Korean War Remembrance Ceremony

On Tuesday, June 25, at 2:00 p.m., the 樱花直播 will host a Korean War Remembrance Ceremony in Brevard at the Ingram Auditorium on the campus of Brevard College, to commemorate June 25, 1950, the 74th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.

A tribute to America鈥檚 military veterans

The ceremony is intended as a tribute to America鈥檚 military veterans who fought and died to preserve the existence of the Republic of [South] Korea.聽 It will also be a tribute to the resilient and industrious people of South Korea, who suffered a brutal attack but persevered and prevailed, going on to build one of the world鈥檚 most vibrant economies and democratic societies.

Korean War was one of the most destructive conflicts in history

The Korean War was one of the most destructive conflicts in history.聽 During its three-year duration (1950-1953), every major Korean city was devastated, and an estimated 2陆-3 million people perished.聽 It was the first military action of the Cold War, pitting the Communist forces of North Korea, China, and the Soviet Union against the United States and 20 other member-countries of the United Nations.聽 Nearly 37,000 Americans lost their lives defending South Korea, and more than one million South Koreans (civilian and military) died as a result of intense battles and many months of attrition warfare.

Fan Dance

The Cold War, Setting the Stage

1949-1970

Truth be told, the authors of this article are no historians but we did live through the years of the Cold War. Duke from 1955-1985 and Art from 1970-1995. Both of us flew the Strategic Air Command’s refueling tanker, the KC-135 and Duke also the U-2. These thoughts are ours. They adequately portray a time when the world may have actually teetered on the edge of nuclear annihilation. Unsettlingly,聽a 1959 movie,聽On The Beach, depicted the aftermath of a nuclear war.聽In the words of Paul Nitze, present from the war’s start to its finish, wrote, 鈥淥ne of the most dangerous forms of human error is forgetting what one is trying to achieve.鈥� Let’s see if we complied with that advice. It was a time of testing the water. Here’s how this play began.

The Great Powers Competing

After World War II, the Great Powers (the United States and Russia) began to compete鈥攆or property, people, and predominance. And when Western Europe and the United States formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, 1949) in fear of Russian expansion鈥攁nd perhaps partly in fear of Germany rising militaristically again–the stage was set for a 鈥渨ar鈥� that would last 42 years. As a counterbalance to NATO, Russia, in 1955, formed the Warsaw Pact and Europe was truly divided by an Iron Curtain. Who were these then who swept us into an era the likes of which we had never seen?聽Of proxy wars and the threat of annihilation and mutual assured destruction.

The Actors

NATO: United States, Great Britain, France, Italy,聽Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal. Greece and Turkey were added in 1952, West Germany in 1955, and Spain in 1982.

The Warsaw Pact: United Soviet Socialist Republic, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland and Romania.

These lineups remained constant until the end of the Cold War.

The Scenes

Treaties and Agreements:聽When the Soviets developed a nuclear device in 1949, we welcomed in the Nuclear Age weaponry and round after round of alphabet negotiation. SALT I, II; SDI; ABM; MLBM; IRBM; ICBM; SLBM; MIRV; GLCM; START; among others which extended throughout the period.

These were the 鈥渂ig boy atomic toys鈥� that each side wanted to regulate鈥攂allistic missiles that could be launched from air, land or sea. Throughout the years of the Cold War these weapons got the most attention, testing and development.

Cloak and Dagger

And another age emerged. The 鈥淎ge of 3-Letter Agencies鈥� to investigate, monitor, spy, or foment at times, unrest in various places around the world鈥攊ncluding the U.S.聽A war of cloak and dagger. The Red Scare of Joe McCarthy gave rise to J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI. In 1948, President Truman authorized the creation of the CIA which subsequently gave rise to American 鈥渕eddling鈥� in the modern world. Welcome to the War of Cloak and Dagger—and the growth of modern terrorism. We saw the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, Palestine Liberation Organization, Red Brigades, Provisional Irish Republican Army, Weather Underground and others the world over.

