Mark Scott Smith's Blog: Enemy in the Mirror, page 64

Armed Forces Day

In 1950 United States President Harry Truman issued a proclamation:


“Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 20, 1950, marks the first combined demonstration by America’s defense team of its progress, under the National Security Act, towards the goal of readiness for any eventuality. It is the first parade of preparedness by the unified forces of our land, sea, and air defense.”

B-36 bombers flew over the capitals of every state10,000 troops and veterans marched in Washington, DC.More than 36,000 participated in a parade in New York CityParades and air shows were held across the country

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Zoo Parade

1950 Philadelphia Zoo TV commercial

Zoo Parade, a popular Sunday afternoon TV show on NBC from 1950-57 was hosted by Zoo director Marlin Perkins.

~ The show was actually shot at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo (I couldn't find a short video).



findagrave.com

Marlin Perkins rose from temporary labor at the St. Louis Zoo to become zookeeper/TV safari guide on Zoo Parade and ultimately one of America’s best-known zoologists on the Emmy-awarded TV show Wild Kingdom from 1963-88.

Throughout his career, Perkins travelled through the world’s jungles, veldts and deserts to protect endangered species and enlighten TV viewers about animals that are feared or killed because of superstition.

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Nuclear Espionage

In January 1950, the German-born physicist Klaus Fuchs, working for the British mission in the Manhattan Project, was arrested for passing key documents to the Soviets throughout WWII. Fuchs identified his courier as the American Harry Gold. Gold, arrested in May 1950, then identified David Greenglass as an additional source.

In June 1950, under arrest by the FBI, Greenglass confessed to his courier role and also claimed his sister Ethel’s husband Julius Rosenberg had passed secrets to the Soviets.

Julius Rosenberg was arrested on suspicion of espionage in June 1950; his wife Ethel was arrested in August 1950. Another accused conspirator, Morton Sobell, fled but was arrested by U.S. forces in Mexico.

In March 1951, the Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage and sentenced to death. After a stay of execution and a world-wide campaign for clemency, the Rosenbergs were executed in June 1953.

SOURCE: Wikipedia

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Tollund Man

In 1950 the mummified corpse of the Tollund Man who lived during the 4th century BC was found in a bog on the Jutland peninsula of Denmark.

Tollund Man’s body was so well-preserved that it was first thought to be that of a recent murder victim.

Although initially thought to be a hanged criminal, subsequent scholarship suggests that he was a human sacrifice because of the position of his body and closed eyes and mouth.

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Sino-Soviet Treaty

Beginning in early 1950, the newly-established People’s Republic of China (PRC) Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou En-lai met with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and Foreign Minister Andrei Vyshinsky in Moscow to discuss an alliance for mutual assistance and defense.

In the treaty, the USSR agreed to provide a $300 million and return control to the PRC of a major railroad and the Manchurian cities of Port Arthur (Lüshun Port) and Dairen (Dailian) which had been seized by Russian forces near the end of WWII.

The mutual defense section of the agreement primarily concerned any future aggression by Japan or “any other state” directly or indirectly associated with Japan.

Zhou En-lai declared that the linking of the two Communist nations created a force that was “impossible to defeat.”

Many U.S. commentators saw the treaty as proof that Communism was a monolithic movement directed primarily by the Kremlin. An article in the New York Times referred to the PRC as a Soviet “satellite.”

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Cigarettes Linked to Cancer

1949 Camel adIn 1950 The Journal of the American Medical Association  published two articles linking smoking and cancer:
Tobacco Smoking as a Possible Etiological Factor in Bronchogenic Carcinoma: A Study of Six Hundred and Eighty-Four Proved Cases by E.L. Wynder and Dr. E.A. Graham
Cancer and Tobacco Smoking: A Preliminary Report” was authored by M.L. Levin, H. Goldstein and P. R. Gerhardt
Since then a relationship between smoking and many other conditions has been established.

Internal tobacco industry documents released through litigation and whistleblowers has subsequently revealed major corporate deceit in addressing the public regarding the dangers of smoking.

