The Korean War, 70 Years Ago, The Evening Sentinel, Carlisle PA
Korean War Weekly Front Pages
29 June 1952 – 5 July 1952
The Evening Sentinel, Carlisle PA
A new GI Bill of Rights.
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United Nations planes bombed Communist front lines in Korea on Monday despite heavy clouds and rain that restricted air and ground activity. The attacks were carried out by B-25s, which had made more than 170 strikes in round-the-clock activity during the previous 48 hours. Results of the early strikes could not be observed. Sunday night American Superfortresses bombed the Communist main railway line in northwest Korea for the second time in 24 hours. The B-29s from Okinawa attacked by radar through dense clouds. No Communist jets challenged the bombers, indicating last week’s raids on Communist hydroelectric plants may have crippled the Reds’ electronic warning system.
Communist claims that the United Nations was deliberately violating the neutrality of the truce zone backfired on Monday. Embarrassed Reds admitted one of their own shells missed the main conference tent by only 20 feet. The red said a 37 mm antiaircraft shell, “fired against the attack of your aircraft,” landed beside the green conference tent early Friday. The shell caused no damage or injuries.
There was no sign from Communist propagandists that they were thinking over the UN’s “final proposal” of April 28. They had rejected it numerous times before. In the proposal, the UN insisted that war prisoners held by the allies be permitted to refuse repatriation. This was the sole stumbling block in the talks. On Wednesday the Communists unexpectedly asked for one day postponement in the truce talks, sparking hopes a break may be eminent in the long-deadlocked negotiations. The UN agreed to the postponement.
A delegation of America’s top ranking Air Force officials toured Air Force installations in Korea, touching off speculation that new and more damaging air assaults were being readied against the Communists. The visit, coming only a week after the UN’s disastrous raids on North Korea’s hydroelectric complex, gave rise to speculation that the generals discussed preparations for a stepped-up air offensive. Meanwhile, the Air Force disclosed the UN lost 41 planes to accidents and enemy gunfire in June. The Navy lost 25 and the Fifth Air Force 15.
A new G.I. Bill of Rights that would cost an estimated billion dollars a year ($11 billion in 2022) was sent to the White House Saturday for President Truman’s signature. It provided for persons who have served in the Armed Forces since the outbreak of the Korean War free schooling, loan guarantees, mustering-out pay, unemployment compensation, and other benefits similar to the G.I. Bill of World War II. A $46.6 billion ($514 billion in 2022) military spending bill providing money for a 143-wing Air Force by 1955 and a bonus for fighting men in Korea moved on Saturday for final congressional approval. The compromise measure cleared a set of house conference committee in the House Friday. The Senate was expected to complete action and sent it to the White House on Saturday.
(Photo courtesy newspapers.com, Carlisle Evening Sentinel)