# Use of White Phosphorous in Korean War?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-white-phosphorous-in-korean-war/975815>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 30, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-white-phosphorous-in-korean-war/975815 "2022-11-30T18:45:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 7

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-white-phosphorous-in-korean-war/975815/7 "2022-11-30T20:58:34Z")

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Here is a thread from 2005 on the same topic

> [@White Phosphorous Question (a bit morbid)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-phosphorous-question-a-bit-morbid/330490):
>
> In [this](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4417024.stm) BBC article concerning an Italian documentary which alleges U.S. troops used white phosphorous as a chemical weapon against insurgents in Fallujah, the author reports that: My question is simply ‘How is this possible?’. How can a chemical inflict a burn on human skin without damaging clothes? The answer seems obvious. After all, boiling water will burn human skin without damaging clothes. However, white phosphorous is very different from boiling water. [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Phosphorous) Wikipedia article stat…

Like @Sooner’s Dad, I was a Forward Air Controller, though post-Viet Nam. Post 15 of that thread contains my 2 cents.

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