The Shooting Wars

And just off the Main Stage (left and right), shooting wars in Korea and Vietnam were placed among other skirmishes and crises around the globe. It was a time of the 鈥淐ultural鈥� Revolution in China. The Suez Crises, the Congo, Yom Kippur, Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Francis Gary Powers U-2 shoot-down over Russia. The Berlin Wall dividing Germany, the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and many more places and events you probably never heard of. It kept our heads spinning as to what would happen next.

NOTE: Duke was on 24-hour alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis. His KC-135 accompanied nuclear loaded B-52’s. His unit launched 22 tanker sorties a day offloading fuel to their matched bomber. The bombers were airborne 24 hours at a time. He notes it was like an implausible but frightening movie for the aircrews and their families.

And it was a period of continual negotiation aside from the madness of the supporting players. But bluff and bluster gave rise to American superiority and security as we shall see in Part II.

Art Cole (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) served for 25 years from 1970-1995. A Command Pilot who held Squadron, Base, and Wing commands, he also held senior level positions in Headquarters/Strategic Air Command and the office of the Secretary of Defense. Operationally, he flew the EC-47, T-39, KC-135, and B-52. After retirement he flew 16 years with the Federal Express Corporation. He volunteers at the 樱花直播.

Richard G. 鈥淒uke鈥� Woodhull, Jr. (Colonel USAF, Ret.) is a Command Pilot with 6500 hours of military flying. From 1955-1985, he held multiple command, staff and diplomatic positions.聽
His Cold War and Vietnam War operational flying qualifications include the U-2 high altitude reconnaissance aircraft and KC-135 tankers, among others. He volunteers at the 樱花直播.

Article by Art Cole and Richard (Duke) Woodhull

The Age of Presidents and the Holy Grail 1971-1991

1971-1991

These were the years when the United States, the Soviets and now China made efforts to improve relations. Finding the 鈥渁rms race鈥� particularly expensive, they entered into a period of give and take. And in the spirit of giving, when Nixon made a historic visit to China, the US dropped our objection to China’s presence in the UN, and China appeared on the world stage.

SALT Agreement & Helsinki Accords

Also in 1972, SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) was signed by Nixon and the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev. The agreement restricted the number of ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles) of both sides. This was followed closely by the Helsinki Accords (a non-binding agreement) which was signed by 35 countries including the USA and the USSR. This recognized the European borders established after World War Two and gave tacit approval to Soviet control over Eastern Europe. Thus a bi-polar balance of power was created which dominated all actions related to future foreign policy.

However, when the Soviets began to update their nuclear arsenal in Eastern Europe in the late 70s, the West responded in kind. But when SALT II was negotiated it gave serious disadvantages to the West in the areas of missiles and heavy bombers鈥攊t even counted 230 鈥渕othballed鈥� aircraft to be included under the ceiling. By its overwhelming weight given to the Soviets, the treaty never emerged from Congressional committee. And while Carter said we should live under the intent of the treaty-that-wasn’t, the Soviets made no such commitment.

The Carter Doctrine

When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, President Carter outwardly supported the Mujahideen and his CIA clandestinely supported them with weapons and funding. He put forth the Carter Doctrine pledging to use force to stop incursions into the oil rich Middle East states. He also imposed economic sanctions on the Soviets.

Reagan and Star Wars

In 1980, Ronald Reagan came to town. It began the period of 鈥淜ing Arthur and the Black Knight.鈥� After assuming office, Reagan announced an increase in defense spending at the same time the Soviet economy was struggling. So when Reagan approved the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) in 1983, the Soviets were out of airspeed and ideas. The Black Knight was defeated. And the Grail might be within reach.

Gorbachev Replaces Brezhnev

In Russia a change had also occurred. Brezhnev was out and Gorbachev was in. And to the delight of the West, he was someone with whom even Margret Thatcher (Great Britain’s Prime Minister鈥攖he Iron Lady) thought she could negotiate. He brought in an economy based on competition and incentives to produce, reversing decades-old Marxist policies.

However, it was still no match for those in the West so he began cutting spending on nuclear weapons. This led to further negotiations: the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks put a limit on warheads and missiles and the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces talks limited the levels of intermediate range nuclear forces in Europe and Asia. (The INF was finally signed in December 1987 after more than half a decade of negotiations.)

