Was
honored yesterday to be contacted by the Military Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, and asked to send her a copy of my book Fire & Ice: The Korean War, 1950-53, for inclusion in a
permanent historical exhibit being installed in a ceremony there next month. Suffice it to say that I immediately signed
a copy of the book, dedicated it to the Ethiopian soldiers who fought and died
in Korea, and got it into the mail.
“Ethiopia agreed to send an infantry battalion to
Korea, which included volunteers from Emperor Haille Selassie’s Imperial
Security Guard, a unit of elite six-foot-tall soldiers,” I write in my book. “Dubbed
the Kagnew, or Conquerors Battalion, the unit was relieved by fresh battalions twice
during the Korean War. (Kagnew, according to some sources, was an imperial
warhorse and the namesake of the unit.)”
“Ethiopia's 1st Kagnew Battalion, a 931-man unit, arrived
in Korea in May 1951 and was attached to the 32nd Regiment of the U.S.
75th Infantry Division in June 1951. In April 1952, the 1st Kagnew
Battalion was replaced by the 2nd Kagnew Battalion. In April 1953, it was
relieved in its turn by the 3rd Kagnew Battalion, which remained in Korea until
April 1954.”
“Ethiopian
soldiers fought in many battles during the war and were highly regarded for
their skill in hand-to-hand and bayonet fighting, patrolling, and night
fighting. Altogether, 3,158 Ethiopians served in the Kagnew battalions. Of
those, 121 were killed, 536 were wounded, and none were taken prisoner.”
“A
number of Ethiopian nurses also worked with the Red Cross in Japan.”
Ethiopian soldiers, like those of other U.N. contingents, were among the best their country could provide. Here, an Ethiopian gunnery crew prepares to fire a 75mm recoilless rifle.
