I N S I D E O U T
H A P P Y A N N I V E R S A R Y !
K A R E N
love
Tom
Sunday, August 31, 2025
Saturday, August 30, 2025
China
Joe McCarthy, the junior Senator from Wisconsin,
lit up the nation's radio waves with his claim of
Communists working in the State Department.
Some were among the foreign officers America
sent to aid Chiang Kai-shek in China.
Instead, they threw their support to America's
enemy, Mao Zedong. The forces of freedom
had been betrayed.
And Truman was covering it up.
Chiang surrounded himself with American advisors
that adored him. The rest he had fired.
Roosevelt canned General Joe Stillwell in China
because Vinegar Joe was disrespectful to Chiang.
The General thought he was an idiot.
The Nationalist leader was playing out of his depth.
Meanwhile Mao was showing an interest in cooperating
with the U.S. Stalin was showing Mao no love and
the Communist leader needed economic help.
But Washington was of no mind to entertain a
Communist outreach. There was a war still to be won
in both Europe and the Pacific.
Eventually a truce was brokered between Chiang's
and Mao's forces but it turned out to be only a moment's
breather before the main event's inevitable clash
to determine who rules China.
There would be no peaceful settlement of differences
between Chiang's Kuomintang Nationalists
and Mao's army of peasant revolutionaries.
There was no middle ground for accommodation.
You had to win it all in order to rule.
The war turned against Chiang in Manchuria
where his army formed a number of isolated pockets,
trapped far from a timely rescue. Chiang had unwisely
overextended his forces. Here was Mao's tipping point.
Americans awoke one morning to the news Chiang
was fleeing to Formosa, today's Taiwan. Defeat was
stunning. China, America's best friend in Asia
went Communist. Congress was outraged.
Later Truman commented,
"We bet on the wrong horse."
Washington's focus remained fixed on Europe while
China replaced its old order with revolution.
Europe was clearly the priority for both Truman
and Stalin. Here was Western Civilization.
Here was the Mecca for global political power.
China was ancient glory with a Third World economy
and a billion people to feed. It's rewards were awaiting
somewhere in a far distant future. The West had enough
problems of its own. Truman could save China for later.
China denied the United States victory in Korea.
If only the Chinese had stayed on their side of the Yalu.
Instead, a million armed Chinese crossed over the
river into Korea and fought Uncle Sam to a stalemate.
Some in Congress suspected the war in Korea was
Stalin's ploy to force Washington to pull troops from
Europe in order to rescue Syngman Rhee. The U.S.
was being suckered into fighting the wrong war, leaving
Western Europe vulnerable to invasion by the Soviet
Red Army.
Washington quickly turned toward Japan to fulfill
the role Roosevelt had intended for China.
What had started simply as a military occupation
of defeated Japan developed into a lasting
political and economic partnership between the
two rival nations.
Japan in time became a leading global industrial
power only to be overtaken by the even more dynamic
Asian economy of China. At long last good fortune
arrived in the East with the beginning of the
Twenty-first Century.
* * * * *
© Tom Taylor
OVER EASY
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Korean Redux
The army America sent to Korea in 1950, arrived
trained and equipped to fight World War 2.
U.S. political and military leaders called for nothing
less than unconditional surrender from their enemy.
Uncle Sam had the overwhelming advantage in
tanks, artillery and planes, despite the fact
these weapons bordered on museum vintage.
The soldiers, of course, hoped to be home
by Christmas.
World War II brings to mind battles where tanks
rushed to gain deadly advantage, and bombers turned
cities to rubble. Victory required the vanquished to
sign a surrender, granting them no rights, no dignity.
General Douglas MacArthur would destroy the forces
of communism, pursuing North Korea's troops all the
way to the Yalu river. The banks of the river's far side
belonged to China. Her army of a million volunteers
were huddled nearby, waiting for the signal to rise up
and crush the men of Yankee aggression.
25 June, 1950.
Another Pearl Harbor.
This time it was the North Koreans striking that first,
devastating blow. America never saw it coming.
Washington was absorbed with Berlin, Stalin and
the Red Army in Europe. Political leaders thought
about strategy. Intelligence gathering was the job
of the spy. They were to inform the Oval Office
of the likelihood of a threat turning real.
Where? When?
Pyongyang's invasion South totally blindsided Truman.
Spies aren't supposed to let the quarterback be sacked.
Korea is a peninsula that nearly connects the Asian
mainland with Japan. One hundred and fifty miles
of cold, choppy water is all that separates Asia
from linking up with the Japanese.
Truman's people in the State Department failed to
mention South Korea when they listed the names
of nations they considered important to U.S. security.
Stalin noticed. What he took to be policy was, in
fact, only a bureaucratic oversight.
The war was on.
It was now up to Truman to clean up the mess.
The American people would be called upon to
show resolve and fight the forces of aggression.
Douglas MacArthur oversaw the occupation of Japan
following the war. He made sure enormous quantities
of military equipment and supplies were stockpiled
on the island nation. Japan's skilled workforce was
kept busy refurbishing, modifying and maintaining
everything military for Uncle Sam.
The revenue produced from this industry proved
to be a significant factor in reviving the
Japanese economy.
America's military had the need for roads.
Quickly getting from one place to the next
made mobility a critical strength for the U.S. Army.
Even artillery could be whisked most everywhere,
all at once. This was necessary for the battlefield win.
So long as you were fighting in Europe.
Korea is a narrow peninsula of rugged mountain ranges.
The roads there were narrow and unpaved. They followed
the valleys rather than scale the surrounding mountains.
Military trucks and tanks were confined to these roads
by rugged terrain. This left them vulnerable to ambush
from the surrounding hills.
The high ground belonged to foot soldiers -
the infantry. These were mostly Chinese,
experienced at fighting amidst rocky peaks.
The trick behind a devastating ambush was to
begin by knocking out the first and last vehicles
of the convoy, blocking any further movement.
The enemy could now leisurely pick off those
below, who refused to surrender.
This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.
Defeat wasn't in the script.
* * * * *
© Tom Taylor
OVER EASY
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)