No Gun Ri: What Really Happened?
In 2001, authors Charles J. Stanley, Sang-Hun Choe and Martha Mendoza published The Bridge at No Gun Ri: A Hidden Nightmare from the Korean War. The book immediately drew attention because of a horrific event that was illuminated within its pages. The authors claimed that on July 26, 1950, up to 400 South Korean refugees were slaughtered by American troops under the bridge at No Gun Ri (Hanley, 145). Despite the very convincing evidence that Hanley and his fellow authors have compiled, there are many loopholes in their story. Evidence does prove that something did indeed happen at No Gun Ri, but it may not have been how these authors described it.
Hanley, Choe and Mendoza present substantial evidence that supports a massacre taking place at No Gun Ri. They interviewed sixty American and Korean witnesses, who claimed to have been present at No Gun Ri. In the middle of the book, there are copies of a few American orders that were issued during the war, all of which command American troops to fire upon any refugees they encountered in certain regions. These two alone are enough to provide a stable foundation upon which they build their argument.
Certain situations within the Korean War itself also add to the argument. American soldiers dehumanized the Koreans, because, “It was easier to think of them as not quite human, as something beneath us” (Tomedi, 18). Any command to kill the Korean refugees could be carried out more readily if they thought they weren’t killing humans. In addition to this, rumors about armed Korean refugees killing American soldiers put our soldiers on edge. “Stories quickly circulated in the Garryowens’ ranks about saboteurs, grenades, guns among th...
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...ies stacked under the bridge or places where dirt was removed to cover bodies. The events that Hanley, Choe and Mendoza describe are too speculative without more evidence, and we can only be sure that their version of the story is true with more evidence. There are simply too many doubts.
Works Cited:
Tomedi, Rudy. No Bugles, No Drums; an Oral History of the Korean War. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1994
Hanley, Charles J., Choe, Sang-Hun, and Martha Mendoza. The Bridge at No Gun Ri: A Hidden Nightmare of the Korean War. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2001.
Galloway, Joseph L. “Doubts about a Korean Massacre.” 12 May, 2000.
(http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/korea/nogunri.htm - 8 November 2003).
Greer, Judith. “What really happened at No Gun Ri?” 3 June 2002.
(http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2002/06/03/nogunri/ - 8 November 2003)
Blaine Harden, former national correspondent and writer for the New York Times, delivers an agonizing and heartbreaking story of one man’s extremely conflicted life in a labor camp and an endeavor of escaping this place he grew up in. This man’s name is Shin Dong-hyuk. Together, Blaine Harden and Shin Dong-hyuk tell us the story of this man’s imprisonment and escape into South Korea and eventually, the United States, from North Korea. This biography that takes place from 1982-2011, reports to its readers on what is really going on in “one of the world’s darkest nations” (back cover of the book), that is run under a communist state and totalitarian dictatorship that was lead by Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and currently lead by Kim-Jong un. In Escape from Camp 14, Shin shows us the adaptation of his life and how one man can truly evolve from an animal, into a real human being.
Rudy Tomedi presents his audience with a different view of the Korean War; one that is up close and personal. The oral histories told through edited transcripts in No Bugles No Drums: An Oral History of the Korean War, show the reader the Korean War through the eyes of the men who were active in combat. However, as Tomedi puts it, “firsthand accounts have their limitations, but they also catch things that often fall through the cracks of a conventional history” (Tomedi, vi). Tomedi provides his reader with a short background of the situation, placing the interviewee into context within the war. This ultimately gives the reader a little insight into the position the person was in and clarifies some parts of the following interview.
Fussell, Paul. "Vietnam." The Bloody Game: An Anthology of Modern War. Ed. Paul Fussell. London: Scribners, 1991. 651-6.
Twenty lives were lost, including two of the striker’s wives and eleven children, but only one of these lives belonged to the National Guard. With this in mind, it can be debated whether or not this event should be considered a battle or a massacre. Some have argued that, because of the striker’s retaliation, the event should be considered a battle, but because of previous abuse and the guard’s disregard for who they were firing at it and careless destruction, it should be considered a massacre.
Kelman, Herbert C., Hamilton, V. Lee. “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience”. Writing & Reading for ACP Composition. Ed. Thomas E. Leahey and Christine R. Farris. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009. 266-277. Print.
Pearson, Lester B. "Documents on the Korean Crisis." University of Manitoba. January 24, 1951. http://www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/canada_war/tribune/website/clippings/korea/Documents_on_the_Korean_Crisis1.shtml (accessed December 18, 2011).
Hynes, Samuel Lynn. "What Happened in Nam." The soldiers' tale: bearing witness to modern war. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: A. Lane, 1997. 177-222. Print.
Olson, James S., and Randy Roberts. My Lai: A Brief History With Documents. Boston: Bedford, 1998
The sensitive subject of whether the 7th Calvary killed innocent men, women, and children at No Gun Ri arose years after the end of the Korean War. Some sources argue that the killings were unprovoked, while others claim that the Communist enemy was mixed within the refugee lines. One source claims the killings numbered over 350 innocent people and others claim it was a mere 35. Although there is a major discrepancy in the number of civilians killed, the fact that innocent men, women, and children were murdered does not disappear. Therefore, whether the casualties were 35 or 350, the United States army engaged in a massacre of innocent Korean refugees. Therefore, the killings at No Gun Ri can not be denied, whether they casualty count is high or low.
Weintraub, Stanley. War in the Wards: Korean’s Unknown Battle in a Prisoner-of-War Hospital Camp. San Rafael, CA: Presidio Press, 1976
Anderson, D. (2002). The Columbia guide to the Vietnam War. New York: Columbia University Press.
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