation of the Commando units, a special operations type unit, one battalion of which was parachute trained. Later this battalion became the basis for the British Parachute Regiment. The British also created a special small unit to operate in the desert, against Rommel in North Africa, which they called the Special Air Service, or SAS. We had nothing of a kind yet. In 1943 we began an experimental parachute training unit in Fort Benning, Georgia. As of yet, we had no airborne units that we could field.
The OSS was finally operational in 1943, after it had its personnel receive training, much of it with the British SOE. Although OSS was involved in classic espionage role, because of the wartime conditions, it was heavily involved in special operations conducted by its members who were actually members of the U.S. Army. OSS had recruited army volunteers, especially those who had linguistic abilities, and trained them for their particular type of warfare, which was conducting sabotage and guerrilla warfare, training and leading indigenous personnel in combat. Usually, a "Jedburgh Team" was parachuted into enemy territory to contact local resistance and help train and lead them in guerrilla operations. The "Jedburgh Team" consisted of two officers and one enlisted man. Much activity took place in occupied countries in Europe. For the most part, the OSS teams would join up with small guerrilla units and help train and lead them in operations. It didn't always work that way, especially in France where there was much bickering and in-fighting among the Resistance. Also, many of these guerrilla units did not want to be trained and "led," they just wanted our help in getting supplies and arms. The British SOE had a similar set up, so OSS split assignments with the British.
Asia was a different story. The British did not have their SOE operate quite as extensively as they did in Europe. Most of the SOE operations in Asia were strictly of espionage nature, although some military type activity did take place. Asia, particularly in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater, the OSS really proved its mettle. Unlike in Europe, particularly in Burma, the OSS was able to operate in much larger scale and lead large size units of guerrillas. There was no bickering or in-fighting among the resistance like in France. It was in Burma that OSS established the 200 man Detachment 101 which trained and led indigenous personnel in guerrilla warfare against the Japanese. At its peak, the Detachment 101 teams, which were usually at least double the size of "Jedburghs," led over 4,000 indigenous guerrillas, mostly of Kachin tribe. The "Kachin Rangers" as they were known (they were also called "Jingpao Rangers" for their location) were highly successful and were largely responsible for major victories that were carried out by conventional units. The Kachins would harass and "soften up" the Japanese units before the conventional forces would strike. Back in the early 1960s, Hollywood made a movie with Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen called "Never So Few" which was a glorified, Hollywood version of OSS and Kachin's in World War Two.
The OSS was also very successful in China, where members of Detachment 202 led small guerrilla units against Japanese. Interestingly, some of the guerrilla units that OSS trained and advised were the KLA or Korean Liberation Army units. Later, OSS even attempted to lead KLA into Korea, but for various reasons, that never happened.
A young captain of the OSS, Captain Aaron Bank, was parachuted into Indochina where he met and talked at length with a Vietnamese guerrilla by the name of Ho Chi Min. Ho Chi Min was a leader of a guerrilla group that called itself Viet Min, the only ones in Indochina that fought the Japanese. Bank made arrangements with Ho for the Viet Min to help rescue downed American flyers. Bank was told by this superiors to promise Ho that after the end of war, we would support him to gain independence from France, if he helped us! Ho Chi Min agreed wholeheartedly and Bank presented him with a .45 automatic pistol as a parting gift, promising him that US would stand behind him. Subsequently, Ho helped rescue dozens of US pilots. Thereafter, OSS had frequent contact with Ho. However, we all know what happened to our "promise" in 1945 after Japan surrendered!
General Stillwell, old "Vinegar Joe," thought OSS was invaluable in his CBI theater. Not so with General Douglas McArthur. McArthur did not like to share glory with anyone, particularly with the likes of OSS that did not operate like "gentlemen." McArthur, in particular disliked Bill Donovan, the OSS chief, who had received a Medal of Honor for heroism as a young infantry officer in World War One. McArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor by FDR after he had left (some call it abandoned) his troops and command in Corrigidor. Many at the time felt that he did not deserve any medal, let alone the Medal of Honor! FDR, however, awarded it for political reasons and to salve McArthur's monumental ego. Eisenhower later commented in private that he would not have accepted the Medal of Honor under such circumstances!
McArthur refused to have OSS in his theater of operation. This greatly handicapped the field commanders under his command. They could not get the kind of field "humint" (human intelligence) that OSS provided. One of McArthur's more resourceful generals, General Walter Krueger decided to do something about it. He created a "scouting" unit which he called the Alamo Scouts. This unit was initially created and operated without McArthur's knowledge. It was kept extremely small, and personnel were recruited from combat units and intensively trained at a secret location in New Guinea. As far as McArthur was concerned, it was a conventional army scout unit, something that most infantry units had within their front line rifle companies. But the Alamo Scouts were much more. They were the original "sneak and peek" unit, the predecessors of the legendary SOG in Vietnam. They were highly successful and were, together with OSS "Jedburgh Teams" and Detachment 101, the ancestors of the modern day Army Special Forces.
America had no template, no guidelines to follow. So, naturally, we simply copied what the British had done a few years earlier when they created the SOE, the Special Operations Executive, a wartime intelligence organization that trained special agents to not only conduct espionage work, but to infiltrate into enemy territory and conduct guerrilla warfare. The British, at the time were ahead of us in special warfare. Churchill had earlier ordered the creation of the Commando units, a special operations type unit, one battalion of which was parachute trained. Later this battalion became the basis for the British Parachute Regiment. The British also created a special small unit to operate in the desert, against Rommel in North Africa, which they called the Special Air Service, or SAS. We had nothing of a kind yet. In 1943 we began an experimental parachute training unit in Fort Benning, Georgia. As of yet, we had no airborne units that we could field.
The OSS was finally operational in 1943, after it had its personnel receive training, much of it with the British SOE. Although OSS was involved in classic espionage role, because of the wartime conditions, it was heavily involved in special operations conducted by its members who were actually members of the U.S. Army. OSS had recruited army volunteers, especially those who had linguistic abilities, and trained them for their particular type of warfare, which was conducting sabotage and guerrilla warfare, training and leading indigenous personnel in combat. Usually, a "Jedburgh Team" was parachuted into enemy territory to contact local resistance and help train and lead them in guerrilla operations. The "Jedburgh Team" consisted of two officers and one enlisted man. Much activity took place in occupied countries in Europe. For the most part, the OSS teams would join up with small guerrilla units and help train and lead them in operations. It didn't always work that way, especially in France where there was much bickering and in-fighting among the Resistance. Also, many of these guerrilla units did not want to be trained and "led," they just wanted our help in getting supplies and arms. The British SOE had a similar set up, so OSS split assignments with the British.
