Korean War: Soldiers' Experiences
PRINT RESOURCES: NON-FICTION
WCLS Resources
A Short History of the Korean War / James L. Stokesbury
http://tinyurl.com/ygkavmy
An enlightening account of America's first military manifestation of the cold war. War having never been declared, the mission was merely called a "peace action", though it eventually involved 19 member countries of the United Nations and more than 250,000 U.S. troops. 7 maps.
Stokesbury begins from scratch and describes and interprets each phase of the war ... The narrative makes good sense of the infantry's complicated battlefield movements; and his interpretation of the air war is exemplary. - Library Journal
The Darkest Summer: Pusan and Inchon 1950: The Battles that Saved South Korea -- and the Marines -- from Extinction / Bill Sloan.
http://tinyurl.com/yh6arhn
The Darkest Summer is a dramatic story captured through author interviews with dozens of surviving U.S. veterans. A narrative studded with gripping eyewitness accounts, it focuses on the three fateful months when the Korean War's most decisive battles were fought and the Americans who fought them went -- however briefly -- from the depths of despair to the exultation of total conquest.
Strongly recommended by Library Journal and it has lots of good reviews, but I could not find a reading level for it. - Evie
Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History / Spencer C. Tucker, editor; Jinwung Kim ... [et al.], assistant editors; [foreword by John S.D. Eisenhower]
http://tinyurl.com/ygqm7aj
Primary Source
Encyclopedia of the Korean War, utilizing an A-Z format complemented with a broad selection of maps, primary source documents, and additional supporting materials, including a host of illustrations and a detailed time line. Encyclopedia of the Korean War is considered to be an excellent choice for high-school libraries.
Korea, The First War We Lost / Bevin Alexander
http://tinyurl.com/y997t6y
A respectable and fast-moving study written by a professional Army historian. The combat descriptions are lucid, with good maps; it is easy to follow the military action from grand strategy down to the squad level. - Library Journal
This book has mixed reviews, but on the whole they are mostly positive and I think it might be worth a look. - Evie
The Korean War / Reg Grant
http://tinyurl.com/ylnfwva
Informative books make extensive use of maps to illustrate their discussions. These maps will help students understand how the geography of the regions influenced the conflicts as well as the specifics of strategies, battle plans, and occupations. Designed for grades 6-10 according to Library School Journal. The publisher says the reading level is ages 9-12.
The Korean War / Michael V. Uschan
http://tinyurl.com/yke4ly8
Starts with the Cold War in 1946 and traces the causes, events, and politics that led to the conflict. Frequent quotes from diplomats and other experts who have written about the era give depth and a better understanding to the impact of the Korean War, then and now. The extensive use of other sources provides general readers and students with a solid introduction to the subject. Maps, archival photos, and sidebars aid readers' comprehension of some complex issues. Targeted at Grades 6-10.
In Mortal Combat: Korea, 1950-1953 / John Toland
http://tinyurl.com/ykx2h7m
Of the almost 20 maps, many are confusingly drawn and not very helpful. These problems are generally minor, however, and the story is well worth reading. Toland makes good use of participants' interviews (from both sides) to enrich the secondary literature in a lively, moving, and at times disturbing presentation. He covers strategic and tactical maneuvers, correspondents, political struggles, behind-the-lines activities, prisoners of war, and numerous acts of combat and leadership heroism (and failure) in a fluid style certain to hold the reader's attention. - Library Journal
The Secrets of Inchon: The Untold Story of the Most Daring Covert Mission of the Korean War/ Eugene Franklin Clark; Introduction and epilogue by Thomas Fleming.
http://tinyurl.com/ylnysz9
Primary Source
"Novelist and historian Thomas Fleming ... was given the manuscript when he met Clark's family while researching the battle. Clark's account, which had sat in a safe deposit box for nearly half a century, reads like a novel and holds the reader right to the end." - Library Journal
Clark's reconnaissance operations during the Korean War are featured in this book. A review states "Clark relates details on combat (including a "battle of the junks") and spying more vividly than a movie, which could not capture the nuance and feeling that flow from this riveting narrative by a gifted writer. An astounding tale of audacity and bravery that echoes the special-ops character of the present war." A fast-paced account for history classes and for military buffs that is a good Young Adult title. - Booklist
Non-WCLS Resources
Korean War Reference Library - Almanac and Primary Sources
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0787656917/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books
Primary Source
"Grade 6-10-These useful resources provide introductory information that will help students understand the conflict's influence on the Cold War, other American military engagements, and U.S. foreign policy." - School Library Journal
An overview of the war, its causes, major battles, and the peace process. Documents include excerpts from speeches, memoirs, oral histories, reports, and government documents including the "Bridge at No Gun Ri: Survivors' Petition," Mao Zedong's "Nuclear Weapons Are Paper Tigers," and Harry S. Truman's "President's Address: Korean War Dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur." For each document, important background information is provided, and the document's impact on its author and audience is explored. - Booklist
DVD/CD-ROM RESOURCES
WCLS Resources
Korea: the Forgotten War / A&E Television Networks; The History Channel
http://tinyurl.com/yamgdxx
Documentary with personal stories and sensational combat footage make this the definitive account of the war that many feared would erupt into WWIII.
