Korean War Project

08/18/2026

On Aug. 31, the family of Army Sgt. Willis Franklin McNiel will welcome the Korean War veteran home. McNiel was declared MIA in December 1950, at the age of 20. His family got the news that he had been identified in December of 2025.
Read more here: https://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/news/services-for-korean-war-veteran-missing-since-1950-and-idd-last-december-to-be-aug/article_fa539c7d-e7ed-4773-b170-32984c7eff64.html

08/18/2026

Ted here: continuing to find gems in archived email. Jack O'Leary penned this tribute to Task Force Faith on November 18, 2000.

I saved it as a graphic. Here it is:

08/17/2026

Just scanned: We have had Mr. Denfield's book for years. Each camp has a narrative for its origin.

American Military Camps in the Republic of Korea, 1866-1996

https://www.koreanwar.org/pdf/American_Military_Camps_in_the_Republic_%20of_Korea_1866-1996.pdf

07/28/2026

FILMS
More from Arnold Chun

The Fight Within Me: A Korean War Story
What does it mean to fight for freedom when you are not free?
A Narrative Short Film & Limited Series Proof of Concept
www.thefightwithinme.com

07/28/2026

FILMS
We want to introduce everyone to Arnold Chun. He is a filmmaker based in Southern California. His heritage is Korean-American. He is also an actor.
Two concept films have been in the works for several years and need some serious fundraising to place these films in front of students and the general public. Follow the links to his film projects to understand the concept and help bring these short films to life.

First: Children of War
www.childrenofwarshortfilm.com

07/27/2026

Here is our July 27th - Newsletter
https://www.koreanwar.org/features/25/remembering-july-27-1953

07/27/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1LYZnjVJ4y/

Send a message to learn more

07/27/2026

The War is Over

“UPI, Seoul, July 27, 1953 – The shooting in the Korean War ended at 10:00 pm tonight Korea time.
The uncertain and uneasy quiet of a negotiated truce settled over the Korean battle lines.
The armistice documents ending the bitter, stalemated efforts of the Communists to seize all Korea by force were signed at 10:01 a.m. today in the truce village of Panmunjom.
Exactly 12 hours later, official orders for a ceasefire were broadcast to troops on both sides of the battle lines. The war was over after 37 months.
The last Red artillery shell of the war burst on the eastern front 10 minutes earlier. South Korean troops on the central front continued a rattle of small arms fire almost to the moment of the deadline.
Then the strange silence of the cease-fire settled over the moonlit lines.
Front-line UN troops, after destroying their bunkers and fortifications, began moving back after 1 1/4 miles in the first step of an agreement with the enemy to form a 2 1/2 mile buffer zone between the two armies.
The communists also will fall back 1 1/4 miles. These withdrawals must be completed by Thursday night.
But the end of the military phase of the long and costly United Nations collective efforts to end aggression must be followed by a delicate political conference to start within 90 days. And this will in the end determine whether the truce will last, whether the ceasefire can be extended into a genuine peace for Korea.
The truce and the cease-fire wrote the end to a "political action" which developed into one of the longest and most costly wars in American history.
It was entered upon under a United Nations pledge to halt aggression and it ended almost where it began - in a specially constructed "peace pagoda" in the little mud hut village of Panmunjom just below the 38th Parallel.
As war merged into truce, American warplanes turned back to their bases with bomb loads still un-dropped and Allied soldiers dug in, alert against a surprise last-minute Communist attack but under orders not to start a fight of their own.”

07/25/2026

Tom Gormley sent us the link to his book about CPL Donald Matney in the fall of 2025 in response to our newsletter:

Published January 20, 2020 ISBN: 1490799206
Amazon excerpt:

The picture of the young soldier with the ears sticking out graced my mother-in-law's kitchen forever. When asked, she would reply that her younger brother Donnie disappeared during the Korean War at the tender age of eighteen. In 2010, my wife, Sandy, and I set out to discover what happened to Corporal Donald Matney and to bring him home. Our journey took us to Washington, DC; Seoul, Korea; and many places in between. But slowly, carefully, step-by-step, we reconstructed the short life of Sandy's uncle Donnie, identified his remains, and returned him to rest by his mother's side in Missouri. A Korean War Odyssey is this story. The saga begins with a Korean history lesson told through the eyes of a fictional young refugee family fleeing the North Korean invasion. It continues from the viewpoint of a soldier on occupation duty in Japan suddenly thrust into a violent police action. Both witness the atrocities of war until one disappears. Through alternating perspectives, the account continues weaving what happened during the war with how we identified this missing young soldier and brought him home. A Korean War Odyssey provides much-needed insight for today's headlines. Those with friends and relatives lost during the Forgotten War will learn what may have happened. Anyone who desires to understand the Korean War and why the US still has a presence on this Asian peninsula today will gain a new viewpoint.