Asia was a different story. The British did not have their SOE operate quite as extensively as they did in Europe. Most of the SOE operations in Asia were strictly of espionage nature, although some military type activity did take place. Asia, particularly in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater, the OSS really proved its mettle. Unlike in Europe, particularly in Burma, the OSS was able to operate in much larger scale and lead large size units of guerrillas. There was no bickering or in-fighting among the resistance like in France. It was in Burma that OSS established the 200 man Detachment 101 which trained and led indigenous personnel in guerrilla warfare against the Japanese. At its peak, the Detachment 101 teams, which were usually at least double the size of "Jedburghs," led over 4,000 indigenous guerrillas, mostly of Kachin tribe. The "Kachin Rangers" as they were known (they were also called "Jingpao Rangers" for their location) were highly successful and were largely responsible for major victories that were carried out by conventional units. The Kachins would harass and "soften up" the Japanese units before the conventional forces would strike. Back in the early 1960s, Hollywood made a movie with Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen called "Never So Few" which was a glorified, Hollywood version of OSS and Kachin's in World War Two.
The OSS was also very successful in China, where members of Detachment 202 led small guerrilla units against Japanese. Interestingly, some of the guerrilla units that OSS trained and advised were the KLA or Korean Liberation Army units. Later, OSS even attempted to lead KLA into Korea, but for various reasons, that never happened.
A young captain of the OSS, Captain Aaron Bank, was parachuted into Indochina where he met and talked at length with a Vietnamese guerrilla by the name of Ho Chi Min. Ho Chi Min was a leader of a guerrilla group that called itself Viet Min, the only ones in Indochina that fought the Japanese. Bank made arrangements with Ho for the Viet Min to help rescue downed American flyers. Bank was told by this superiors to promise Ho that after the end of war, we would support him to gain independence from France, if he helped us! Ho Chi Min agreed wholeheartedly and Bank presented him with a .45 automatic pistol as a parting gift, promising him that US would stand behind him. Subsequently, Ho helped rescue dozens of US pilots. Thereafter, OSS had frequent contact with Ho. However, we all know what happened to our "promise" in 1945 after Japan surrendered!
General Stillwell, old "Vinegar Joe," thought OSS was invaluable in his CBI theater. Not so with General Douglas McArthur. McArthur did not like to share glory with anyone, particularly with the likes of OSS that did not operate like "gentlemen." McArthur, in particular disliked Bill Donovan, the OSS chief, who had received a Medal of Honor for heroism as a young infantry officer in World War One. McArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor by FDR after he had left (some call it abandoned) his troops and command in Corrigidor. Many at the time felt that he did not deserve any medal, let alone the Medal of Honor! FDR, however, awarded it for political reasons and to salve McArthur's monumental ego. Eisenhower later commented in private that he would not have accepted the Medal of Honor under such circumstances!
McArthur refused to have OSS in his theater of operation. This greatly handicapped the field commanders under his command. They could not get the kind of field "humint" (human intelligence) that OSS provided. One of McArthur's more resourceful generals, General Walter Krueger decided to do something about it. He created a "scouting" unit which he called the Alamo Scouts. This unit was initially created and operated without McArthur's knowledge. It was kept extremely small, and personnel were recruited from combat units and intensively trained at a secret location in New Guinea. As far as McArthur was concerned, it was a conventional army scout unit, something that most infantry units had within their front line rifle companies. But the Alamo Scouts were much more. They were the original "sneak and peek" unit, the predecessors of the legendary SOG in Vietnam. They were highly successful and were, together with OSS "Jedburgh Teams" and Detachment 101, the ancestors of the modern day Army Special Forces.
Friday, June 27, 2014
The "Miscellaneous Group"
In late 1950, the US 8th Army became aware of the fact that there were small anti-communist guerrilla groups operating independently of either the ROK (Republic of Korea) or the US 8th Army and Far East Command in Korea. These were mostly groups of North Korean deserters and defectors, who banded together into loose guerrilla units and operated in various parts of the country. The 8th Army decided to organize them into more structured formations and, of course, pay them salaries, which would attract them to join up with the newly formed units. The section within the 8th Army that was tasked with this, for lack of a better name, was simply called the "Miscellaneous Group." Thus, the UNPFK program was born.
Once things got rolling, the name of "Miscellaneous Group" was changed to a more formal sounding 8086th Army Unit. This was changed to 8240th Army Unit with a title of Combined Command Reconnaissance Activities (Korea). However, everyone simply called it by its rather innocuous sounding name, the 8240th Army Unit.
Initially, as mentioned in the earlier blog, cadre members were made up of volunteers from the Army Airborne Rangers and the 187th Airborne RCT, both of which had been seeing action in Korea. There were also members of the British 22nd SAS (Special Air Service), three of them were killed in action. Once the first batch of newly graduated Special Forces volunteers arrived, from that point on the 8240th cadre was mostly Special Forces. Some were assigned to the Airborne Ranger Training Center in Camp Drake, Japan. That unit was called 8231st Army Unit and it trained additional personnel that could be assigned to the 8240th Army Unit in Korea.
The Korean volunteers were almost all North Koreans, recruited from the ranks of POWs and defectors. There were some South Koreans, but most South Koreans of military age were already serving in the ROK military. As the war progressed, by 1951-52, with Chinese entry into the war in late 1950, Chinese defectors were recruited as well. There were also Chinese nationals, residents of Korea who were loyal to the Nationalists, and some of them volunteered. The Chinese contingent, naturally, was not as large as the Korean, but surprisingly, it had enough members to conduct missions. Ostensibly, the missions were carried out only within the northern half of the Korean peninsula. But, why recruit Chinese if you are not going to infiltrate guerrillas into Manchuria? Some very special missions were carried out in which very small guerrilla units were parachuted into Manchuria. These were more of intelligence gathering units than fighting units.
Along with Chinese volunteers, there were women volunteers for the guerrilla units. As already mentioned in the earlier blogs, most female volunteers were recruited for the KLO program which was run by the CIA and which was a pure intelligence gathering operation, no combat involved. However, there were women who preferred to join the more physically demanding guerrilla units. The initial recruits were defectors from the North Korean palchisan units, but soon other women began to volunteer. The female guerrilla units were not large, they were in fact mostly two or three person teams and their main job was to gather intelligence rather than fighting. They were to operate like the LRRPs (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols) operated in Vietnam. Unlike the KLO where the agents were supposed to mix-in with the population, the female guerrillas were to stay away from the population and operated surreptitiously. Of course, they were all trained in combat and were essentially combat troops, female LRRPs.
Surprisingly, at least among Korean volunteers, including the defectors and former POWs, there were practically no incidences of anyone attempting to sabotage or betray their missions. Considering that vetting these recruits was extremely difficult (after all, how are you going to run a background check on someone from North Korea?), it is amazing that most were so loyal. But then again, they were anti communists!
