"Assurance comes from the office of the Dean of Men that, contrary to rumors, there has been no change in the Selective Service policy in regard to the drafting of college students. Captain Paul Merrick . . . has informed Colby authorities that students presently enrolled will not be drafted during the coming year. . . ."
The Echo also included some discussion of "Chinese Commies" and "the inside story on Soviet tension." But for an occasional exception, there was little discussion of the events of the war itself. "Nobody understood the Korean War," said Deering, who spent his active duty building radar stations in Libya. "Nobody knew where Korea was, frankly. It was not a destination."
In contrast, the Echo and Alumnus during World War II were filled with reports on Colby students, faculty and alumni in the war. The curriculum during World War II was restructured to prepare women students for service in or to the military. One Alumnus cover photo depicted the launching of the Jeremiah Chaplin, a Liberty ship named for the first president of the College.
The Korean War was far less consuming. The Echo did publish an article by a student who attempted to explain that the U.S. and U.N. "went into Korea with limited objectives. We are fighting to repeal aggression. . . . Political considerations are at least as important as military in the Korean question. We must remember the long-range problem," wrote Max Singer '53.
Truman and Gen. Douglas MacArthur clashed over the objectives in Korea, MacArthur determined to drive north to the Chinese border and Truman ordering withdrawal. The president prevailed, MacArthur was relieved of command, and the "limited war" became a Cold War model. But as in Vietnam, the strategy left even soldiers occasionally perplexed and frustrated. "I used to have a real problem in Korea about capturing a hill and then giving it back," said Wiley, the artillery gunner. "We had a little bit of the Vietnam psyche over there. But overall, I thought that stemming communism was the only objective our military and our government had, and I supported it."
In July 1953, the armistice was signed--the same agreement that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, in recent months threatened to disregard. But 50 years ago the feeling was that communist aggression had been turned back and that the U.S. and U.N. had prevailed. Soldiers, sailors and airmen returned with the sense that they had done their duty even if that fell short of outright victory. "The forgotten war" immediately began to recede from memory.
