Oroville Mercury Register
December 15, 1950
Military Expert Believes Allies Again Must Trade Space For Time
By Arthur R. Wilson (Maj. General,
U.S. Army, Ret.
(Written exclusively for the Oroville Mercury)
SAN FRANCISCO, December 3, 1950- The news dispatches give
a general line of a new defensive position being taken up by the
Eight Army as a line running generally west from Koksan which is
about sixty miles north of parallel 38 and about 85 miles north
of Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and ending at the tip of the
lagoon or bay of Chinnampo, which is the port for Pyongyang,, the
capital of North Korea; and that it is not a solid line but is held
in depth The line measures roughly 75 miles…. The most pressing
fight is not the Eight Army but the heroic fight of the South Korean
and American divisions in the northeast, for liberation from an
encirclement. We need their strength and experience with the 8th
Army just as we have to have our divisions now in Korea to furnish
cadres for the new army we are building. (While I know every senior
officer in every division and on every staff in Korea personally,
Major General Smith of the 1st Marine Division was my
classmate at the University of California and Major General Daye
Barr of the 7th Division is my best personal friend in
the regular army- so a special pang goes through my heart every
time I visualize the terrible predicament of their commands.)
Oroville Mercury Register
November 3, 1950
Hope For End Of War Dashed
China Reds Pose Serious Threat
(1st article under the headline)
Koreans Get Help From Manchuria
By Rutherford Poats
Tokyo-(UP)- Thousands of Chinese Communist troops have gone into
action against United Nations forces in Korea and more are streaming
southward from Manchuria daily. However, the high command here doubts
that Red China intends to plunge into a formal, all out struggle
that would lead to World War III. The official position is that
the situation now is “serious but not critical.” But nobody here
has yet explained where they expect China to draw the line in fighting
the U. N. army. And it is correct to say that officers on the corps
and division levels are more pessimistic than the high command.
We have met with bloody reverse in North Korea, primarily because
our troops outraced their supply lines in an attempt to mop up Communist
resistance. The situation probably will remain serious for several
days-long enough for the field commanders to regroup their forces.
(2nd article under the headline)
Reinforcements Rushed
By U. S. By Earnest Hoberecht
U.S. Reinforcement streamed northward through pelting rain today
to bolster a new defense line against 13 Communist divisions which
have forced the allies to fall back 10 to 50 miles in North Korea.
The Allied command was moving up everything in reach to meet the
Communist threat. The sudden and menacing turn in the fortunes of
war already had shattered all hope for an early end of the fighting.
Oroville Mercury Register
November 7, 1950
Gold Star Mothers Meet at Durham
The Butte County chapter of Gold Star Mothers met at the
home of Mrs. Etta Tupper in Durham Saturday for a short business
meeting, followed by a social hour and refreshments. Oroville members
attending were Mrs. Marble Henley, president, Mrs. Gertrude Morningstar,
Mrs. Zema Worthy and Mrs. Irene Rowe. Others attending were Mrs.
Anna Biggers, Mrs. Nancy Cole and Mrs. Ethel Sitton of Durham. Next
meeting of the group will be in Memorial Hall here Friday night.
Oroville Mercury Register
November 7, 1950
Fred Kiehn Begins Training as Marine
Fred Kiehn Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Kiehn of Hilldale Avenue,
has been accepted into the Marine Corps and is in San Diego at the
Naval Base for training . Kiehn, a graduate of Boulder City High
School, has played soft ball with the IOOF team and basketball with
Don’s Richfield since he moved here with his parents in 1948. He
has been employed on a dragline operation here.
Stu’s Notes: The above story by “Retired Major General Arthur R.
Wilson is just a little part of that December 1950 story. He wrote
quite a bit for the Oroville Mercury. If you go to our website at
www.OrovilleVeteransMemorialPark.org and type in “General Wilson”
you will see a lot more of his stories. Thanks to our webmaster
Daryl Autrey. As he later wrote we did evacuate North Korea, compared
somewhat to the British leaving Dunkirk in WWII. As I’ve said before
our brave men fought their way out with honor to fight another day.
Which they did and pushed the Chinese back over the 38th
parallel. General Wilson was a graduate of Oroville High
School. Well, Korea is back in the news big time. The Sabers
of War are Rattling over there. Let’s hope cooler heads prevail
and a real treaty is signed in the near future. Young, brave Fred
Kiehn Jr., all the bad news about our losses in Korea and he joins
the Marines. They always seem to go to the most terrible, scary
places on earth. Those Gold Star Mothers, some of those names we
have yet to match with a soldier that “Gave All”. Thank you, Bob
Hewitt and the Exchange Club for a great Veterans’ Day Parade.