It was a bit different with the Chinese. When PRC learned of the UNPFK recruiting of Chinese, they planted defectors in the south. Some of these "defectors" were recruited by the program and they tried to sabotage missions. The best known incident was when a Chinese guerrilla pulled a grenade and threw it into the plane as he jumped out. The explosion not only caused damage to the plane but killed one and wounded several UNPFK guerrillas. The action also resulted in the wounding of the American assigned to that mission as well. The Chinese double agent didn't fare so well, the explosion broke the static line cable so his parachute never opened. The wounded American, who was also the jumpmaster and had been standing right by the open door, saw the grenade thrower plummet downward. He said that the Chinese agent spiraled down into the ground like a perfectly thrown football! It is a testament to the durability of the C-47 aircraft that despite damage to the fuselage, it was able to limp back south and land safely!
With the declassification of the 8240th Army Unit's activities in Korea, many incredible stories emerged. A Hollywood script writer could not come up with some of the fantastic acts of bravery carried out by the members of the UNPFK. In one incredible incident, two female guerrillas were parachuted into a place just north of Wonson, North Korea. They conducted their surreptitious surveillance and sent the information back by radio. Then, as instructed, they buried the heavy radio and made their way to an extraction point near the beach. However, they ran into a North Korean patrol and had to fight their way to the beach. In the process, the two women managed to kill or wound almost all of the North Korean soldiers. The two had completely neutralized the enemy by either killing or wounding all of the eighteen man patrol! They were each armed only with M-1 Carbines, grenades, and .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolvers. It was decided that the .45 caliber automatics were too big and heavy for them! When they were ex-filtrated by a boat to a waiting US warship, they were completely out of ammunition for carbines and revolvers and had used all of their grenades.
When they filed their report and said that they had eliminated an enemy patrol, their bosses did not believe them, but gave them a pat on the back and filed the report away anyway. A few days later a North Korean Army message was intercepted which claimed that an 18 man patrol north of Wonson suffered heavy casualties but managed to destroy a much larger company size (about 120 men) enemy force that had parachuted into the area. The heroic wounded survivors of this firefight were all awarded medals for having destroyed the invading imperialist enemy!
The two young women (they were 18 and 20!) were considered the two best shots in their UNPFK marksmanship class. I believe they received medals as well! There are many stories like this one once the whole operation was declassified. In another incident, a 12 man team that had parachuted into North Korea with a mission of sabotaging railway and highway traffic not only accomplished their primary mission, but in a firefight that followed fought off a battalion size enemy unit inflicting heavy casualties before ex-filtrating, without a single casualty to the team!
All participants of the UNPFK program deserve to feel extremely proud of their accomplishment. Theirs was a unit that was always outnumbered, always in enemy territory. Yet, they inflicted heavy casualties to the enemy and damaged much of the infrastructure of the north that could not be carried out by our bombers. The American members of this program never received due credit for their bravery and accomplishments. They were not even awarded the Combat Infantry Badge that all army infantrymen in Korea received. The CIB (Combat Infantry Badge) is Army's equivalent of Marines' Combat Action Ribbon. It was only recently approved by Pentagon to be awarded retroactively to the veterans of the 8240th Army Unit.
I well remember a seasoned veteran in my old unit who finally earned his CIB after a tour in Vietnam. He had been with the 8240th in Korea and had seen much action and wounded as well. He had also been in Laos in 1960 and saw action but did not receive a CIB because we weren't supposed to be in Laos in a combat role! Army regulations can be difficult to fathom!
The 8240th Army Unit was the beginning of modern US Army Special Forces. Army seemed to be quite fond of the "Army Unit" tag for special units. Ironically, I believe it immediately identifies the unit as being "special" so why bother? A few years later the 8231st Army Unit from Camp Drake, Japan moved to Okinawa and combined with other Special Forces detachments from Hawaii and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, became the 1st Special Forces Group on Okinawa's Camp Sukiran in 1957.
Once things got rolling, the name of "Miscellaneous Group" was changed to a more formal sounding 8086th Army Unit. This was changed to 8240th Army Unit with a title of Combined Command Reconnaissance Activities (Korea). However, everyone simply called it by its rather innocuous sounding name, the 8240th Army Unit.
Initially, as mentioned in the earlier blog, cadre members were made up of volunteers from the Army Airborne Rangers and the 187th Airborne RCT, both of which had been seeing action in Korea. There were also members of the British 22nd SAS (Special Air Service), three of them were killed in action. Once the first batch of newly graduated Special Forces volunteers arrived, from that point on the 8240th cadre was mostly Special Forces. Some were assigned to the Airborne Ranger Training Center in Camp Drake, Japan. That unit was called 8231st Army Unit and it trained additional personnel that could be assigned to the 8240th Army Unit in Korea.
The Korean volunteers were almost all North Koreans, recruited from the ranks of POWs and defectors. There were some South Koreans, but most South Koreans of military age were already serving in the ROK military. As the war progressed, by 1951-52, with Chinese entry into the war in late 1950, Chinese defectors were recruited as well. There were also Chinese nationals, residents of Korea who were loyal to the Nationalists, and some of them volunteered. The Chinese contingent, naturally, was not as large as the Korean, but surprisingly, it had enough members to conduct missions. Ostensibly, the missions were carried out only within the northern half of the Korean peninsula. But, why recruit Chinese if you are not going to infiltrate guerrillas into Manchuria? Some very special missions were carried out in which very small guerrilla units were parachuted into Manchuria. These were more of intelligence gathering units than fighting units.
Along with Chinese volunteers, there were women volunteers for the guerrilla units. As already mentioned in the earlier blogs, most female volunteers were recruited for the KLO program which was run by the CIA and which was a pure intelligence gathering operation, no combat involved. However, there were women who preferred to join the more physically demanding guerrilla units. The initial recruits were defectors from the North Korean palchisan units, but soon other women began to volunteer. The female guerrilla units were not large, they were in fact mostly two or three person teams and their main job was to gather intelligence rather than fighting. They were to operate like the LRRPs (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols) operated in Vietnam. Unlike the KLO where the agents were supposed to mix-in with the population, the female guerrillas were to stay away from the population and operated surreptitiously. Of course, they were all trained in combat and were essentially combat troops, female LRRPs.
Surprisingly, at least among Korean volunteers, including the defectors and former POWs, there were practically no incidences of anyone attempting to sabotage or betray their missions. Considering that vetting these recruits was extremely difficult (after all, how are you going to run a background check on someone from North Korea?), it is amazing that most were so loyal. But then again, they were anti communists!
