A little background; the Korean War (1950-1953) was a war between North Korea (with support from China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (with support from the United States). The war began on June 25th, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border. In supporting South Korea the United States suffered 33,686 battle deaths, along with 2,830 non-battle deaths. M*A*S*H, the television series lasted eleven years. The Korean War lasted three.
In an interview with Fox News, I know a big surprise, The Donald stated that parents of fallen Korean War soldiers came up to him on the campaign trail and begged for their sons’ remains to be brought home. His quote; “When you can, president, we’d love our son to be brought back home — you know, the remains.”
There are two problems with this statement. First; as he indicated in the interview, he was on the campaign trail when these parents begged him to bring their sons “back home”. What’s the issue with that you ask? He wasn’t “President” quite yet but let’s move past that Freudian slip. I am sure in his mind he already was. It’s the second problem that is so much fun for me.
A little math, the average age of a Korean War veteran today, according to the Office of Veterans Affairs, is 88 years old. If you were 18 at the start of the war in 1950 you would be 86 today. Roughly the age spread is somewhere between 86 and 93, give or take a few years. Now, if that 88-year-old veterans mother gave birth to him, heck lets say when she was just 18 that would make her 106 years old today. Now, it is not inconceivable that there are mothers of MIA Korean War veterans still alive. But rather than parents it would have made more sense if Trump had said the wives, sisters, children, etc. But he didn’t, it was the parents that tugged on his coattails asking for his help, 106 year old mothers.
I know that the only things the Deplorable nation heard on Fox News were “veteran”, “son”, “home” and “remains”. They really don’t care about the math. They really don’t care that this is just another instance, piled on top of many instances, that The Donald took liberties with the truth and history. Whose going to check? Fox News? If the man said it must be true!
Why do I waste my time writing stuff like this? Who am I even talking too at this point? Am I going to convince any of these gullible Trump sheep that it is not to late to repent? Intellectually, this is a very dark period in American history. I truly believe when we look back on this time it will be viewed as a period when creative, free and innovated thinking was absolutely shut down. A period that gave rise to a second, third or fourth wave of racism and bigotry. A time when Religion was used to divide and conquer and the message of Jesus was bastardized to appeal to one demographic, one very white and conservative demographic. Why do I waste my time? Because my kids and their future is worth fighting for.
I guess Trump never watched M*A*S*H, but then again maybe he did and thought that the Korean War was actually fought between 1972 to 1983 but only on CBS. Honestly, his statement makes perfect sense now. He did after all warn us about his superior intellectual prowess way back in 2013; “Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest -and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure, it’s not your fault”
Ends and Beginnings 
One, many Americans really care about bringing the remains of our soldiers home, related to them or not. Hell! We’ve a long history – even mentioned in M*A*S*H – of going to suicidal lengths to recover our dead. Hence, your “truth” is a falsehood brought on by misrepresentation or, if you prefer, merely a set of alternative facts. (and yes, in these days of lexiconical differences, “alternative facts” are a real thing.)
Two – There’s also the tens of thousands of our soldiers stationed in the DMZ, most of whom could be reassigned stateside if President Trump can actually bring about formal peace between the Koreas.
LikeLike
Heck I will play along, obviously you didn’t read the post. It had zip, zero, zilch to do with the emotions or as you note “suicidal lengths” families take to recover their kin. Did you get that? Zip, zero, zilch. The only “falsehood” or “misrepresentation” that was offered in my post were the ongoing and DAILY falsehoods and misrepresentations offered by your orange President.
#2- Yes, we have military stationed in the DMZ, we have for years and South Korea isn’t the reason. Russia and China are. We also have troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Italy, Japan, Honduras, Burkina Faso, Thailand, the Philippines ….. If “President Trump” as you refer to him removes our troops in SK it will be for one reason and ONE reason only and it has nothing to do with bringing people home. It will be because Vladimir Putin told him too.
