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The War Americans Forgot About (The Korean War)

Mr. Beat

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Mr. Beat tells the story of the Korean War, aka "The Forgotten War," a war his grandfather fought in.

Uh ok, so this is, like, the description of the video so keep reading. Produced by Matt Beat. Filmed by Matt Beat. Additional images used under fair use guidelines or found in the public domain. Music by Causmic, Doug Maxwell and Media Right Productions, Futuremono, Geographer, LATASHA, Otis McDOnald, and Tracktribe. Creative commons credits: Laika, Yoo Chung, dokaspar, Driedprawns, Johannes Barre, and Dwxn.

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Here's an annotated script with footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E...

Sources/further reading:
Battle for Korea: A History of the Korean Conflict by Robert J. Dvorchak
Purchase here: https://amzn.to/4jOhCeQ
The Korean War by Donald M. Goldstein and Harry J. Maihafer
Purchase here: https://amzn.to/43jEgpH
The Korean War: A History by Bruce Cumings
Purchase here: https://amzn.to/4iRYtHB
Fire and Ice: The Korean War, 1950-1953 by Michael Varhola
Purchase here: https://amzn.to/3YFgTUZ
The American Pageant. (16th edition). Cengage Learning.
The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People (9th edition)
America Through the Lens (National Geographic)
https://www.archives.gov/research/mil...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War
https://www.britannica.com/event/Kore...
https://www.unc.mil/History/1950-1953...
https://new.mnd.go.kr/user/imhc/uploa...
https://web.archive.org/web/201907242...
https://web.archive.org/web/201301200...
https://web.archive.org/web/200708190...

#ushistory #koreanwar #korea

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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
02:11 World War Two Ends, Tension in Korea Begins
04:55 Sponsored by Ground News
06:47 North Korea Invades
12:23 Back and Forth
16:25 Stalemate
18:24 The Legacy of the Korean War

20 Comments

@iammrbeat Creator 1 year ago (edited) Pinned

Which war in American history should I cover next?

This video was sponsored by my Patreon supporters, channel members, and Ground News...
Go to https://ground.news/mrbeat to stay informed amid the political uncertainty. Subscribe through my link for 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan this month.

Also, y'all figured it out!
9:43 This is not Korean, but Chinese writing. More specifically, a mixture of traditional Chinese with one Simplified Chinese character, which is common for day-to-day Chinese writing historically (and in some Chinese communities now).

Original transcript:
‘你看！我是多麼快活自由！
共產党說我投誠後被聯軍虐待，你相信嗎？’

Translation:
‘Look at how happy I am!
The Communist Party says I’m being tortured by the Allies after I have surrendered. Would you believe in that?’

They are propaganda posters apparently.

@EmperorTigerstar 1 year ago

It is kinda weird how the war itself is talked about less but the show M.A.S.H. was one of the most popular and successful TV shows of all time.

@broondjongen 1 year ago

Kudos to the Korean peninsula for hosting both a Communist dystopia and a Capitalist dystopia

@AncientAmericas 1 year ago (edited)

A (not) fun fact about the Korean War: The US dropped more bombs on North Korea than they did in Japan and the Pacific Theater combined. Great video!

@Lukedub 1 year ago (edited)

Dang, being black in the korean war must've been crazy because imagine fighting in a war that everybody forgot, only to go home and realize everybody forgot your rights as well.

@YourCousinVinny90 1 year ago

My grandpa fought in this war too. He got drafted the day after he graduated from radiology school. He was on the front line for 6 months before the army realized he could be an X-ray technician

@MADGuy248 1 year ago

9:43 This is not Korean, but Chinese writing. More specifically, a mixture of traditional Chinese with one Simplified Chinese character, which is common for day-to-day Chinese writing historically (and in some Chinese communities now).

Original transcript:
‘你看！我是多麼快活自由！
共產党說我投誠後被聯軍虐待，你相信嗎？’

My translation:
‘Look at how happy I am!
The Communist Party says I’m being tortured by the Allies after I have surrendered. Would you believe in that?’