It was a bit different with the Chinese. When PRC learned of the UNPFK recruiting of Chinese, they planted defectors in the south. Some of these "defectors" were recruited by the program and they tried to sabotage missions. The best known incident was when a Chinese guerrilla pulled a grenade and threw it into the plane as he jumped out. The explosion not only caused damage to the plane but killed one and wounded several UNPFK guerrillas. The action also resulted in the wounding of the American assigned to that mission as well. The Chinese double agent didn't fare so well, the explosion broke the static line cable so his parachute never opened. The wounded American, who was also the jumpmaster and had been standing right by the open door, saw the grenade thrower plummet downward. He said that the Chinese agent spiraled down into the ground like a perfectly thrown football! It is a testament to the durability of the C-47 aircraft that despite damage to the fuselage, it was able to limp back south and land safely!
With the declassification of the 8240th Army Unit's activities in Korea, many incredible stories emerged. A Hollywood script writer could not come up with some of the fantastic acts of bravery carried out by the members of the UNPFK. In one incredible incident, two female guerrillas were parachuted into a place just north of Wonson, North Korea. They conducted their surreptitious surveillance and sent the information back by radio. Then, as instructed, they buried the heavy radio and made their way to an extraction point near the beach. However, they ran into a North Korean patrol and had to fight their way to the beach. In the process, the two women managed to kill or wound almost all of the North Korean soldiers. The two had completely neutralized the enemy by either killing or wounding all of the eighteen man patrol! They were each armed only with M-1 Carbines, grenades, and .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolvers. It was decided that the .45 caliber automatics were too big and heavy for them! When they were ex-filtrated by a boat to a waiting US warship, they were completely out of ammunition for carbines and revolvers and had used all of their grenades.
When they filed their report and said that they had eliminated an enemy patrol, their bosses did not believe them, but gave them a pat on the back and filed the report away anyway. A few days later a North Korean Army message was intercepted which claimed that an 18 man patrol north of Wonson suffered heavy casualties but managed to destroy a much larger company size (about 120 men) enemy force that had parachuted into the area. The heroic wounded survivors of this firefight were all awarded medals for having destroyed the invading imperialist enemy!
The two young women (they were 18 and 20!) were considered the two best shots in their UNPFK marksmanship class. I believe they received medals as well! There are many stories like this one once the whole operation was declassified. In another incident, a 12 man team that had parachuted into North Korea with a mission of sabotaging railway and highway traffic not only accomplished their primary mission, but in a firefight that followed fought off a battalion size enemy unit inflicting heavy casualties before ex-filtrating, without a single casualty to the team!
All participants of the UNPFK program deserve to feel extremely proud of their accomplishment. Theirs was a unit that was always outnumbered, always in enemy territory. Yet, they inflicted heavy casualties to the enemy and damaged much of the infrastructure of the north that could not be carried out by our bombers. The American members of this program never received due credit for their bravery and accomplishments. They were not even awarded the Combat Infantry Badge that all army infantrymen in Korea received. The CIB (Combat Infantry Badge) is Army's equivalent of Marines' Combat Action Ribbon. It was only recently approved by Pentagon to be awarded retroactively to the veterans of the 8240th Army Unit.
I well remember a seasoned veteran in my old unit who finally earned his CIB after a tour in Vietnam. He had been with the 8240th in Korea and had seen much action and wounded as well. He had also been in Laos in 1960 and saw action but did not receive a CIB because we weren't supposed to be in Laos in a combat role! Army regulations can be difficult to fathom!
The 8240th Army Unit was the beginning of modern US Army Special Forces. Army seemed to be quite fond of the "Army Unit" tag for special units. Ironically, I believe it immediately identifies the unit as being "special" so why bother? A few years later the 8231st Army Unit from Camp Drake, Japan moved to Okinawa and combined with other Special Forces detachments from Hawaii and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, became the 1st Special Forces Group on Okinawa's Camp Sukiran in 1957.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
An "Unknown War" within the Forgotten War!
The Korean War, which was variously called everything from "UN Police Action" to "Korean Conflict" was also referred to as the "Forgotten War" because even today, so little is known about it in the United States. Just about as many Americans were killed in Korea during the space of less than three years, compared to Vietnam which lasted over a decade. I know that "officially" the U.S. involvement in Vietnam didn't begin until large number of Marines and Army infantry units arrived in 1965. But U.S. troops (Army Special Forces and Military Advisors) had been in Vietnam since 1958, shortly after the French were defeated and the country partitioned. The first U.S. casualty was an Army Special Forces soldier, a captain, who was killed in a firefight in 1958. He was with the old 77th Special Forces Group out of Ft. Bragg, N.C. However, Pentagon did not admit to his death as being combat related until some 40 years later, because he was on a "classified" mission! In 1962, two Special Forces sergeants were killed in combat, but they were not on a "classified" mission so their death was not only recognized but publicized as well. So, U.S. combat involvement in Vietnam was actually for about 17 years, during which time we lost approximately the same number of men as in 3 years in Korea!
All wars are vicious and violent, of course, but the Korean War was especially so. For a variety of reason, which will take too long to cover. The Korean War saw more casualties, both civilian and military, than Vietnam, given the time period. During the first year of the war when the North Koreans were our main enemy force, North Korean guerrilla forces, the palchisan, operated behind our lines. However, by the time the Chinese stepped-in and the North Korean army was mostly destroyed, we also managed to destroy their guerrilla units. Interestingly, U.S. 8th Army decided to launch a guerrilla campaign against the north after seeing how successful the palchisan were in the earlier part of the war before they were wiped out.
In some of the earlier blogs I made mention of the KLO (Korean Liaison Officer ) program and the more successful UNPFK or the United Nations Partisan Force in Korea. The UNPFK was our answer to North Korea's palchisan. However, having seen the difficulty the communists had in the south, because their guerrillas were all northerners and the southern population did not support them, we made sure that we recruited only northerners for the UNPFK. If little is known about the Korean War in general, the war fought by the UNPFK was almost completely "unknown" to majority of American public. That is because the war they fought, their activities were considered "classified" and information about them was not made public until 40 years later when the classified status was declassified.
The UNPFK initially started out with a mixture of cadre members. There were former Airborne Rangers and former 187the Airborne RCT members that made up the majority of the cadre. It was a real mish-mash. There were even a few members of the British 22nd SAS! However, in time things settled down and newly minted members of the recently created U.S. Army Special Forces began to arrive to fill the cadre ranks. The guerrilla force was trained and led more or less like the typical Mike Forces that were led by the Special Forces in Vietnam. Most of the units were airborne qualified while some were trained to make sea-borne entry into battle. Units were battalion size but operated in smaller groups, company or platoon size. They became highly successful in infiltrating into North Korea and conducting raids and ambushes behind enemy lines. As I mentioned in earlier blogs, while the KLO program was not all that successful, in fact it could be called a failure, the UNPFK was very successful. However, their successes could not be advertised, so essentially nothing was known about their activities. In many operations, these units suffered very high casualty rates. In others, they were very lucky and would return with low casualties. American casualty rate was pretty high as it was for everyone in those units.