LikeLiked by 3 people
my youngest is stationed right NOW in the DMZ…and HE (and everyone he knows there) is aghast at the orange baboon who has just placed all their lives in danger..more so than usual.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Suze, PLEASE thank him, from me and my family, for his service to our country. My uncle spent several years in SK and I remember him telling me why he was there then 30 years ago, as a first line of defense against the Chinese and Russians. I have and will always suspect that is why we have been there for so many years and both countries would love nothing more than for us to go home.
The Deplorables ask what do we gain from protecting SK? The reality is we aren’t necessarily protecting SK we are creating a line of defense for ourselves. But shit what do I know. I am not orange and I am not the president.
LikeLiked by 3 people
according to Rich, we are in SK to keep the “damned russians and Chinese from taking over our allies”…so you are correct. He was completely surprised that Trump said there would be no joint summer exercises…that JE was the only reason he signed up for his 9th tour in SK. Personally, I’d rather he came home..but as he put it recently in a skyped remark. “Mom, at least I am in a democratic country. I just wish YOU were”.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Smart kid. I hope you get a chance to smother him with a mom hug very soon. You know, one that’s about 5 minutes longer than he wants 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
He and his buddies aren’t the only ones that are aghast! Wait … I sorta’ have to take that back. I think many of us were NOT “aghast” because we’ve learned “our” leader doesn’t have a clue on what’s behind SANE military operations anymore than he does in running this country.
No. Korea is going to bite him in the butt … wait and see.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Remember what I posted; “What can we expect from the Trump and Kim Jong-un summit? Pictures, lots of pictures.” He got them.
LikeLiked by 4 people
No, you are not wasting your time. Old buggers like me, who don’t have the energy we once had,
appreciate guys like you who still love and want to protect the same America I love and served. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yet again, you have hit the nail on the head. We are living in an era that is post-Truth and post-History. Ignoring and distorting both history and the truth has served Trump well. I have given up trying to talk truth to the “gullible Trump sheep” in my family and in my community. At some point in the future when Trump has hopefully been dethroned, they may come to their senses and either confess their sins about blindly following this demigod or they will invent a revisionist narrative in an attempt to diminish the level of support they have given to a man whose main goal was to wield international power while enriching his family’s wealth and the wealth of the nation’s billionaire class.
But alas, you are not wasting your time. While 40%+ of the nation has fallen under the spell of the cult of Trump, 40% actively oppose everything he stands for. It is critical that the 20% of the nation that is politically disengaged – particularly our young people – are exposed to the truth and encouraged to take political action by voting in the next election. This is where progressives need to be actively focusing their attention.
Keep fighting the good fight! Thanks to social media, history is recording where we all stand on this issue, and those who are in positions of real power (Republican politicians) will be held accountable, bringing shame to their families.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Sorry to say that pride will prevent those from coming to their senses or confessing their sins. Just like the Evangelicals have convinced themselves that Jesus was a white, Christian Man, Trumpers believe, shit I don’t know what they believe.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for your support. Thanks for NOT drinking the orange Kool-Aid.
LikeLiked by 4 people
He’s such a DUMB-ass!
LikeLiked by 3 people
I really enjoyed your post. My only nitpicky point is that you acknowledged the Chinese and Russian support of North Korea, but did not mention the support of the many allies who supported South Korea. I know this was not maliciously done, and I grant that the greater proportion of soldiers came from the US but it would only be fair to those that died and were wounded there.
Keep writing. I am enjoying reading the posts, but don’t have a lot of to say about them because it isn’t my country and most of it seems …. unbelievable is not the right word….odd how easily people can believe contradictory things said moments apart and how wrong it all seems.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Certainly not malicious. I will freely admit I don’t know much about the Korean War in terms of what other allies were involved and wrote the post from a US perspective with an eye towards primarily American readers.
Thank you for reading and for your kind comments. Peace.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your assumption is correct and your conclusion is essential. Your children, mine, grandchildren etc deserve the opportunity soldiers in Korea believed they were fighting and dying for. Democracy and freedom can very difficult to achieve. We honestly don’t need the arrogant and incompetent individual who occupies the white House damaging our efforts.
LikeLiked by 1 person