Mark Scott Smith's Blog: Enemy in the Mirror, page 51

Truman Declares a National Emergency

On December 15, 1951, U.S. President Harry Truman gave a radio address from the White House and announced that he would proclaim a national emergency “because of great danger created by the Soviet Union.”

The post Truman Declares a National Emergency appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

The King and I – Rodgers and Hammerstein

Wikipedia

The King and I was a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein based on Margaret Landon‘s novel, Anna and the King of Siam derived from the memoirs of a governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s.

In the musical, a British schoolteacher named Anna is hired to assist the King’s drive to modernize his country. Although there is conflict between the King and Anna, there is as well a love neither can admit.

The musical premiered in March 1951, at Broadway’s St. James Theatre and ran for nearly three years and has had many revivals.

Source: Wikipedia



The musical was filmed in 1956 with Brynner re-creating his role opposite Deborah Kerr. The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won five, including Best Actor for Brynner, with Kerr nominated for Best Actress.

The post The King and I – Rodgers and Hammerstein appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Jet Magazine

Founded in 1951, the weekly magazine Jet focused on news, culture, and entertainment related to the African–American community.

 Jet chronicled the Civil Rights Movement including the murder of Emmett Till, the Montgomery bus boycott, and the civilrights activities of Martin Luther King Jr.

In 2016, Johnson Publishing sold Jet and its sister publication Ebony to the Black-owned investment firm Clear View Group.

Jet Magazine

The post Jet Magazine appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Remember Pearl Harbor

On Dec. 7, 1941 2,403 service members and civilians were killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

1,178 people were injured in the attack, which permanently sank two U.S. Navy battleships (the USS Arizona and the USS Utah) and destroyed 188 aircraft.

On Aug. 23, 1994, the United States Congress designated Dec. 7 as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. 

LISTEN: https://www.historyonthenet.com/authentichistory/1939-1945/3-music/04-PH-Reaction/

The post Remember Pearl Harbor appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Chinese Treatment of Prisoners of War

The issue of Chinese treatment of UN prisoners of war is controversial. Cold war attitudes were often reflected in early reports which had limited actual data.

On occasion, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army was reported to provide emergency medical treatment for seriously-wounded UN soldiers and leave them for rescue as they departed the area. In contrast, many reports indicated murder and brutal treatment of POWs by the North Korean People’s Army.


December 4, 1950 – China released wounded American prisoners of war and allowed them to return to their retreating convoy, although they kept several officers of the same units, claiming that they would “buy them tickets from Shanghai to San Francisco”. Two trucks brought the men to the American lines, and the men were told “Go back where you belong.” A U.S. Army major commented, “It’s pure propaganda, of course. But we got back 27 of our men.” – Chicago Daily Tribune

After the Korean war, some investigations reported that several thousand American prisoners died or were executed in POW camps, and many were tortured. Throughout the conflict, reports indicated that the Communists were subjecting American POWs to a re-education process popularly described as “brainwashing.” But it also became clear that such re-education was largely ineffective. Nevertheless, 21 prisoners chose not to return home. 

Pinterest

The conclusions of professional and semi-professional scholars and writers about American POW behavior are mixed. First, never before Korea were American POWs confronted by a captor who worked hard to change their ideological persuasion. Second, never before had the American public been so gullible as to believe that such a chimera as the enemy’s self-proclaimed “lenient policy” was, in fact, lenient. And, finally, for the first time, the public seemed to assume that such selfish, undisciplined behavior as existed among the POWs was something new in American military experience and that it was a direct consequence of a characterological deterioration in the nation itself.

Whether or not such a deterioration has been taking place in American society, from the advent of the New Deal and the impact of progressive education as the critics strongly imply, is not under contention here. What is being contended, rather, is that if one really believes this and wants evidence to prove it, one will have to find examples other than among those Americans who died and those who survived in the prison camps of North Korea, 1950-53.

Source: American Quarterly , Spring, 1970, Vol. 22, No. 1 

The total number of Korean War MIAS/remains not recovered was 8,154.

The post Chinese Treatment of Prisoners of War appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Direct-dial Coast to Coast Telephone Service

The first direct-dial coast to coast telephone call was made in 1951 between the Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey and the Mayor of Alameda, California.

Taking ~18 seconds to connect, the call was placed using AT&T’s direct distance dialing system which did not require operator assistance.

The new method utilized a ten-digit phone number which included the three-digit area code system that had been implemented in the late 1940s. 

The post Direct-dial Coast to Coast Telephone Service appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Korean War Thanksgiving

The post Korean War Thanksgiving appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Sexist and Prejudicial Public Service Announcements

The post Sexist and Prejudicial Public Service Announcements appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Battle of Hoa Binh – French Indochina War

From 1887 to the mid-1900s, French Indochina was the collective name for the French colonial regions of Southeast Asia composed of Cochin-China, Annam, Cambodia, Tonkin, Kwangchowan and Laos.

http://foreignlegion.info/units/1st-f...

The First Indochina War occurred from 1945 -1954. The conflict pitted the French Far East Expeditionary Corps, supported by  of Bảo Đại, against the Việt Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) led by Hồ Chí Minh and the People’s Army of Vietnam led by General  Võ Nguyên Giáp.

Although most of the fighting took place in the northern Tonkin region of Vietnam, the conflict engulfed the entire country and extended into the neighboring French Indochina protectorates of Laos and Cambodia.

After several years of low-level rural insurgency against the French, in 1949 the conflict turned into a conventional war between armies equipped with modern weapons supplied by the United States, China and the Soviet Union.

French Union forces included troops from France’s former empire (Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Laotian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese ethnic minorities), French professional troops and units of the French Foreign Legion. 

French efforts were hindered by the limited usefulness of armored tanks in a jungle environment, lack of strong air support and the use of foreign recruits.

Incorporating a Chinese guerrilla warfare doctrine and the use of simple and reliable war material provided by the Soviet Union, General Giáp recruited a sizable regular army with wide popular support. Giáp’s forces deployed novel tactics including: direct fire artillery, convoy ambushes and massive use of anti-aircraft guns to impede land and air supply deliveries.

.

In 1951 French aims in Indochina included the development of Vietnam as an independent state within the French Union and the establishment of a viable Vietnamese national army. Following a string of defensive victories in early 1951, French colonial forces in Indochina sought to go back on the offensive against the Việt Minh in the Battle of Hòa Bình.

The battle of Hòa Bình continued from November 1951 to February 1952. Initially, French forces attempted to draw General Giáp’s forces out into the open; but heavy Việt Minh pressure on their positions soon forced the French to go on the defensive.

Although suffering heavier casualties than the French, the Việt Minh nevertheless were ultimately victorious in the battle.

The post Battle of Hoa Binh – French Indochina War appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Bob and Ray

Wikipedia

Bob and Ray was the name of a popular American radio comedy show with Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding whose career spanned five decades. The duo typically satirized radio and television interviews, with deadpan, off-the-wall dialogue presented as if it were a serious broadcast.

Bob and ray signed off with the line: Write if you get work and remember to hang by your thumbs

Bob & Ray March 1951

The post Bob and Ray appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.