Despite the name of UNPFK, the United Nations Partisan Force in Korea, it was an all U.S. conceived and directed project. Yes there were some British SAS members early on, but it became an all U.S. project run by Army Special Forces members. However, they could not talk about it or discuss their Korean War experience because they were bound by the rules of safeguarding classified information. Only in the recent times information started to emerge about this fascinating part of the Korean War. The missions conducted by the UNPFK units was stuff of Hollywood movies. In fact, Hollywood could not duplicate some of their feats without making it appear as if it was pure fantasy or overblown fiction!
The Army Special Forces learned well from that experience and launched almost an identical program in Vietnam, the Mobile Strike Force or Mike Force program, which was highly successful. It was even started in Iraq, but when we pulled all our combat forces out of Iraq, the program was naturally abandoned. But while we were there, the Iraqi version of Mike Force was probably the only Iraqi units that were worth anything! Naturally after we left, the whole thing fell apart and now their current forces can't even handle Isis insurgents when they outnumber them 30 to 1! The UNPFK did not fall apart. After the cease fire, the former members of the UNPFK were given a choice to either go back to civilian life or be integrated into ROK (Republic of Korea) armed forces. Their U.S. counterparts also returned home and either stayed in the service or reverted to civilian life. Many joined the CIA as civilians, others that remained in the army went on to serve in various Special Forces units.
The UNPFK was a fascinating program that was set up and run by early U.S. Army Special Forces. It was not a new idea, we did the very same thing in Burma during World War Two when the OSS Detachment 101 gained its legendary reputation directing and leading the Kachins against the Japanese. The OSS Detchment 101s activities in Burma were not all classified so we knew a lot more about them than the UNPFK. At least now, UNPFKs activities are becoming better known.
All wars are vicious and violent, of course, but the Korean War was especially so. For a variety of reason, which will take too long to cover. The Korean War saw more casualties, both civilian and military, than Vietnam, given the time period. During the first year of the war when the North Koreans were our main enemy force, North Korean guerrilla forces, the palchisan, operated behind our lines. However, by the time the Chinese stepped-in and the North Korean army was mostly destroyed, we also managed to destroy their guerrilla units. Interestingly, U.S. 8th Army decided to launch a guerrilla campaign against the north after seeing how successful the palchisan were in the earlier part of the war before they were wiped out.
In some of the earlier blogs I made mention of the KLO (Korean Liaison Officer ) program and the more successful UNPFK or the United Nations Partisan Force in Korea. The UNPFK was our answer to North Korea's palchisan. However, having seen the difficulty the communists had in the south, because their guerrillas were all northerners and the southern population did not support them, we made sure that we recruited only northerners for the UNPFK. If little is known about the Korean War in general, the war fought by the UNPFK was almost completely "unknown" to majority of American public. That is because the war they fought, their activities were considered "classified" and information about them was not made public until 40 years later when the classified status was declassified.
The UNPFK initially started out with a mixture of cadre members. There were former Airborne Rangers and former 187the Airborne RCT members that made up the majority of the cadre. It was a real mish-mash. There were even a few members of the British 22nd SAS! However, in time things settled down and newly minted members of the recently created U.S. Army Special Forces began to arrive to fill the cadre ranks. The guerrilla force was trained and led more or less like the typical Mike Forces that were led by the Special Forces in Vietnam. Most of the units were airborne qualified while some were trained to make sea-borne entry into battle. Units were battalion size but operated in smaller groups, company or platoon size. They became highly successful in infiltrating into North Korea and conducting raids and ambushes behind enemy lines. As I mentioned in earlier blogs, while the KLO program was not all that successful, in fact it could be called a failure, the UNPFK was very successful. However, their successes could not be advertised, so essentially nothing was known about their activities. In many operations, these units suffered very high casualty rates. In others, they were very lucky and would return with low casualties. American casualty rate was pretty high as it was for everyone in those units.
Despite the name of UNPFK, the United Nations Partisan Force in Korea, it was an all U.S. conceived and directed project. Yes there were some British SAS members early on, but it became an all U.S. project run by Army Special Forces members. However, they could not talk about it or discuss their Korean War experience because they were bound by the rules of safeguarding classified information. Only in the recent times information started to emerge about this fascinating part of the Korean War. The missions conducted by the UNPFK units was stuff of Hollywood movies. In fact, Hollywood could not duplicate some of their feats without making it appear as if it was pure fantasy or overblown fiction!
The Army Special Forces learned well from that experience and launched almost an identical program in Vietnam, the Mobile Strike Force or Mike Force program, which was highly successful. It was even started in Iraq, but when we pulled all our combat forces out of Iraq, the program was naturally abandoned. But while we were there, the Iraqi version of Mike Force was probably the only Iraqi units that were worth anything! Naturally after we left, the whole thing fell apart and now their current forces can't even handle Isis insurgents when they outnumber them 30 to 1! The UNPFK did not fall apart. After the cease fire, the former members of the UNPFK were given a choice to either go back to civilian life or be integrated into ROK (Republic of Korea) armed forces. Their U.S. counterparts also returned home and either stayed in the service or reverted to civilian life. Many joined the CIA as civilians, others that remained in the army went on to serve in various Special Forces units.
The UNPFK was a fascinating program that was set up and run by early U.S. Army Special Forces. It was not a new idea, we did the very same thing in Burma during World War Two when the OSS Detachment 101 gained its legendary reputation directing and leading the Kachins against the Japanese. The OSS Detchment 101s activities in Burma were not all classified so we knew a lot more about them than the UNPFK. At least now, UNPFKs activities are becoming better known.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
A Unified Korea
If the U.S. supported the KPG and KLA as the Nationalist Chinese kept insisting, the landscape in northeast Asia would have been very different today. The recognition of KPG as the legitimate government of Korea would have automatically placed it as the new government of Korea as soon as Japan surrendered. This would have eliminated any need to hold national elections, combining the political parties of the north and south as was proposed, and which never came about. There would have been no opportunity for the Soviet Union to appoint Kim Il Sung or anyone else as the head of communist North Korea, because there would have been just one Korea with the KPG leader as the president of the newly established free Korea. The KPG would have simply transitioned into becoming the government of Korea, dropping the "provisional" tag.
Ironically, Syngman Rhee, the first president of the Republic of Korea probably would not have become president. Rhee supposedly defeated his opponent Kim, who was the KPG leader until 1945 when KPG was abolished. The 1947 elections that Rhee won was a fraud filled election and Kim was cheated out of the presidency. Remember? Rhee was the first KPG leader but he was impeached by his own colleagues! So cheating was not something that was new to Rhee. Ultimately Rhee lost his stranglehold on the presidency when a coupe was carried out and Park Chung Hee, the father of the current ROK president took office.
