Reflections

[Gregory Matthews]

Earlier today, my wife and I were out and about and stopped by the home where my oldest son lives with his mother.  During that visit, the conversation turned to the issues with North Korea and I was asked as to why a proposed solution could not be done.  My response was to the effect that there is no possible military solution that exists.  Any such military solution would result in huge deaths and potentially lead to a war that involved other countries.

After supper today, my wife asked me what I had been thinking about, as she noted that I had been deep in thought.  I told her that she was correct.  I had be reliving the time  when I went with an Army unit into combat---my thinking as I prepared to go, the realization that I might not return, the preparation for taking care of my affairs (I was divorced at that time.) for an unknown length of time.  In addition I had been thinking of some of my actual experiences.

Having lived in Korea for a total of 35 months, I have a feeling for what is happening there.  On one assignment, my unit had a DMZ mission.  I have been at the border between North and South Korea.   I have stepped across the line into North Korean territory under the watchful eyes of the North Korean soldiers.  By the way, the Korean War has never formally ended.  Formally a state of war exists between North and 
South Korea.  I am well aquainted with the extent to which the people in South Korea live in constant preparation for an invasion from the North.

We have it lucky here in the United States of America.

I can only say:  No informed military person advocates military action, of any type as a resolution of the  issues that we face in Korea at the present.  Any military action will result in a horrendous loss of life by many people.  South Kore and Japan are under the gun as a minimum.

Any solution must be found outside of military action.

Let us hope that those with the power to make decisions on this matter will find ways to resolve the issues outside of military action.