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Short Rounds
Blaming the Troops
In an official Army War College publication dealing with the First World War issued in 1923, 1st Lt. Ellis Bata, wrote,
| Germany's plans in the event of a two front war were the results of years of study on the part of great soldiers, the German General Staff. That those plans failed was not due to any unsoundness on the part of the plans, but rather due to the fact that the plans could not be carried out by the field armies. |
On the other hand, if the War College faculty didn't realize what was wrong with this statement, it hardly seems reasonable to conclude that a mere lieutenant could understand how stupid it was.
Paying the ROKs
Although treatments of the Korean War generally focus on the American forces, and, to a lesser extent, some of the U.N. contingents, notably the British and the Turks. But most treatments of the war overlook the fact that it was the grunts of the Army of the Republic of Korea who, throughout the entire war, held most of the front, and took most of the casualties.
Although Americans � and others � are generally unwilling to admit it, overall the ROKs formed the backbone of the allied effort in Korea, despite poor training and poor equipment. Not to mention poor pay.
For the record, the conversion of the ROK wan to Uncle Sam's greenbacks in 1950 was about 4,000 to the dollar.
| Monthly Pay, Army of the Republic of Korea, 1950 |
| Rank | Wan | Dollars |
| Pvt | 3,000 | 0.75 |
| Pfc | 3,600 | 0.90 |
| Cpl | 4,500 | 1.12� |
| Sgt | 5,400 | 1.35 |
| SSG | 6,000 | 1.50 |
| MSg | 24,900 | 6.22� |
| WO | 29,700 | 7.42� |
| 2nd Lt | 30,900 | 7.72� |
| 1st Lt | 33,300 | 8.32� |
| Capt | 35,700 | 8.92� |
| Maj | 41,700 | 10.42� |
| LtCol | 46,500 | 11.62� |
| Col | 51,300 | 12.82� |
| Gen | 60,000 | 15.00 |
So even a ROK general was not exactly raking it in, which says something about the courage, devotion, and dedicatin of the ROKs.
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