The Korean War, 70 Years Ago, The Evening Gazette, Indiana PA
Korean War Weekly Front Pages
4 January 1953 – 10 January 1953
The Evening Gazette, Indiana PA
What would 1953 bring?
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Military investigators studied burned tents and bomb craters at a Korean western front command post where a number of US soldiers were killed or wounded by an unidentified warplane. There still was no official report as to the exact number of men killed or wounded, but it was described as “several.” Nor was there any confirmation of some unofficial reports the plane or planes were Allied. The company commander told a correspondent, “They went so fast I can’t be sure what they were.” A corps officer said the surprised soldiers dived for cover and were unable to clearly identify the planes.
Allied warplanes, 300-strong, smashed a vital Communist railroad network on the doorstep to Red Manchuria on Saturday after 17 B-29 Superfortresses bombed the area the night before. The Fifth Air Force said pilots reported flames and smoke billowing over the target could be seen for more than 30 miles. Waves of fighter-bombers from four wings and one US Marine air group battered the network just north of Sinanju in far northwest Korea, the targets including nine key railroad and highway bridges spanning the Chongchon and Tseryong rivers. Superforts pounded the same area Friday night.
A crowded Korean passenger ship foundered in mountainous seas and violent winds Friday night and sank with a reported total of 249 lives just outside the port at Pusan. The Korean Ministry of Transportation said that only seven of the 256 aboard the 140-ton Chang Yung Ho were saved when the coastal vessel went down. The captain, Ha Yang Mo, was among the seven. He was able to provide only a sketchy account of the disaster. He told the ministry his ship was swung around violently by a tremendous gust of wind, things went black. The next he knew was when he regained consciousness in the storm-tossed seas. That was about 2200 Friday.
Key members of the House Armed Services Committee predicted that Congress would press for early action to break the Korean stalemate if President-elect Eisenhower did not do so. The survey of six Republican and four Democratic committee members showed the majority were convinced the current situation was difficult but not hopeless. They made their statements after General Omar Bradley and Secretary of Defense Lovett were quoted as telling the committee in closed sessions they did not know how to settle the war.
(Photo courtesy newspapers.com, Indiana Evening Gazette)