Danger of war still present 56 years later
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The days of peace and slumberous calm are fled.
-John Keats
We had some neighbors here in Victoria - beautiful people - who spoke often of how they feared for the safety of their son, who was serving in "no man's land" along the 38th Parallel of latitude in Korea.
Ever since the United States, North Korea and China signed an armistice that stopped the bloodshed of the Korean War on July 27, 1953, an uneasy truce has been in effect.
But, our neighbors said, the sound of gunfire still rang out along the Parallel from time to time, and people were getting hurt.
It is interesting to note that the two Koreas have never signed a peace treaty, never in the 56 years since the other combatants signed theirs. They're still at war, despite the shaky cease fire.
The United States, therefore, has kept a military contingent of thousands in South Korea, ever on guard against a surprise attack from the North, like the one that began the Korean War in 1950. That "Korean Conflict" or "police action," as the United Nations officially called it, cost more than 30,000 American lives, with another 90,000-plus wounded seriously.
Most political and military leaders say it would take a crazy man to start another Korean War. But, they add, that might be just what we're dealing with in North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
With their recent underground nuclear testing, and missile firings, the North is thumbing its nose at nations around the world who are condemning their actions. Even their old Korean War allies, the Chinese, don't like what they're doing.
But, the North just shrugs it off. They say they'll respond in "self-defense" if they're provoked.
North Korea is, of course, a military pip-squeak. But, given the global no-no on the use of nuclear weapons, we'd be forced to fight a "conventional" war with them. More lives lost.
I haven't seen those great ex-neighbors of ours in some time. I hope their son is safely home from the Korean peninsula.
But still, we have so many others over there to worry about.
And pray for.
Jim Bishop is a senior editor for the Advocate. Leave him a message at 361-574-1210 or jbishop@vicad.com or comment on this column at www.victoriaadvocate.com.
