The Controversy at No Gun Ri :: Korean War No Gun Ri Essays

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. Some people can not fathom how the United States military could engage in such an action. However â€Å"Experts cite an absence of discipline and experience among the Americans, who had been badly shocked by the North Korean assault,† (Thompson, par. 7) as an explanation of why this could happen. This is not an uncommon theme when speaking of the soldier of the Korean War. Rudy Tomedi cites several examples of people who were never in the infantry being forced to become an infantryman. He uses the example of Bob Roy who states â€Å"Nine months before I’d been in the Military Police. M Company was originally an MP unit. Then one day they came around and said, ‘All right, you’re all in the infantry’† (Tomedi, 3). If this type of assignment was not uncommon during the Korean War, it is highly possible that those at No Gun Ri were just as unprepared to fight as Bob Roy was. If they were unprepared it is also quite possible that the soldiers panicked. General Ridgeway, who rose to be in command of the entire UN forces, claims that the United States’ forces were outnumbered, with low morale, and spread extremely thin. He claims â€Å"Every command post I visited game me the same sense of lost confidence and lack of spirit†¦It was not their doing that had brought them far understrength to this unfortunate country with major shortages in weaponry and insufficient clothing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ridgeway, 87). With a military force in such bad shape the possibilities of it acting irrationally is very high.