Evening star., 1955-11-20
ny EARL II. voss

states 8th ArmyS Work since the
armistice is one Of the few bright
spots in the Far East today.
There have been trying times.
Always there has been the threat
that Communists in the north win
decide they have had enough Of
q breather and sally south once
more. Always. too, there has been
the danger that President Syng-
man Rhee VIII dispatch his own
forces north. in an attempt to unity
his country by force before hs dies.
Keeping . proper balance be-
tween alertness 70 Red movements
on the one hand and restraint Of
South Korean bellicosity on the
other has posed \ problem. espe-
cially for the top American brass.
Seasoned commanders. however.
are not the only ones to be sub
iected to provocation. Korean
demonstrations against Poles and
CzechS on the neutral nations
inspection teams have put all ranks
to the test.
Violent Demonstrations
Individual demonstrators got
pretty nasty. Eighteen and 1s-
year-old American boys found
themselves targets for Koreans
throwing stones, bottles and. in
some cases, excrement. It was
worse than being head umpire at
Ebbetts Field.
Demonstrators often stoEmed
barbed-wire enclosures. Sometimes
they used ancient japanese trucks
for battering rams. For good meas
ure they loaded the vehicles with
alcohol INSPIRED ROK army vet
Grams screaming inyective and toss
ing debris from the truck bed.
At Inchon, the port for Seoul,
q narrow causeway connects the
island of Wolmi with the Korean
mainland. A neutral nations in
spection team has its headquarters
on Wolmi. One day the demon
stratofs broke down the 1O-foot-
high fence across the mainland
end Of the causeway. Then they
tossed the fence into the sea. A
few yards down the causeway stood
the American guards shack. IL
went over the side too.
Army military police, specially
trained In mob control, formed .
skirmish line across the caIiseWay.
But they were forced back TO the
Wolmi side. There they regrouped.
fixed bayonets and slowly edged
the crowd back across the eauseway.
In later attacks American guards
had to bring out frehoses and
vomiting gas.
BloodIess Police Work
But not Q shot was tired at the
demonstration. Not q Korean was
90 much ~ scratched by an Ameri-
can bayonet, Demonstrators In the
front ranks bled, Of cotirss, when
their eager companions In tho rear
pressed them agatnst the barbed
wire. Men who tried TO climb COM
pound fences got bruised hands
from rife butts when they reached
the top.
But neither an 1S-year-old pri-
vate nor q 22-year-old lieutenant
lost his head. II someone along the
line, from private to general. had
reacted with less responsibility.
Kim q Sung and his North Korean
Communists might be picking up
the pieces by now.
These cat-and-dog fights with
the Koreans contrast sharply with
another extracurTicular activity.
American forces who before 1858
risked their lives to keep Korea out
Of Communist hands have. since
1858, been making voluntary con-
tributions out Of their own pay
checks for o project called Armed
Forces Aid to Korea. AFAK's money
goes to buy lumber. bricks, cement,
and the other ingredients for con-
struction.
Koreans and Americans provide
the labor to build schools. hospitals,
churches. Fairgrounds and orphan
ages.
In fiscal year 1854. the first year
after the armistice. AJAX contri-
buttons totaled SIS million. In rs
cal year 1855, when there were
fewer troops, the total donation was
IS million.
These are some Of the reasons
Korean Ambassador You Chan
yang In washington has been at
great pains lately TO emphasize that
America Is the best friend Korea
has"
Military Missions
The American military forces
main missions In Korea are more
fundamental, Of course:
TO help Korea keep the colintry's
defenses strong enough to dissuade
Communists In North Korea from
attacking, or ut least powerful
enough to prevent the Reds from
penetrating IL they try.
o To train the Republic Of Korea
military forces TO take over defense
Of their own country.
Main responsibility for the first
mission rests with the United States
Path Division, which mans 20 miles
OF strategic front straddling the
main invasion routes TO Seoul. and
the United States Air Force, whose
atom-bomb carriers are based
mainly in Japan and Okinawa.
The Gath. now under the COM
nand Of Mai. Gen. Stanhope B.
Mason, was the first American out
at to reach Korea In 1850. That
was when Mai. Gen. William r.
Dean was IN command. and even-
tually was captured putting some
stiffening into his troops. spread
perilously thin TO slow up the
initial Communist onslaught.
Things are different now. Gen
Mason says his troops have enough
ftrepower to make the Reds pay .
tremendous price tremendous even
by Chinese Rtandnrde--if they try