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Acknowledgments
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Acknowledgments i served in Korea as an army officer for two and a half years, from 1997 to 2000. i found Korea to be a dynamic and industrious country and the Korean people to be kind and respectful.The older generation especially went out of their way to welcome me; never did i feel out of place. for these and many other reasons, i feel indebted to the people of the Republic of Korea for their hospitality and friendliness toward American servicemen and women. My study of U.s.-RoK governmental and military relationships during the Korean War has increased my admiration for the “land of the morning calm,”and i sincerely wish that the current century is kinder than the last. i am most appreciative to my academic mentor,Dr.Allan R.Millett, formerly of the ohio state University and now the Ambrose Professor of history and director of the eisenhower Center for American studies at the University of new orleans. i owe him a great intellectual debt. it is a privilege to count myself as part of a generation of soldier-scholars that has matured under his guiding influence. Dr. Millett was the first to identify my interest in America’s forgotten War, and he encouraged me to write a new history of the advisory effort in Korea. in addition to a decade’s worth of encouragement , he shared his personal collection of correspondence, recordings, official documents, and interviews—much of which are the foundation of KMAG’s history presented in this book.he has graciously granted permission to use these materials. The completion of this project could not have been realized without the generous assistance i received from several research institutions.At the national Archives and Records Administration at College Park,Maryland, Beth lipford, Will Mahoney, and Rich Boylan provided patient and unstinting assistance in finding documents related to the United states Military Advisory Group to the Republic of Korea and the United states Army forces in Korea. Many of these records are not yet fully catalogued or organized, so their persistence and expertise was invaluable. xii / Acknowledgments special thanks go to susan K. lemke, director of the national Defense University special Collections, fort lesley J. Mcnair, Washington, D.C. her guidance through various security protocols allowed me to be one of the first researchers to access the papers of Gen. Maxwell D.Taylor, former commander, eighth Army in Korea. General Taylor’s recollections, correspondence ,and collection of operations reports greatly contributed to a better understanding of how the south Korean army fought in the last months of the war.Ms.lemke generously allowed me to make copies of any unclassified documents that i wanted—a grand gift to any researcher. Cynthia Brougher and Joanne hartog of the George C.Marshall library and Archives provided valuable assistance with the voluminous collections of George C. Marshall, James A. van fleet, and Walton h. Walker. i was able to find rich nuggets at the U.s. Army Military history institute , now part of the U.s. Army heritage and education Center, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. i relied on David Keough, whose professional expertise and knowledge of the Korean War are nearly without peer. With his assistance, i tracked down veteran interviews, senior officer oral histories, and obscure eighth Army reports and studies. These were essential sources that gave texture and context to the narrative.in a similar vein,the U.s.Army Center for Military history gave me access to a vast collection of hard-to-find unit histories and general officer biographies. Professors Geoffrey Parker,John Guilmartin,and Alan Beyerchen of the ohio state University have all contributed to this study in material and psychological ways. i benefited from their graduate seminars that helped me appreciate that in war, fighting is never the final story—training, organization , logistics, and culture also play roles, sometimes in subtle ways. Professor Beyerchen read and commented on an early draft of the manuscript, and helped me see issues of intercultural conflict and cooperation—aspects of any advisory mission that are often overlooked, but that are vitally important . As a rotating faculty member in the Department of history, United states Military Academy (2002–2005), i must acknowledge the tremendous support and encouragement i have received from Brig. Gen. Robert A. Doughty (UsA, ret.), Col. lance A. Betros (current department head), and Col. Matthew Moten (previous chief, Military history Division). Colonel Moten not only read and gave constructive criticism on five chapters,he was also a...