John Wayne contracted cancer twice: in 1964, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and had his left lung removed, and in 1979 he contracted stomach cancer, which took his life. He felt his lung cancer was the result of his 5-pack-a-day, unfiltered cigarette habit. ~ Medical Bag

In 1964 a landmark U.S. Surgeon Generals’ smoking and health report linked smoking cigarettes with dangerous health effects, including lung cancer and heart disease. 

Since that time, the rate of cigarette smoking among Americans has been dramatically reduced.

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Understanding Post-WWII East Asia

East Asia ~ Wikimedia

I am currently on a trip to Seoul, Vladivostok and Tokyo to research locations for my upcoming historical-fiction novel covering the years 1940-1950.

My protagonists are:

a young Korean physician, trained in the Imperial Japanese medical system in colonial Korea (Chōsen), who joins anti-Japanese guerrillas in Manchuria and ultimately, escapes into Russia
a US Army officer (Nick from my first book Enemy in the Mirror: Love and Fury in the Pacific War), stationed at MacArthur’s headquarters in occupied Japan, who is abruptly plunged into the battle for Korea

Britannica

My current understanding of this post-WWII epoch (1940-1950) is this:

~In an effort to reunite the country, both North Korea and South Korea were authoritarian states that assumed very aggressive military postures in the late 1940s—both claim the other actually started the war.

~Just recovering from the devastation of World War II, the USSR was not in favor of precipitating nor encouraging new wars in Asia—nevertheless, the Soviets could not turn their back on emerging Communist states.

Although a few Soviet pilots participated in the war, Russian involvement in the Korean War was mainly the provision of equipment, training and technical support.

~ The United States, fearing South Korean President Syngman Rhee would start a war, restricted rearmament of the South to defensive efforts and provided a small advisory force for the Korean military.

Deeply immersed in Cold War ideology, the U.S. government was convinced the USSR was directly behind all efforts to extend Communism globally. Fearing a “domino effect” in East Asia, the U.S. government saw no alternative but direct military intervention when North Korea invaded the South.

~ Communist China, emerging from a long civil war (temporarily interrupted by common cause against Imperial Japan) was sympathetic to North Korea but, like the USSR, also not wanting to get involved in a new war.

Grateful to Koreans for their assistance in the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, Communist China felt an obligation to support North Korea, but resisted becoming involved in the war—until American troops were at the Yalu River and China responded with massive armed force.

MOAweb

Dear Reader: Any comments or alternative explanations would be greatly appreciated

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McMinnville UFO

McMinnvile Oregon UFO – Wikipedia

In May 1950 photographs of UFOs  taken on a farm near McMinnville, Oregon were published in Life magazine and nationwide newspapers.

Although some skeptics believe UFOs are a hoax, many ufologists argue that the photos are genuine, and show an unidentified object in the sky.  

Newsweek magazine devised the following UFO Sighting credibility scale:

One point for sightings with multiple witnessesAdditional point for an expert witness (a pilot, air traffic controller, military or government official)One point for sightings of an object One point for picture evidenceAdditional point for film of a moving UFOAdditional point for flight inconsistent with flight as humans know it.Two points for a physical effect (e.g., car light breaks, extreme heat, scorch marks on ground)Three points for seeing an animated pilotMinus three points if military/government body discredits sighting

This book, reviewing startling reports from qualified observers such as pilots, generals and government officials convinces me there is real substance in many UFO reports.

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USSR Repatriates German POWs

In 1950, while releasing 17,538 German soldiers, the Soviet Union claimed it had completed repatriation of all WWII German POWs numbering 1,939,063.

Since the Russian TASS news agency had reported 3.5 million German POWs held in the USSR in 1945, West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer demanded to know what had happened to >1.5 million still missing.

The U.S. State Department described the Soviet claim as “fantastic and absurd” while estimating 200,000 German POWs were still in Soviet labor camps.

Source: German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union

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Nuclear “Doom” Towns

In the 1950s, nuclear testing began at the Nevada National Security Site with nuclear bombs mounted on top of a 1500 foot detonation tower so the fireball wouldn’t damage the monitoring equipment.

“Doom” towns were assembled with shops, gas stations, and homes made of brick and wood .

After the blast ~The Atlantic

Building interiors held life-size, family mannequins wearing various types of clothing to evaluate how different fabrics would be affected during the energy bursts and extreme heat.

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