The KLA would have transitioned into becoming the new army of ROK. It would have been an easy transition. There would have been no North Korea, no North Korean People's Army, and most importantly, no Korean War.
Interesting, to think how things could have turned out only if we had more insightful, more knowledgeable people who made correct decisions.
Ironically, Syngman Rhee, the first president of the Republic of Korea probably would not have become president. Rhee supposedly defeated his opponent Kim, who was the KPG leader until 1945 when KPG was abolished. The 1947 elections that Rhee won was a fraud filled election and Kim was cheated out of the presidency. Remember? Rhee was the first KPG leader but he was impeached by his own colleagues! So cheating was not something that was new to Rhee. Ultimately Rhee lost his stranglehold on the presidency when a coupe was carried out and Park Chung Hee, the father of the current ROK president took office.
The KLA would have transitioned into becoming the new army of ROK. It would have been an easy transition. There would have been no North Korea, no North Korean People's Army, and most importantly, no Korean War.
Interesting, to think how things could have turned out only if we had more insightful, more knowledgeable people who made correct decisions.
Friday, June 20, 2014
KPG and KLA
The initials KPG and KLA have little if any meaning to most people, including citizens of Republic of Korea today. More than likely, RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) is more recognizable to those who are somewhat familiar with military armament, and KLM (former Dutch airline) for those who do a lot of air traveling, especially in Europe. But prior to World War Two and up to 1945, the initials KPG and KLA were well known to people familiar with or interested in the activities in northeast Asia, more commonly referred to in those days as the Far East.
The Korean Provisional Government or KPG was formed in April of 1919, a month after the March 1st Uprising, the Sahm Wohl Il Il. The first KPG group was formed in Vladivostok and sought support from Russia. Almost at the same time, another group formed the Chinese branch of KPG in Shanghai and later moved to Chunking. This group, naturally, sought support from the Chinese Nationalists. Still a third branch of KPG was formed in Seoul which had to operate in secret. Because there were three separate groups in three countries, there was a misperception that KPG was splintered and did not get along. Naturally, as with any political group, there were rivalries and personal differences. However, KPG regardless of location had one common goal, and that was to liberate Korea from Japan. Unfortunately and apparently, KPG was not very good at conveying their views to outsiders. The U.S. State Department argued against giving support to KPG because it was felt that KPG was poorly organized and had opposing factions each interested only in their goal. Sort of like Iraqi government that we support! That was not the case with KPG, but that is how the U.S. State Department saw it and advised against supporting this group.
The KLA or the Korean Liberation Army got its start as the Korean Freedom Fighters as early as 1905, certainly by 1910 when Japan officially annexed Korea. They too were broken up in three groups, one in China, one in Russia, and one in Korea. All of the fighting took place in Manchuria, and although some were trained and supported by the Chinese, others by Russians, and still others were sort of freelancing, they too had one common goal. After all, the KLA was under the control of KPG. In 1940 the KPG announced that all Korean Freedom Fighting groups were henceforth to be known as Korean Liberation Army. The idea was to convey to the outsiders that these freedom fighters were united in one goal, to liberate Korea from Japan. Yet, the name itself sounded very "communist" to some in the U.S. government. So, if anything, it made things worse as far as trying to get American support.
The KPG elected their leaders and the first one was Syngman Rhee, who later became Republic of Korea's first president in 1947. Rhee was a leader for several years, from 1914 to 1925, before he was impeached by the same group that elected him! They felt that he did not have Koreas's best interest, that he was too ambitious for his own political gain. They were right, of course! After he was impeached, they sent him to America to try and raise funds for Korea's fight against Japan.
In 1940, after being re-designated as the Korean Liberation Army, the KLA continued to help the Nationalists fight the Japanese. When U.S. requested Chiang Kai Sheik to help rescue downed U.S. flyers in southern China, Chiang dispatched KLA units to perform this task. To this day, most Americans do not know that it was the KLA in many cases who helped to rescue U.S. pilots shot down over southern China. OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the granddaddy of today's CIA and Army Special Forces) knew about KLA's capabilities and their willingness to fight Japanese. OSS on its own trained and used many KLA units in southern China and yes, in Indo-China as well.
The Chinese Nationalists pressed the U.S. government to recognize and support KPG. They said that this would guarantee Korea becoming pro American after the war. Unfortunately, many of our "experts" didn't see it that way. These same "experts" were also largely responsible for making Communist China our enemy for so many years. Shortly after the war, during China's civil war, Foreign Service Officers were dispatched to live with Mao and the communists in Yenan where they were headquartered and report on their findings. John Service, the Foreign Service Officer assigned to this mission, along with others, reported that U.S. should support Mao and not the corrupt, dictator Chiang Kai Sheik. Service was not alone in his opinion, so were prominent historians and journalists Edgar Snow and Theodor White, as well as Army Colonel David Barret. They all reported to Washington that giving money to the Nationalists was like throwing money into a pit! They were unanimous in their opinion that U.S. should support Mao. Of course we know what happened, we supported Chiang and made an enemy out of Mao. The careers of those men who supported Mao were ruined during McCarthy era. They were all tagged as communists!
Ironically, before the end of World War Two, despite the fact that U.S. supported the Nationalists, Washington did not listen to the Chinese Nationalists who insisted that we should support the KPG and KLA. It was probably the only good counsel that they gave America! Stalin knew. He took the KLA members early on and put them into the Soviet Red Army service. Still, many of them managed to find their way to China and join up with other KLA units.
The common view is that had the U.S. supported the KPG and KLA, there would not have been a communist North Korea! The fear that communist members of KLA would not get along with nationalists was unfounded. When the Republic of Korea was born in 1947 with Syngman Rhee as its first president, the newly appointed general in charge of the new South Korean Army was a former KLA general, who fought as a communist guerrilla! Although there were former KLA members who fought for North Korea during the Korean War, it was more of a need for survival, not any communist ideology! To this day, the core group of South Korean generals are known as the "Hamkyong-do Mafia," they are all originally from North Korea! No one can accuse them of being communist.
It is interesting to think what could have been. If we had more perceptive, more "knowledgeable" people in position of power and decision making in the past, perhaps the world would have been very different today! But.....look what's going on today. Obviously we placed our bets on the wrong people, both in Afghanistan and especially in Iraq!