I would assume it is left a propaganda material that aimed towards Chinese speaking comrades and soldiers, not only to get them on the allied side, but also to challenge the notion of the demonised Allied army to the Communist sympathisers, shaking up their unity.

Interestingly, I see some sheen from the characters, so it is not printed, but hand written, possibly with a ballpoint pen.

I was reflecting on how widespread ballpoint pens would have in East Asia - in terms of regions that may have easy access to them, it would be the South Korea and Japan (and maybe some parts of Taiwan?) - all occupied and colonised by the US - as well as Hong Kong as the British colony.

It gets me wondering which part of these regions would the writer have been recruited to write that propaganda.

@myaoconnell514 1 year ago (edited)

my great grandpa tom is featured in the video!! 17:49 the very top newspaper titled "cease-fire" and the man on the very far right is him! he was awarded two purple hearts due to being shot twice in the war, he passed away in 2006 but i know he would be thrilled to see him in a video talking about the korean war :)

@ryanmccolloch4734 1 year ago

Without this war, I would not exist. My grandfather on my dad's side escaped poverty and homelessness by joining the Navy at 16 to serve as a corpsman on a ship during the war, and after he became a paramedic where he met my grandma. My mom was born in Inchon and adopted by Americans, so if North Korea had won, she would either still be there or not have been born at all. I love learning about the Korean War and wish it got a fraction of the attention and analysis that WW2 and Vietnam get.

@kotm2021 1 year ago (edited)

I’m Korean and I just gotta say this is a war we will never shut up about in the family

@ProfessorKittenJR 1 year ago

As an Alabama student who never got a teacher who cared more about history than football (they were always football coach) thank you for your clear passion for educating the youth.

@eximiamedia7897 1 year ago

South Koreans have definitely not forgotten this war. I was in SK for work recently when I had mentioned I wanted to visit the war memorial in Incheon at dinner one night because my grandfather fought in the battle of Incheon. 4 elderly South Korean men stood up, walked over to me and all shook my hand thanking me for my grandpa. Nearly brought me to tears, the reverence they showed for my grandfather's service and those American Soldiers who passed fighting in the Korean War.

@TheRealBiffler 1 year ago

My great grandpa fought in this war. His ship sank but everyone, including him, survived. He passed away in 2021.

@tee_toe7898 1 year ago (edited)

My wife grandpa who passed away 4 years ago at 91 was in the Korean War . He explained the horrific magnitude of the war . They went through some heavy shit. He was a proud veteran . Salute to that man. I’m glad you made this video to show the bravery of those many men .

@pyre8084 1 year ago

The civil war didn't divide Korea. Korea was already divided before the war by competing Soviet and American territorial ambitions in the region after WW2.

@tom_tries_it 1 year ago

I love your "Explained" series. I found it interesting that there was more than the US involved in the conflict. Thanks for sharing your grandfather's heirlooms.

@SuperAdamSaiyan 1 year ago

Holy crap, I literally check yesterday for a Korean War Mr. Beat video and didnt have one. And now he drops this, perfection

@kevinplant2128 1 year ago

I interviewed my grandfather who also fought in the Korean War. He was a Marine and was in Pyongyang when the Chinese assault happened. I was the first person he told in the family about what he saw there. Some really grim stuff happened on that peninsula.

@TheHistoryUnderground 1 year ago (edited)

Great video! I especially liked the inclusion of your grandpa's story. You probably already know it, but that patch was for the 25th Infantry Division, which the 17th Field Artillery Battalion supported in Korea. Lots of hard fighting for those guys. The nickname of the battalion was "The Persuaders", which goes along with the name painted on the artillery piece that you showed. Very cool!

@MaddoxGarmon 1 year ago

I had a great uncle who served in Korea. He eventually met his first wife over there and brought her back to the states. I’m sure many other families have similar stories as well.