Dates: 1946-2019
The Korean War Collection consists of historical materials relating to the Korean War that have been donated to the Truman Library. The collection includes correspondence, military personnel records, and other items.
Size: 1 linear foot (about 1,600 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: With a few exceptions, no donation of copyright was received for these materials. Documents created by employees of the U.S. government in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Randy Sowell (2018; 2022; 2024).
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The Korean War Collection consists of historical materials relating to the Korean War that have been donated to the Truman Library. The collection is comprised of relatively small donations received from various people. It includes correspondence, military personnel records, and other items, and is organized alphabetically by folder title.
Some of the materials in the collection were originally opened for research as part of the Miscellaneous Historical Documents Collection (MHDC) or the General Historical Documents Collection (GHDC), which were arranged numerically according to when the materials were received by the Truman Library. The folder title list in this finding aid includes the old MHDC or GHDC numbers, if such numbers were assigned. If the donor has been identified and is someone other than the person under whose name the materials are filed, the donor’s name is also included.
Correspondence in the Korean War Collection includes letters from William Banning, who returned his son's Purple Heart as a protest against President Truman's conduct of the war, and Senator James P. Kem of Missouri, another critic of Truman's policies. Other correspondence includes letters written and received by John E. Wiltz, an historian seeking information about the U.S. Embassy in South Korea at the time of the war, a letter from General Douglas MacArthur to the mother of a serviceman who was killed in the war, and letters written by government officials such as W. Averell Harriman, Dean Rusk, and John J. Muccio, in which they recalled the events of the period.
The collection also contains the military personnel records of a number of Korean War veterans, as well as items such as a safe conduct pass issued by the Korean People's Army, propaganda leaflets distributed by the Chinese Communists, and an essay comparing the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Related collections at the Truman Library include the Korean War File in the papers of Harry S. Truman; the papers of George M. Elsey, Edgar A. J. Johnson, John B. Moullette, and James T. Quirk; and the records of the Center for the Study of the Korean War.
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Container Nos. |
Series |
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1-2 |
SUBJECT FILE, 1946-2014 Correspondence, military personnel records, and other items. Arranged alphabetically by folder title, and thereunder chronologically. |
Box 1
- Adjemian, George R.: Certificate of Thanks for his Help in Building a School in Dongducheon, Korea, 1957 [Donated by Susan Juister]
- Banning, William: Letter to President Truman [MHDC 767]
- Bennett, Sen. Wallace: Letter to Constituent Regarding the Firing of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, April 16, 1951 [GHDC 5]
- Commendation Awarded to the 78th Anti-Aircraft Battalion, February 5, 1951
- Comon, Paul R.: Papers Relating to His Military Service During the Korean War
- Corl, Raymond and Marjorie: Papers Relating to Their Military Service During the Korean War
- Deegan, James E.: Military Personnel Records [MHDC 1037]
- Fehnel, Egan: Account of His Military Service in Korea
- First Cavalry Division: Book Summarizing the Division’s Activities in the Korean War, June 1950 to January 1952 [Donated in Memory of Raymond H. Evans]
- Grossman, Joseph R.: "Korea Versus Vietnam" [MHDC 244]
- Harriman, W. Averell: Documents Concerning the Wake Island Conference [MHDC 257]
- Herlihy, Colonel William J.: Letter from Korean Director of Communications, U.S. Army Military Government in Korea, July 3, 1946
- Heronime, Donald J.: Military Personnel Records and Correspondence, 1952-2019 [Donated by Myrtle Heronime]
- "In Korea": Sheet Music for Song by Earl Lesher, 1951
- Jessup, Philip C.: "The Record of Wake Island—A Correction" [GHDC 194]
- Kem, James P.: Letter to Edward Wicklein [MHDC 983]
- Lewis, Vander: Map Showing his Military Service During the Korean War [Donated by Caroline Gard]
- Limback, Herbert: Military Personnel Records and The Essex Epic, 1952-57 [Donated by Anna Fricke]
- Lodge, Robert D.: Military Personnel Records
- MacArthur, Douglas: Letter to Mother of Edward Lyon, Who Was Killed in Action in Korea, September 7, 1950 [GHDC 295]
- Muccio, John J.: Letter Regarding the Wake Island Conference, February 18, 1976 [MHDC 261]
- Mundwiler, Harry E.: Recollections of His Military Service in Korea, 1952-1953
- Nugent, James J.: Military Personnel Record and Related Items [Donated by Monica Williams]
- Nunziata, Anthony: Records Relating to His Service in the Korean War [Donated by Dina Nunziata Schock]
- Operation War Dance and USS Silverstein: Maps and Reunion [GHDC 328]
- Paik Sun Yup: Letter from Harry Vaughan [MHDC 355]
Box 2
- Palmer, Robert L.: Memoir of His Service as an Air Force Combat Photographer During the Korean War
- Plunkett, Clyde: Correspondence and Military Personnel Records, 1946-1971 [Donated by Carol Ritter]
- Prince, Clarence E., Jr.: Memoir, Transcripts of Letters, and Personnel Records Relating to His Service in the Korean War [Donated by Monetta Prince]
- Propaganda: Leaflet Distributed By Communist Forces in Korea [GHDC 294]
- Pruchnicki, Michael: Sketch and Obituary
- Rusk, Dean: Letter Concerning Truman-MacArthur Relationship, January 12, 1976 [MHDC 467]
- Safe Conduct Pass: Korean People's Army [GHDC 106]
- Sands, Dale: Correspondence, Military Personnel Records, and Other Items. 1950-59 [Donated by Hope Sands]
- Schwartz, Allen: Anti-Communist Propaganda from the Korean War [Donated by Rita Schwartz]
- Sevareid, Eric: Script of CBS Radio Broadcast, “The Great Korean War Mystery,” Paying Tribute to U.S. Servicemen, July 30, 1953 [Donated by Lewis Elin]
- Shaw, Kermit E.: Papers Relating to His Military Service During the Korean War
- Shay, James: Papers Relating to His Service in IX Corps, U.S. Army, During the Korean War
- Shuey, Eldon W.: Papers Relating to His Service with a MASH Unit in Korea
- Soukup, Donald: Materials Relating to His Service with the 45th Infantry Division in Korea [Donated by Susan and Carol Soukup]
- Stamm, Arthur, Jr.: Materials Relating to his Military Service in Korea [Donated by Kathy Degner]
- Truszkowski, Robert, Sr.: Personnel Records and 1952 Thanksgiving Menu
- Van Horne, Arthur: Military Personnel Records and Other Items [Donated by Virginia Van Horne]
- Wagner, Thomas D.: Papers Relating to His Service With the Army Corps of Engineers in Korea
- Wiltz, John E.: Correspondence Regarding U.S. Embassy in Seoul [MHDC 325]
- Yoshino, Stanley: Propaganda Items and Other Materials Relating to His Military Service During the Korean War