The Korean Provisional Government or KPG was formed in April of 1919, a month after the March 1st Uprising, the Sahm Wohl Il Il. The first KPG group was formed in Vladivostok and sought support from Russia. Almost at the same time, another group formed the Chinese branch of KPG in Shanghai and later moved to Chunking. This group, naturally, sought support from the Chinese Nationalists. Still a third branch of KPG was formed in Seoul which had to operate in secret. Because there were three separate groups in three countries, there was a misperception that KPG was splintered and did not get along. Naturally, as with any political group, there were rivalries and personal differences. However, KPG regardless of location had one common goal, and that was to liberate Korea from Japan. Unfortunately and apparently, KPG was not very good at conveying their views to outsiders. The U.S. State Department argued against giving support to KPG because it was felt that KPG was poorly organized and had opposing factions each interested only in their goal. Sort of like Iraqi government that we support! That was not the case with KPG, but that is how the U.S. State Department saw it and advised against supporting this group.
The KLA or the Korean Liberation Army got its start as the Korean Freedom Fighters as early as 1905, certainly by 1910 when Japan officially annexed Korea. They too were broken up in three groups, one in China, one in Russia, and one in Korea. All of the fighting took place in Manchuria, and although some were trained and supported by the Chinese, others by Russians, and still others were sort of freelancing, they too had one common goal. After all, the KLA was under the control of KPG. In 1940 the KPG announced that all Korean Freedom Fighting groups were henceforth to be known as Korean Liberation Army. The idea was to convey to the outsiders that these freedom fighters were united in one goal, to liberate Korea from Japan. Yet, the name itself sounded very "communist" to some in the U.S. government. So, if anything, it made things worse as far as trying to get American support.
The KPG elected their leaders and the first one was Syngman Rhee, who later became Republic of Korea's first president in 1947. Rhee was a leader for several years, from 1914 to 1925, before he was impeached by the same group that elected him! They felt that he did not have Koreas's best interest, that he was too ambitious for his own political gain. They were right, of course! After he was impeached, they sent him to America to try and raise funds for Korea's fight against Japan.
In 1940, after being re-designated as the Korean Liberation Army, the KLA continued to help the Nationalists fight the Japanese. When U.S. requested Chiang Kai Sheik to help rescue downed U.S. flyers in southern China, Chiang dispatched KLA units to perform this task. To this day, most Americans do not know that it was the KLA in many cases who helped to rescue U.S. pilots shot down over southern China. OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the granddaddy of today's CIA and Army Special Forces) knew about KLA's capabilities and their willingness to fight Japanese. OSS on its own trained and used many KLA units in southern China and yes, in Indo-China as well.
The Chinese Nationalists pressed the U.S. government to recognize and support KPG. They said that this would guarantee Korea becoming pro American after the war. Unfortunately, many of our "experts" didn't see it that way. These same "experts" were also largely responsible for making Communist China our enemy for so many years. Shortly after the war, during China's civil war, Foreign Service Officers were dispatched to live with Mao and the communists in Yenan where they were headquartered and report on their findings. John Service, the Foreign Service Officer assigned to this mission, along with others, reported that U.S. should support Mao and not the corrupt, dictator Chiang Kai Sheik. Service was not alone in his opinion, so were prominent historians and journalists Edgar Snow and Theodor White, as well as Army Colonel David Barret. They all reported to Washington that giving money to the Nationalists was like throwing money into a pit! They were unanimous in their opinion that U.S. should support Mao. Of course we know what happened, we supported Chiang and made an enemy out of Mao. The careers of those men who supported Mao were ruined during McCarthy era. They were all tagged as communists!
Ironically, before the end of World War Two, despite the fact that U.S. supported the Nationalists, Washington did not listen to the Chinese Nationalists who insisted that we should support the KPG and KLA. It was probably the only good counsel that they gave America! Stalin knew. He took the KLA members early on and put them into the Soviet Red Army service. Still, many of them managed to find their way to China and join up with other KLA units.
The common view is that had the U.S. supported the KPG and KLA, there would not have been a communist North Korea! The fear that communist members of KLA would not get along with nationalists was unfounded. When the Republic of Korea was born in 1947 with Syngman Rhee as its first president, the newly appointed general in charge of the new South Korean Army was a former KLA general, who fought as a communist guerrilla! Although there were former KLA members who fought for North Korea during the Korean War, it was more of a need for survival, not any communist ideology! To this day, the core group of South Korean generals are known as the "Hamkyong-do Mafia," they are all originally from North Korea! No one can accuse them of being communist.
It is interesting to think what could have been. If we had more perceptive, more "knowledgeable" people in position of power and decision making in the past, perhaps the world would have been very different today! But.....look what's going on today. Obviously we placed our bets on the wrong people, both in Afghanistan and especially in Iraq!
Monday, June 16, 2014
Nomonhan Incident
Japan had waged war against Russia four times in the 20th Century, all in the space of 50 years. The first, Russo-Japanese War of 1905 was a very successful venture for Japan. It had gained valuable territory in the form of former Russian concessions in Manchuria. In fact winning the war against Russia made it that much easier for Japan to annex Korea. Japan had also gained tremendous prestige as a world power, for it had defeated a major European power. The fact is that although Japan had won some impressive battles, including the sinking of the Russian battleship Varyak, the war was actually fought to a standstill. It ended up more or less like a boxing match where a decision is awarded to one fighter for having scored more "points." In the eyes of the European powers and the United States, Japan had scored more points so victory was awarded to Japan. The United States and Europe did not want the Russian Bear to get too confident about its power, they wanted to cut it down to size so it could be controlled! Whatever the case, Japan was declared a winner.
In 1918, only a little over a decade after the Russo-Japanese War, the European allies decided to intervene in the Russian Revolution on the side of the Tsarist regime. Japan was then an ally of the European powers and the United States, so Japan was one of the first to land troops in Vladivostok and move inland. While the European powers and the United States who participated in this misguided adventure had no ulterior motive other than to prevent the Bolsheviks from taking over, such was not the case with Japan. Japan managed to take control of the Sakhalin Island and other lesser islands close to Japan which it refers to as the Northern Territory. In case of Sakhalin, an island about the size of Japan's main island of Honshu, Japan decided to colonize it and simply took it away from the Soviets. The resistance that the Japanese faced was very weak, just some rag-tag, disorganized groups of guerrillas here and there. On Sakhalin island itself, there was no resistance. Japan brought over 25,000 Korean slave labor force to build the infrastructure for its colonists. Once that was completed, the Japanese colonists moved in and in 1925 Japan declared that Sakhalin was now a Japanese Colony. No one protested, except the new Soviet Union which had only recently, in 1922, emerged from its civil war. So, although the Soviets complained, no one listened.
