I remember it like yesterday. The big public debate was whether or not the Chinese, by intervening when the North Koreans were essentially beaten, had legitimized the use of atomic weapons by us. Of course, by then China still had no nuclear capability. The question was whether Russia would stand by or intervene with their nukes. I had had two brothers fighting in WWII. The one who served in Europe, once mustered out, declared he never would get in another plane in his life unless he were paid to do so.* The other, Eddie, stayed on in USAF reserve, finally retiring as a full colonel. He had flown B-24son sub duty off south Florida during the war. He did not get called up for Korea, and I don't remember the reason, since many WWII GIs had stayed on in the Guard and Reserves because they didn't think there would be another war for at least 50 years. Ironically, Eddie almost got called up for the Lebanon crisis. He had picked up an additional service number when he became a CPA and it was very similar to the number for a helicopter pilot. He received a letter from the Air Force, saying they noticed that he was a qualified helicopter pilot and ordering him to report to Rucker. He was in a panic, because he knew that, if they got him down there, they'd make him into a helicopter pilot. Senator Sparkman intervened on his behalf and got him off the hook. I know I've related the story before, but it's been a while...Back to the original intent... Which I think should be the gratitude we should all have for vets and particularly for those who were under fire...
I had a gent I saw one time for a minor blood issue and they asked if I could refill a gabapentin script for neuropathy. That is outside of my normal field, so I asked what had happened. His wife had to prod the gentleman to tell me his story.
Turns out that he was a marine at Chosin Reservoir and hiked 80 miles in subzero temps and his feet froze. He watched his colleagues and friends drop dead in the snow while fighting a running retreat against the Chinese for two days.
That gapapentin script went in with plenty of refills until his neuro guy was available.
Battle of Chosin Reservoir - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
In case you are unfamiliar with his story...
