THE NOME NUGGET*
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
NOME. ALASKA
Telephone: Maw 125 P* O. Box 618
PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
W. A. Boucher .....Owu6r*Publiihff
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice
tt Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Nome, Alaska, Wednesday, July 12, 1950_
MUST MEET ENEMY ATTACKS
We are not among those who are afraid of Soviet Rus
sia or the use of the atomic bomb. We are among those
who hate war and would do almost anything, without
yielding in principle, to avoid a struggle which will in
crease the misery of the world.
Nevertheless, when the enemy sallies forth to battle,
and aims its thrusts at the democracies, there is nothing
left for free peoples to do but to gird themselves for the
ordeal and let the enemy have it as quickly and as pow
erfully as possible.
NO WAY TO FORETELL TIME OF ATTACK
. Promptly upon the invasion of South Korea, the Sen
ate Appropriations Committee summoned Rear Admiral
Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, director of the Central Intelli
gence Agency, to discover whether his organization had
been takert by surprise.
The Admiral pointed out to the Senators that North
Korean forces have had the capacity to invade South
Korea for a year but nobody could predict the timetable
under which they would march. He said that his agency
had given information about continuing troop and tank
concentrations near the border between the two seg
ments of Korea for the past two or three months. The
most recent one was on June 20th, five days before the
attack.
It would be perfectly silly to attempt to criticize the
govenment of this county fo its failue to assume that
troop concentrations in Northern Korea represented
positive indication of immediate attack| The strategy of
the Communists, in many countries, has been to mass
military strength on the frontier and to use the prestige
of force in connection with bargaining negotiations.
Nevertheless, we think it is fair to observe that the
invasion of South Korea should' have been no surprise to
the United States Government. The time may have
been uncertain but the probability of such an invasion
has been apparent since the division of the country into
two segments. A Soviet-dominated North Korea reso
lutely refused to participate in the efforts of the United
Nations to set up a republic and there has been abund
ant evidence of an intention to “unify” the country.
The world might be better if people would practice
their own religion more and try less to force it on other
people.
THE ROAD BLOCK
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Korean Situation
At A Glance■■■
(Continued from Page One)
ton Russian-made monsters, spear
headed the new assault, knocking
out some American machinegun
and light artillery positions. At
least two American tanks were
knocked out.
Associated Press correspondent
Tom Lambert at the front was un
able to give the location of the
battle because of security regula
tions, but presumably it was north
of the Kum river, about 13 miles
north of Taejon, emergency capi
tal of the South Korean Republic.
Front dispatches said the tanks
burst out suddenly, heavily cam
ouflaged with tree branches.
With a see-saw battle raging
along the west Korean front, U. S.
and South Korean troops got
sledgehammer support, heaviest
thus far, from Allied planse. Al
lied headquarters said the planes
knocked out at least 39 tanks and
218 other Red vehicles Monday.
This meant the communists lost
at least 144 tanks thus far, but
they kept pouring their armour
into four major sectors stretching
across a 45-mil-wide battle area.
The armor was wide open to air
pounding in excellent flying wea
ther.
j Three Russian jets—Yak-15’s—
i made their appearance, but did
nothing* to stop the terrific ma'ul
i ing of North Korean forces by Al
lied aircraft, which suffered no
losses. B-20 superforts, meanwhile
pounded communist targets be
j hind their battle lines.
A regimental adjutant at the
front reported to field headquar
ters that Ray Richards, correspon
dent of the International News
Service, and Cpl. Ernie Peeler of
the Tokyo Stars and Stripes, the
army newspaper, were killed on
the war front Monday.
On the world diplomatic front,
Egypt swung into line with other
members of the United Nations
security council in condemning
the North Korean invasion of
South Korea as open aggression.
In Washington, informed Sena
tors said they expect a 100,000- j
man increase in the armed forces, j
at an initial cost of $350,000,(100, |
as the first step in building tow
ard a decisive victory in Korea. |
Republicans called upon the ad- j
| ministration of President Truman
to take them behind scenes on di
plomatic and military moves in
the Korean situation and to let
them share in major policy deci
sions.
In Moscow, the Soviet govern
i
ment directed a note to U. N. sec
cretary-general Trygve Lie, de-!
nouncing the security council res- «
olution to use the U. N. flag and
a U. N. command in Korea as il
legal. The note repeated the Sov-'
iet contention that U. S. armed
action in Korea was the equiva
lent of “direct aggression on the
part of the United States” and it
said the U. N. resolution was a
- i
“gross violation of the charter.
i
The U. S. defense department
said in *Washington it was advised
that 10 American tanks have been
destroyed and two disabled in Ko
rea fighting.
The department said U. S.
planes have been the most effec
tive weapon thus far against the
enemy tanks, which the planes
blast with rockets and bombs.
In Paris the National Assembly
confirmed Rene Jlevin as France’s
newest Premier and he urged
Frenchmen to unite behind a
• 4 ^ . «. ».
strong government in this critical
international period.
Britons, groaning under the
western world’s highest taxes,
were told they may have to pay
*
more. Sir Stafford Crigps, chan
cellor of the exchequer, agreed
that taxation on incomes, now 40
per cent, is near the limit. But
Cripps said* there were other ways
to raise taxes, particularly if there
weer a question of an emergency.
Pravda in Moscow charged the
western powers have given orders
for formation of a permanent
West German army of 30,000 men.
