The Cold War – Page 15 – Old Magazine Articles

The Cold War Began with Igor Gouzenko
(Coronet Magazine, 1953)

On September 5, 1945, N.K.V.D. cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko (1919 – 1982) severed ties with his masters at the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa and high-tailed it over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with tales of extensive Soviet espionage throughout all of North America. The news of this defection and the intelligence he delivered sent shock waves throughout Washington, London, Moscow, and Ottawa – historians insist that this was the event that sparked the Cold War and altered the course of the Twentieth Century.

A Rift in the Containment Policy
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)

Washington’s growing distaste for the Chinese Nationalist dictator Chiang Kai-shek was reaching fever-pitch that last week in January, 1950, when President Truman’s Secretary of State Dean Acheson (1893 – 1971) presented the administration’s Asia policy:

No official military aid for Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nationalist government, either on the island of Formosa [Taiwan] or anywhere else.

‘This I Saw In Korea”
(Collier’s Magazine, 1952)

Those darn misogynists in Washington fell asleep at the switch again when they appointed a woman to fill the number two spot at the Department of Defense. The woman in question was Anna Rosenberg (1902 – 1983), an experienced and well-respected hand in the Nation’s Capital who served in that post between 1950 and 1953. During the middle of the war she paid a visit to the American military installations in Korea and wrote warmly about all that she had seen.

The First 365 Days of the Korean War
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1951)

When the Korean War began during the summer of 1950 many Americans were wondering aloud Is this the beginning of W.W. III? One year later they were relieved to find that it was not a world war, but the butcher’s bill stood at 70,000 U.S. casualties and still there was no end in sight. This article examines these first 365 days of combat, taking into account all losses and gains.

The First 365 Days of the Korean War
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1951)

When Truman Fired MacArthur
(Quick Magazine, 1951)

General MacArthur’s wish to expand the war by dropping as many as thirty (30) A-Bombs on various strategic targets located in both China and North Korea contrasted dramatically with President Truman’s plans as well as those of the United Nations. Plagued by a crippling sense of self-grandeur, the General’s arrogance became a liability and President Truman was absolutely delighted to fire him.

The North Korean Winter Offensive
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1951)

On December 31, 1950, the Communist Armies fighting in Korea launched a campaign that was intended to drive the UN Forces further south away from the 38th Parallel. Costing much in both blood and treasure, the Red Push was easily contained and whatever ground had been gained was easily re-taken when the UN launched a counter-offensive of their own on February 21, 1951.

Click here to read how Japan, still smarting from their defeat just six years earlier, had found a new identity and resolve as a result of the Cold War, and the war in Korea in particular.

The Patton Tank
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)

As is made clear on this website, numerous tanks were fielded by the U.N. Forces during the Korean War, and one of the most effective ones was the Patton Tank (in all it’s variations).

The Air War in Korea
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)

Five days after China entered the Korean War, three U.S. Air Force F-80 Shooting Star fighter jets duked it out with three Soviet-made MIG-15s 20,000 feet above the the Korean/Manchurian border. Lieutenant Russell Brown of Southern California fired the decisive shot that sent one MIG down in flames. While engaged with the other two F-80s, the remaining MIGs were dispatched in a similar manner (although other sources had reported that these two fighters had actually been able to return to their bases badly damaged). In the entire sordid history of warfare, this engagement was the first contest to result in one jet shooting down another.

Eisenhower Goes to Korea
(Quick Magazine, 1952)

After trouncing Adlai Stevenson in the November Election, President-Elect Eisenhower made good on the vow he had made earlier and packed his bag for a fact-finding trip to the stagnant front lines on the Korean Peninsula.

No abrupt change in Korea is likely to follow Ike’s visit. He doesn’t plan to negotiate with the Reds there. He is interested in training, equipping and preparing South Koreans to defend themselves… The South Korean’s morale is good. About 400,000 of them are mobilized.