In 1931, after the "Manchurian Incident," Manchuria became Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet regime, a "bastard child" as some Japanese critics called it. In 1937 after the so-called "Marco Polo Bridge Incident," another staged incident by the Japanese. Japan invaded China and within a year had occupied a great chunk of the real estate. But apparently, that was not enough for some of the officers in the Kwantung Army. They wanted more! Starting from around 1932, the Japanese constantly made incursions into Mongolia from the Manchurian side. Between 1932 and 1934 there were over 151 incidents of border skirmishes between the Japanese troops and the Soviet trained Mongolian Army. Although the Japanese Army was having great success in China, fighting against poorly trained and unmotivated Nationalist troops, they found the Mongols to be a lot more difficult to deal with and could not just roll over them as they were accustomed to doing in China. So, the frequency of incursions increased both in size and intensity. Between 1935 and 1936 alone there were over 150 incidents of border skirmishes. Then in 1939, an infamous Kwantung Army General Tsuji Masanobu, launched a major attack across the border into Mongolia using somewhere in the area of around 75,000 troops.
As with most Japanese military campaigns of that period, initially the Japanese had success. The Kwantung Army had superiority in artillery and air power. The Japanese pilots were seasoned from their experience in China, while the Soviet and Mongolian pilots were relatively inexperience. In one sortie, the Japanese pilots recorded 19 kills of Soviet planes in 15 minutes! The Japanese also had a very low opinion of the Soviet soldiers. They remembered the rag-tag groups that they faced during their time in Siberia when they seized Sakhalin. They felt confident that they could just crush the Soviet opposition. This was a totally undeclared war. The Kwantung Army was acting completely on its own! But they didn't count on having to face a brilliant Soviet General, little known at that time, General Giorgi Zhukov. Zhukov, a brilliant tactician and strategist who was later to become the architect of the destruction of German Army on the Eastern Front, literally shocked the Japanese with his tactics and crushed the Japanese forces at a place called Nomonhan in Mongolia. The actual main battle took place at a location called Khalkhin Gol, so the incident is known as the Battle of Khalkhin Gol or the Nomonhan Incident. This undeclared war began in May and ended in September, only five months, but it took its toll. There were approximately 60,000 casualties, and the Japanese troops who fought bravely, were decimated. Japan, and Kwantung Army in particular were spiritually crushed. They were not quite invincible like they thought they were. They could not just run roughshod over the Mongolian and Soviet Troops like they have been doing against the Chinese. In fact, it was the pride of the Japanese Army, the Kwantung Army that was run over roughshod!
The Nomonhan Incident should have alerted everyone of Soviet Union's capability and Zhukov's brilliance as a general. But, like so many things, no one paid attention. Zhukov employed exactly the same tactics several times on the Eastern Front, each time it resulted in a rout of the Nazis. Although Hitler may not have paid any attention to Zhukov's success at Nomonhan, the Japanese certainly did. It is for this reason that Japan never moved the Kwantung Army out of Manchuria. They were sure that the Soviets would come storming across the border, sooner or later. They were right, of course, but that didn't take place until August of 1945, in a "declared war."
In 1918, only a little over a decade after the Russo-Japanese War, the European allies decided to intervene in the Russian Revolution on the side of the Tsarist regime. Japan was then an ally of the European powers and the United States, so Japan was one of the first to land troops in Vladivostok and move inland. While the European powers and the United States who participated in this misguided adventure had no ulterior motive other than to prevent the Bolsheviks from taking over, such was not the case with Japan. Japan managed to take control of the Sakhalin Island and other lesser islands close to Japan which it refers to as the Northern Territory. In case of Sakhalin, an island about the size of Japan's main island of Honshu, Japan decided to colonize it and simply took it away from the Soviets. The resistance that the Japanese faced was very weak, just some rag-tag, disorganized groups of guerrillas here and there. On Sakhalin island itself, there was no resistance. Japan brought over 25,000 Korean slave labor force to build the infrastructure for its colonists. Once that was completed, the Japanese colonists moved in and in 1925 Japan declared that Sakhalin was now a Japanese Colony. No one protested, except the new Soviet Union which had only recently, in 1922, emerged from its civil war. So, although the Soviets complained, no one listened.
In 1931, after the "Manchurian Incident," Manchuria became Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet regime, a "bastard child" as some Japanese critics called it. In 1937 after the so-called "Marco Polo Bridge Incident," another staged incident by the Japanese. Japan invaded China and within a year had occupied a great chunk of the real estate. But apparently, that was not enough for some of the officers in the Kwantung Army. They wanted more! Starting from around 1932, the Japanese constantly made incursions into Mongolia from the Manchurian side. Between 1932 and 1934 there were over 151 incidents of border skirmishes between the Japanese troops and the Soviet trained Mongolian Army. Although the Japanese Army was having great success in China, fighting against poorly trained and unmotivated Nationalist troops, they found the Mongols to be a lot more difficult to deal with and could not just roll over them as they were accustomed to doing in China. So, the frequency of incursions increased both in size and intensity. Between 1935 and 1936 alone there were over 150 incidents of border skirmishes. Then in 1939, an infamous Kwantung Army General Tsuji Masanobu, launched a major attack across the border into Mongolia using somewhere in the area of around 75,000 troops.
As with most Japanese military campaigns of that period, initially the Japanese had success. The Kwantung Army had superiority in artillery and air power. The Japanese pilots were seasoned from their experience in China, while the Soviet and Mongolian pilots were relatively inexperience. In one sortie, the Japanese pilots recorded 19 kills of Soviet planes in 15 minutes! The Japanese also had a very low opinion of the Soviet soldiers. They remembered the rag-tag groups that they faced during their time in Siberia when they seized Sakhalin. They felt confident that they could just crush the Soviet opposition. This was a totally undeclared war. The Kwantung Army was acting completely on its own! But they didn't count on having to face a brilliant Soviet General, little known at that time, General Giorgi Zhukov. Zhukov, a brilliant tactician and strategist who was later to become the architect of the destruction of German Army on the Eastern Front, literally shocked the Japanese with his tactics and crushed the Japanese forces at a place called Nomonhan in Mongolia. The actual main battle took place at a location called Khalkhin Gol, so the incident is known as the Battle of Khalkhin Gol or the Nomonhan Incident. This undeclared war began in May and ended in September, only five months, but it took its toll. There were approximately 60,000 casualties, and the Japanese troops who fought bravely, were decimated. Japan, and Kwantung Army in particular were spiritually crushed. They were not quite invincible like they thought they were. They could not just run roughshod over the Mongolian and Soviet Troops like they have been doing against the Chinese. In fact, it was the pride of the Japanese Army, the Kwantung Army that was run over roughshod!
The Nomonhan Incident should have alerted everyone of Soviet Union's capability and Zhukov's brilliance as a general. But, like so many things, no one paid attention. Zhukov employed exactly the same tactics several times on the Eastern Front, each time it resulted in a rout of the Nazis. Although Hitler may not have paid any attention to Zhukov's success at Nomonhan, the Japanese certainly did. It is for this reason that Japan never moved the Kwantung Army out of Manchuria. They were sure that the Soviets would come storming across the border, sooner or later. They were right, of course, but that didn't take place until August of 1945, in a "declared war."
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