Militaristically the Cold War was about to end. Thus in 1989, the increased Soviet 鈥渓axity鈥� in social and economic programs allowed Eastern Europe to also change. Communist parties in a few vassal states were dropped. Leaders were democratically elected. Borders were open to the West. Former Republics declared their independence.

The Berlin Wall tumbled down.

And the greatest result? The USSR was dissolved and in 1991 Russia became a Republic. Also in September 1991, nuclear-equipped bombers and their associated tankers President Kennedy had on 15-minute ground alert since 1961, were ordered to stand down.

The Cold War had ended.

NOTE: From 1991-1993, Art was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense/Office of Economic Adjustment working to help communities whose bases were selected to close begin the economic development process. In 1992, the office was approached by former Eastern European communities, asking for an appraisal of the facilities the Russians had left.

Long story short, there was no attempt at environmental cleanup. The electrical grid, the water/sewer system, work areas, living quarters, etc., were primarily 1950s technology. No wonder communism failed.

So in the beginning and in the end, what was the Holy Grail?聽鈥�… [It was] not only to create a tolerable structure of political and economic order, but also to help defend it while under construction from those who still believed that a better world for them could only be obtained through further widespread tearing down.鈥澛�(Paul Nitze)

We believe that the Grail was achieved. But there is still much to do. Still those out there who would destroy rather than build. But that’s a game of a different nature. Wish us luck.

ENDNOTE:聽Again, this is an abbreviated look at 42 years. We have keyed on the points we considered important; you may have others just as significant. But from where we sat, from the cockpits of 15-minute alert, to the headquarters of the Strategic Air Command, to making inputs to 1980s NATO war plans, to flying the early models of the U-2, it was quite a ride.

Art Cole served 25 years from 1970-1995. He is a Command Pilot who held Squadron, Base, and Wing command positions. He held senior level positions in Headquarters/Strategic Air Command and the office of the Secretary of Defense. Operationally, he flew the EC-47, T-39, KC-135, and B-52. After retirement he flew 16 years with the Federal Express Corporation. He gets by in English.

Duke Woodhull, after ending his thirty-year Air Force career which began in 1955 and ended in 1985, worked twelve years more with The Boeing Company. He settled with his wife in the idyllic mountains of Western North Carolina. A former U-2 pilot, he also flew the KC-135, C-54 and various other aircraft in his DOD assignments. Duke has held senior Command and Staff assignments and is fluent in two foreign languages.

Article by Art Cole and Richard (Duke) Woodhull

Cuban Missile Crisis

It is certainly no exaggeration to say that聽the in October, 1962 was聽the most dangerous incident occurring during the decades-long Cold聽War between the Free World and the Union of聽Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In this article聽I tell my personal story of that period as a Crew Commander in the Strategic Air Command KC-135 jet聽aerial refueling tanker force at Westover Air Force聽Base, Massachusetts.

During the Cold War, the Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-52 bomber and KC-135 tanker forces were constantly 鈥渙n alert鈥� at multiple bases, 24 hours of every day. Known as the 鈥淪AC Alert Force鈥�, every one聽of those airplanes聽and crews had a specific, pre-planned聽mission involving a retaliatory attack against specific targets in the USSR or a Communist聽satellite country.

On Alert

Being 鈥渙n alert鈥� meant that the bombers聽and tankers were continuously guarded and parked in special areas near the runways. The flight crews resided in special buildings near the airplanes on the flight聽line, maintaining the capability to quickly respond by running to the airplanes,聽starting the engines, and taking off.聽聽The reason聽for haste was the threat of Russian missiles being fired from聽Soviet submarines off the US coast with the capability of attacking and crippling the US聽strategic bomber and tanker forces in just a few minutes.

Practice alerts were constantly conducted, to ensure that the crews could always get to their airplanes and take off in minimal time. 聽 One can imagine the tremendous time, effort and expense 鈥� for many years聽鈥搊f maintaining the huge SAC bomber and Tanker Alert Force as described above.聽The reason was very simple: a firm belief by US聽leaders in the willingness聽and ability of the USSR to attack our strategic forces. To deter聽such an attack on our strategic forces by the USSR, maintenance of a credible and invulnerable capability to聽respond to any attack from the USSR was essential.

