Another Korean War? Pay heed to us veterans first
GIVEN the current situation on the Korean peninsula, our younger generation should be made aware of what we went through between 1950 to 1953 in a war fought in terrible conditions, now known in Britain — shamefully — as The Forgotten War.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson vowed America would hold to account those who commit ‘crimes against innocents’ as he and his officials weighed up action against North Korea. I suggest he and his like take note of history.
The Korean War broke out when the North invaded the South. South Korea was ill-prepared and US President Truman committed forces there.
The North overwhelmed the South, causing the United Nations to enter the war: it was only because Russia was absent from the UN at the time that prevented them from vetoing the decision.
At the end of 1950, China entered the war and after three years of horrendous bloodshed, an armistice was signed.
The war ended where it began, on the 38th Parallel, leaving the two Koreas geographically exactly where they were in 1950.
The outcome wasn’t peace, but a situation in which another war could break out at any time.
North Korea is now a rogue state that might have nuclear weapons — and the US under Trump is sabre-rattling again.
The human cost of the Korean War in military deaths was US: 54,200. UN countries, including the UK: 13,025. South Korea: 46,000. North Korea: 214,899. China: 400,000. North Korean civilians: two million. South Korean civilians — I have no figure but it was in the thousands.
I haven’t included other casualties — the wounded and missing or those taken prisoner in horrendous conditions.
Might I have the temerity to suggest the US and its President take a good, hard look at those events from 1950 to 1953 and use every possible solution to solve the problems with North Korea other than plunging all of us into another Korean War. We Korean War veterans are getting fewer by the day, and I should hate to see our young generation get caught up in another Korean debacle. NORMAN DAVIES,
Horndean, Hants.
Merger madness
My husband and I have been running our village shop and post office at Bridge of Cally for more than 14 years.
We rely on cash and carry group Booker to buy our stock, so if it merges with Tesco, where are the thousands of independent small retailers going to go to buy wholesale stock items?
Tesco is big enough as it is without picking at the bones of the small retailer trying to make a living. In the future, corner shops will be taken over by one of the big operators, limiting choice and, more importantly, wrecking the lives of those who put in long hours seven days a week to keep their retail shops going.
The Government should block this merger to stop fat cats taking the lion’s share and leaving the bones to small independent companies which rely on firms such as Booker for their cash and carry needs to turn a very small profit.
There is no level playing field in the world of retail when you are up against the big boys being spurned on by shareholders. HELEN BRAWN, Bridge of Cally, Perthshire.
Student premium
IT’S not the case that thousands of international graduates ‘disappear into the black economy’ (Mail). International students come to the UK, study for a period, and the overwhelming majority go home after their studies.
Universities take their responsibilities as visa sponsors seriously, and there are stringent requirements to meet when recruiting international students.
Official figures don’t highlight widescale abuse by immigrants desperate to stay in the UK after finishing their education. Home Office research shows visa abuse in the university sector is low.
Overseas students make a £26billion contribution to the UK economy, generating more than 200,000 jobs in the UK.
ALISTAIR JARVIS, Universities UK, london wC1.
Criminals’ paradise
ONCE again we hear of a killer driver avoiding prison after causing death by dangerous driving and arguing that such a sentence would breach their human rights.
What do people have to do in order to receive a jail sentence in Scotland? No wonder this divided little nation is becoming a criminals’ paradise.
EDWARD DONNACHIE, Glasgow.
Banks for nothing
I’M RATHER peeved by the childish Lloyds Bank advertising with its black horse.
The voiceover tells us that ‘for 200 years we’ve been at your side’, but with so many branch closures how can it make such a claim?
It’s not ‘at my side’ now: after 40 years as a loyal customer, I find it is closing branches in nearby Stockbridge, Romsey and Tidworth, leaving Winchester as the only option.
I fear the black horse has bolted and the stable door is still left open — unlike the branches. CHRISTOPHER BROOME,
Romsey, Hants.
Talk of the town
MT Bawden’s letter about the Black Country accent (Mail) took me back to 1963 when I was a rookie police officer stationed at Cradley in North Worcestershire.
I was standing on Windmill Hill in full uniform when a lass of about three years old came and looked up at me. After a few moments she said: ‘Bin yo’ a copper?’, which I just about understood to mean ‘Are you a copper?’
I doubt if she was able to understand my reply in the affirmative in a broad Scottish accent.
ALEX BAIRD, Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire.
Daft? You bet!
I PICKED out three horses in the Grand National because I’d read the jockeys were young and tipped for the top.
They were numbered 6, 12 and 30. I was born on June 12, 1930, so that had to be an omen. The tipsters were going on about some Arthur, but what did they know?
Mine were certs and had to be backed in every way — separately, exacta (1st and 2nd) and trifecta (1st, 2nd and 3rd). Hurry up 5.15 so I could start counting the money. What happened? One For Arthur won and mine weren’t in the first ten. ERIC W. WILLSON, Mundesley, Norfolk.