A lot of veterans travel to former areas they served in. I guess that started with the WWII Vets? Then a lot of Viet Nam Vets have returned to Viet Nam as tourists. I hadn’t heard much about Korean Vets taking the scenic tour. Especially in the peoples paradise of North Korea.
I’m glad this old Vet got released. We don’t know yet what they did to him. I doubt he got Dennis Rodman’s VIP treatment by Kim Jong-un.
It does make me wonder how safe it is for Vets in Viet Nam? Especially high ranking officers and former Special Forces guys?
I once made the mistake of asking my dad if he wanted to revisit Da Nang and Nha Trang (Air Bases he served at). The look I got would have melted a snowman. There was no way in hell he wanted to see those places again. He was there in the build up in 66 and 67.
My mom reminded me that my dad did want to visit Thailand again. He was fascinated by that country when he took his R&R there. He bought my mom a bronzeware set of flatware. Very pretty but we never actually used it.
Just realized those Mercury News links just died. Thats the problem with the Internet. It sucks as a historical record. I just went back to google and confirmed those links had died. Pathetic.
Theres plenty more sources if you want to google it. Use Custom Range to zero in on Nov 20 thru Dec 1.
google cache for my two lost links. Its a shame those dumb asses at Mercury News destroyed the historical record. It really helps to read the story as it unfolded.
It does seem incredible a government would hold a 40 or even 60 year grudge against any servicemen. Even former Special Forces were just following orders. Whatever happened 50 years ago was part of a war.
N Korea has been encouraging tourism for awhile. I can’t imagine why anyone would go. But there are a few that have. Cuba gets tourists too.
Some new info in this homecoming article. I’d guess trying to contact individual N Koreans is what got the attention of the authorities. Not a big deal most places but N Korea is a totalitarian state.
I’m glad the old guy is safe and back home. Quite an adventure for somene that is 85.
I would go to NK for a very strictly escorted tour - and I damned well wouldn’t break any laws that we would be warned about - I have absolutely no need to flaunt my American Citizenship and do something stupid like preach christianity, dis the powers that be or whatever other foolishness people get into. Think of it like one of those bucket lists like visit every country on earth type things. I would not encourage my husband as ex-military to go touring in any ex-comblock or current comblock country even though he is 10 years out of date on his information.
It seems like Newman accidentally stepped in it by contacting people, which made the North Koreans rather prickly. He probably had no idea the danger he put himself in. Anywhere else probably wouldn’t have caused any problems, but this is North Korea. Of course, the North Koreans didn’t do themselves any favors by taking the old guy into custody, though they probably felt they got some propaganda out of the video they made of him “apologizing”. Dumb actions all around, and now there will probably be less Americans going to NK just to be safe.
As for Vietnam, they seem to have a forgive and forget kind of attitude about the war. I haven’t heard of any American serviceman visiting there having any kind of real trouble with the authorities.
Am just curious, and would be grateful for my ignorance – if it is that – to be corrected: I was under the impression that US citizens were forbidden to visit North Korea under any circumstances. (Clearly Mr. Newman managed it, though it turned out a not altogether happy experience for him.)
I, like aruvqan, would love to visit North Korea as a tourist, if I could afford the immense cost – in the kind of “interesting visit to a lunatic asylum” spirit, and while there, I’d – likewise – meticulously keep quiet and fit in. I’m British, and was a small child at the time of the Korean War, so presumably none of that stuff would be a problem. Just didn’t realise that there was any possibility for Americans, of so doing…
Unfortunate, but a foolish old man who should have been repeatedly and firmly warned that This Will Not End Well. I can only assume he ignored all of those warnings.
I honestly have no idea what Newman was thinking by going. Even the slightest bit of research into North Korea will tell you that the war is not something old from 60 years ago for them–the “Victorious Fatherland Liberation War” is a central piece of their national narrative, a central reason for their pervasive anti-US propaganda, and impacted almost every family there. It wasn’t a big deal in US history, but it is everything for the North Koreans. They aren’t gong to forgive or forget.
I’m glad Newman made it out okay, but he made a very stupid decision to go at all. What happened was pretty predictable.
Perhaps. But if I recall my History, North Korea was the aggressor. I think that gives them less room to complain – especially since they captured a military man who was fighting against military targets; unlike the Germans who were executing civilians.
The Germans were also executing partisans and other ‘terrorists’. Many Germans were tried for war crimes for that. Personally, I think there is some justification for executing guerillas. I’m sure that if they caught a Brit or American in uniform with them, they’d execute him too. War crime, or not? It’s a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
So yeah, I think the North Koreans are carrying a grudge too far; but ‘I was only following orders’ is too close for my liking to what the Nazis did.
I was only considering acts of war when I made the comment about following orders. The article said this guy and other Americans were training Korean guerrilla fighters. They were operating behind enemy lines blowing up bridges and other sabotage. Standard military tactics.
What the Nazis did in those concentration camps was genocide. That was carried out by criminals that didn’t deserve to wear a soldier’s uniform.
Those were the more egregious acts. But there were summary executions of partisans all the time. The partisans were engaging in ‘standard military tactics’, as you say; but Germans were prosecuted for executing them.
He was there in the build up in 66 and 67.