Colombia sped relief to the rich
coffee-growing section 230 miles
northeast of Bogota, where 270
were killed and 40,000 were left
homeless by earthquakes Sunday.
Cold and heavy rains hampered
relief Work.
Wednesday, July 12, 1950
American troops, retreating in
South Korea before the massive
relentless offensive of the North
Korean communist invaders, fell
back today (Wednesday) behind
the important Kum River to posi
tions they hope to hold until power
for a counterattack arrives from
I across the sea.
1 Tank-led North Koreans, plung
ing south behind nyjrtar and ar
tillery barrages, drove American
forces out of Chochiwon with pre
sumably heavy casualties and
pushed them back seven bloody
miles to the Kum in what was de
scribed by U. S. hadquarters as an
orderly withdrawal.
The northern troops pressed
along the north bank of the Kum,
last major barrier before Taejon,
emergency South Korean capital
15 miles south. The Americans
hold Konju on the south bank.
A communique of Gen. MacAr
thur’s headquarters, lagging be
hind battlefront reports, acknowl
edged that the strong communist
pressure against outnumbe red
American battalions in the battle
area north of Chochiwon “may
compel further withdrawals be
hind the Kum River.” The shallow
river, a quarter mile wide north
or Taejon, with banks 10 to 15
feet high, presents a considerable
military barrier.
Red pressure against South Ko
rean forces between Chongju and
Umsong, northeast of the main
battle area, “resulted in a planned
withdrawal to defense posiitons
along the Pogang River,”4he com
munique said.'
East of Chungju a North Kore
an force was reported attempting i
to ford the winding Han River, j
The Fifth North Korean Division,
moving east in the same area, ap
parently was trying to outflank
the eighth South Korean division
and elements of the Red force
were nrobing south toward the
sixth South Korean Division.
The 15th North Korean division
was reported moving toward a
juncture with the Reds’ Fifth at
Chungju.
The attack which drove Ameri- j
cans behind the Kum River de-1
fenses began at midmorning after;
the Reds used their deadly and
now familiar flanking and infil
tration tactics.
A board flood dike about 20 feet
high and 30 feet thick at the base
offers a strong defense position.
U. S. engineers mined the modern i
bridge, but dispatches did not say
whether it was blown up yet.
A bitter, beaten little band of
GI’s sprawled in exhaustion on a
sunny Korean hillside this after
noon—weary survivors of one of
the most savage battles fought by:
Americans in the Korean war.
Their bitterness was more pro- i
nounced than their exhaustion,;
which was almost complete. They J
talked of encirclements and infil-!
trations. , j
A grimy, bewhiskered, blood
shot-eyed officer gritted his teeth:
“You don’t fight two tank
equipped divisions with .30 cali
ber carbines. I. never saw such a
useless damned war in all my life.'*
Bitter though they were, this GI
band had fought a gallant delay
ing action against tremendous
odds. Two days ago this handful
of soldiers was part of a sizeable
unit. In a morning-long battle
with North Korean tanks and
troops yesterday there were'whit
tled down. Many of the original
group still are in the hills after a
plunging rush from their encircled
pdsitions. But many of them—
wounded and dead alike—are in
North Korean’s hands or territory -
For the Americans it was the
beginning of their second week of
ground action—a period of dogged ^
delaying tactics and retreat before
powerful forces armed plentifully
with Russian materiel, .including
mobster tanks.
Anger swept American lines
over the execution of at least 18
American prisoners of war. This
was condemned in a communique
of the U. N. commander, Gen.
MacArthur, as “barbarity and
murder.” He said North Korean
war leaders will be held responsi
ble. Headquarters said it had
proof of such atrocities in official
photographs showing Americans
with their hands tied behind their ^
backs, all shot through the head.
In Washington, Sen. Bridges,
New Hampshire Republican, de
manded an immediate protest by
the United States and the U. N.
Both Houses of Cougress heard
increasing demands that other
members of the United Nations
send in ground troops to share in
the battle for Korea, which high
army quarters feared would be a :
long and bloody one.
There was deep foreboding over
the possibility that the Korean
war might spread elsewhere. The
appearance of Russian je{ fighter
planes on the battlefront, as well
as reports that “volunteers” from
Russia and communist China
might enter the fray, added to the
foreboding. Washington gravely
studied dispatches from Hong
Kong reporting a continued move
ment of Chinese communist troops'
to Manchuria from South China.
Secretary of State Acheson said
today conferences are going on as
to help which other nations may
give in the Korean fighting.
He told a news conference the
state department is conferring
with the defense department on
suggestions of help.
Obviously offers of troops from
other United Nations members
would be most helpful, Acheson
added.
Senator Tydings (D.-Md.) said
yesterday theer have been offers
of troops from other U. N. mem-^
bers and that they have been ac-^
cepted. His statement was made
after a meeting of Gen. Omar
Bradley, chairman of the joint
chiefs of staff, with the Senate
armed services committee. Other
committee members indicated
they understood there had been
offers only of token forces.
With prospects for a long strug
gle — some Washington sources
said it could take until fall to win
back South Korea.
An administration decision on
whether to seek temporary con
trol over material, manpower,
wages and the like, hinged on how
long the Korean fight might last
and what Russia’s intentions are
in the immediate future. f
The United States already has
begun drawing on its mothball
fleets of planes and ships for use
in the Korean conflict. Big bomb
ers are being taken out of storage
to be made ready and cargo ships
have been chartered.
i