An Act of War

When the missile launch facilities聽under construction in Cuba were discovered by U-2聽aerial photography, the US viewed it as an聽aggressive activity, virtually an act of war. Intermediate range聽missiles聽launched from only 90 miles away from the US would be able to聽hit American cities and bases in a matter of minutes鈥攁n intolerable danger to the US homeland.

B-52 Bombers Aloft and Armed

It was then that the entire SAC force 鈥� many hundreds of bombers聽and tankers — was put on increased alert. A continuous 鈥減arade鈥� of flying B-52聽bombers armed with nuclear weapons was kept aloft聽24 hours each day. Their various routes took them across the Atlantic聽Ocean and into the approaches of the USSR where they could be seen on聽Russian radar.

Flights Lasting Nearly 24 Hours

Every B-52 flew missions that lasted nearly a full 24 hours, involving multiple refuelings from tankers based both in the US and in Europe. When the bomber and tanker crews were not airborne on missions, they were living aboard the airplanes on the ground, monitoring the radios, ready to launch at a moment鈥檚 notice.

During the most intense days of the crisis, my tanker unit sent out twenty-two (22) sorties聽each day having a duration of three hours and fifteen minutes,聽each sortie offloading 113,000 pounds to a single B-52 in about twenty聽minutes of聽contact. The effort to prepare that many airplanes聽every day and transfer that much fuel, involved Herculean efforts and聽great expense.

Like a Scary Movie

During that period, the atmosphere on the base was like an implausible,聽frightening movie. All crewmembers wore firearms believing that they were very close to聽actual hostilities. We were worried about our families, who were聽alone in the housing area, out of contact. Many dependents moved聽to the North, out of the state, certain that聽if World War III started, our base would be one of the first hit.

One of the strange occurrences during the crisis was the聽broadcasting of Communist propaganda messages on the International Time聽Clock Station, WWV. That station broadcasts a simple time signal聽on聽High Frequency (HF), continuously giving precise time reports for use in聽celestial navigation. All crewmembers are accustomed to getting 鈥渢ime hacks鈥澛爋n WWV and it was a genuine shock to hear a loud voice聽break into the聽transmission with threats and accusations about how 鈥淧resident Kennedy is聽going to cause World War III鈥濃��.in English, with a strange accent.

A U-2 Shot Down Over Cuba

Saturday, 27 October 62, a U-2 flown by Major Rudy Anderson was shot down over Cuba. On the same聽day, also not known to the public at the time, another聽U-2 flying near聽Alaska had severe navigational problems that caused an overflight of聽the eastern Soviet Union. 聽Although thought by the Soviets to be deliberate at the time, it was later聽learned that the inadvertent overflight was caused聽by a mistake the聽pilot had made in performing 鈥済rid navigation鈥�, a method necessary in the聽Arctic regions.

President Kennedy and Soviet Premier聽Krushchev

During the crisis, behind the scenes and unknown to the public, diplomatic聽contacts were underway and President Kennedy and Soviet Premier聽Krushchev exchanged two formal letters. The crisis was finally聽resolved by聽Krushchev鈥檚 making a commitment to remove the missiles from Cuba.

After the crisis,聽the SAC Alert Force returned to its pre-crisis聽posture, continuing in聽that posture for several more years. Today, the round-the-clock, 24/7 SAC聽Alert Force of bombers and tankers no longer exists.

Col. Woodhull鈥檚 story and many more veterans鈥� stories can viewed on our 鈥�樱花直播鈥� page.

Telling their stories is one way we honor veterans at the museum. Currently closed for the creation of new exhibits and annual winter inventory, the museum will re-open for 2024 on March 1. Please come back if you have visited before to see the exciting new exhibits. Open hours will be 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM Tuesday-Friday, beginning March 1.

Article written by Richard G. 鈥淒uke鈥� Woodhull, Jr., Colonel, USAF-Ret.

Top photo: Far left, Captain Woodhull with his KC-135 tanker crew in 1962 (KC-135 in the background)聽

Left photo: Woodhull at a U-2 Pilots’ Reunion, October 2022