Has anyone here ever been a soldier fighting against the U.S.? What was it like?

My grandfather was conscripted to fight for the North Korean military during the Korean War.

He was at the Battle of Incan and he likened the dread that he felt to what one must feel

when faced with a massive tidal wave that is about to engulf you and everyone you know.

Couple this with the fact that many North Korean troops were told horror

stories, that the American troops were cannibals, for example, and that the average American Marine

was much taller and more physically robust than the average North Korean soldier. You can imagine

how scared he was. He said that the Chinese and North Korean units were absolutely obliterated,

and that they never stood a chance against the Marines.

All his words, not mine. My uncle, who I'll be seeing in a week for Thanksgiving, was there.

He's 86 now. He still will not talk about it. His kids did not know he was in Korea until they were

in their mid to late 20s. I remember when I was little, he would mowed the lawn without a shirt,

and I could see the scars on his abdomen.

When I asked about them, he said they were from having his appendix taken out.

Clearly not the case as an adult looking back on it.

To this day, he is a staunch pacifist.

This is much akin to the horror stories told in Japan after America dropped the atomic bombs, that American troops were savages who were going to come into Japan and rape all the women.

That is why there was such a high suicide rate in Japan in the months after the war.

Terrifying stuff.

This is true.

My grandfather tells me stories about Korea.

He's a U.S. Marine.

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