The Korean War in Color [videorecording] / produced and written by Christopher Cassel
http://tinyurl.com/yz7s339
Documentary created from declassified footage sources found throughout the world, and from personal films and photographs of veterans who lived and breathed the harrowing dangers of the front lines. Shows MASH units in action, the Inchon Invasion, the Battle for Seoul, Naktong River campaign and director John Ford's rare footage of the 1st Marine Division in Action.
This link is for the title in DVD format. Some comments from the "Customer Reviews" section include: "The quality of the color footage is excellent & an order of magnitude better than any WW2 color doc you'll see." "Speeches referenced are actual sound recordings (Truman, MacArthur, etc.) which many Korean War books refer, but hearing the President's own voice and MacArthur's scruffy general-like proclamations are real electronic media treasures for historians." "I would recommend this film for classroom use with high school or older students (graphic, shows dead corpses, etc.)."
ONLINE RESOURCES
Premium Digital Resources (must have WCLS card to access)
This link will take you to training modules, sample searches, educator tools and lesson plans, and much more for elibrary, ProQuest, CultureGrams and others. WCLS does not subscribe to all these databases and some of the training modules are a bit lengthy, but there are some great resources here for effectively using our databases.
This link will take you to the homepage of Gale databases where you will find short webinar tutorials, tip sheets, navigation guides, and sample searches. Included is information on how to cite from these sources.
This link will take you to search results for the Korean War from elibrary (ProQuest). By refining the search to "Korean War Soldiers Experience" your students can get some interesting first hand perspectives on the war. - Evie
eLibrary delivers full-text and multimedia reference essentials. The easy-to-use interface makes research easy. Students find the answers they need from more than 2,500 full-text magazines, newspapers, books, and transcripts--plus thousands of maps, pictures, educator-approved websites from Homework Central®, and top-quality multimedia (audio/video) files. Users can sort their results by relevance, date, file size, Lexile or reading level, publication, and source, while librarians and educators can find content that's directly linked to state and national teaching standards. The BookCart functionality allows librarians and educators to build persistent links to pre-selected content, creating reading lists, subject and topic pages, standards-linked lessons and activities, community interest pages, and even pre- or post-assessments. -from ProQuest
History Resource Center (Gale) is a Database available through WCLS. Must have a library card to access, *Students need cards individually to access. Reference, Biographies, Periodicals, Primary Sources, News, and Maps/Multimedia all accessible through database along with source citations. Examples of Primary Sources available through the History Resource Center using Korean War as a Search Term include two different Personal Narratives of the Korean War, Truman's Statement on the Korean War, June 27, 1950; MacArthur's Speech to Congress, April 19, 1951; DAILY SUMMARY. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY. SECRET. Issue date: 6/26/50.
Topics your students could use in the database are: Korean War, Korean War AND Military History, Korean War AND North Korea, Korean War AND Military Personnel, Korean War AND Armed Forces, Korean War AND Veterans, Korean War AND History, Korean War AND International relations.
General Reference Center Gold (Gale) is a general interest database that integrates a variety of sources - newspapers, reference books, magazines, and trade publications. I did a search for Eugene Franklin Clark using Reference Center Gold and came up with some great things. If you students have names of soldiers they can get articles on those soldiers as well as book titles through this database. -Evie
Additional Online Resources
The American Experience produced by PBS has some helpful resources including interactive battle maps focusing on the movement of troops and the shifting of borders, or track MacArthur's career as he moved around the globe. Primary Sources, special features, and teachers guides are all available here.
This link is for the Defense Technical Information Center.
This link is for Primary Sources from The Korean War from The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
Korea + 50: No Longer Forgotten is a joint project between the Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Libraries developed to provide access to Korean War materials related to the two administrations occupying the White House during that period.
This link is for an extensive web-based resource on the war. Many Primary Sources, maps, veterans’ stories and current addresses or means of contact for some of the vets can be found here.
This link provides a discussion on the war from the Chinese perspective.
This link is for the web site of the Korean Children's War Memorial in Bellingham. "This web site honors the American servicemen and women who, during the Korean War and the years following, rendered compassionate humanitarian aid to the children of that war torn nation. It is estimated that US forces in Korea saved the lives of over 10,000 children and helped sustain over 50,000 in more than 400 orphanages built or repaired by the servicemen." An interesting, local, look at the impact of the war on the children of that country. Your students can learn about the Kiddy Car Airlift,
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