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Slideshows: Remembered in Kodachrome

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U.S. Marine Corps World War Two veteran John Rich ’39 spent over 30 years as a war correspondent, with experience on the front lines of every major 20th century conflict from Korea to the Congo. Yet, the former NBC reporter’s discovery as a photojournalist didn’t occur until more than 60 years after he took what is now considered the most extensive collection of color photographs of the Korean War. Here are some additional selections from that collection, with captions provided by John Rich.

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A view of Chinese and North Korean prisoners inside the American-run prison camp on Koje Island. ,
A propeller-driven P51 fighter plane given to the South Koreans by the Americans gets a check at an airstrip near Seoul. ,
General MacArthur bundled against the weather emerges from his plane on an inspection visit in Korea. ,
As American troops poured into Korea in July 1950 to halt the North Korean drive southward, Taegu Airport became a busy place. I found it a great source of information on the war by interviewing returning American fighter pilots. One day at the airport, I took this picture of a spotter plane about to take off. To my amazement, there were two high-ranking generals piloting. From the front cockpit was Lt. General Earle E. Partridge, commander of the 5th Air Force and in the back seat, General James Doolittle, famed for many things but especially for managing to put twin engine air force bombers aboard US Navy aircraft carriers and bombing Tokyo in the spring of 1942. The two high-ranking flyers had come to make their own personal inspection of the situation in the first weeks of the Korean War. ,
On the first day of the Armistice talks at Panmunjom, North Korean and Chinese newsmen and US, Korean, and UN reporters eye each other warily across the road. ,
On the first day of the Armistice talks at Panmunjom, the North Koreans brought a surprise — the limousine of Ambassador John Muccio, which they had taken when they seized the American embassy in Seoul in 1950. ,
A Korean boy enjoys his perch atop the wreckage of a Soviet-made Yak fighter plane used by the North Koreans. Since Korea had no air force, these propeller-driven Yaks dominated the skies over South Korea in the first weeks of the war. They soon disappeared after American fighter jets arrived on the scene. ,
A decorated American transport plane tells it all. ,
This American transport plane had a rough landing. ,
A Korean boy enjoys his perch atop the wreckage of a Soviet-made Yak fighter plane used by the North Koreans. Since Korea had no air force, these propeller-driven Yaks dominated the skies over South Korea in the first weeks of the war. They soon disappeared after American fighter jets arrived on the scene. ,
American helicopters were first used in combat during the Korean War. This one sits at an advanced air base close to the snow-covered mountains. ,
At an airstrip just across the Han River south of Seoul, bombs wait to be loaded on UN planes. In the background are wing tanks used both to carry gasoline and fiery napalm. ,
During the long and frustrating Armistice talks at Panmunjom, some progress was made. This shows a scene as sick and wounded prisoners are exchanged,
Before Panmunjom, the first meeting between UN and Communist forces was held in this villa near Kaesong. The first day, the UN forces realized they had been lured into territory completely filled with Chinese and North Korean soldiers. A few days later, the UN forces walked out and it was some weeks late before the talks resumed at Panmunjom.,
The British were among the first of the sixteen nations who came to South Korea’s defense in the summer of 1950. This aircraft carrier had just docked at Pusan. ,
A 1-5-5 Howitzer is setup in a sand-bagged emplacement beside the South Korean capital building in Seoul. ,
Soviet-built T-34 tanks are knocked out by American air power as they try to reach Inchon, west of Seoul, during MacArthur’s Inchon landing. ,
As the Armistice talks began, the Communists instructed the Americans to fly white flags on their vehicles to identify themselves in the combat zone. The Americans realized they had been had when pictures of American vehicles with white flags showed up in Communist publications, word-wide, implying that the Americans had capitulated. ,
The Japanese-built Korean Capitol building in Seoul, sits among the wreckage. Some years after the war, as South Korean became affluent, the South Koreans tore down the whole structure to destroy this symbol of Japanese occupation. ,
Actress Betty Hutton shows her pink pumps and a lot more while entertaining American troops in Korea.,
In front of Seoul’s city hall, young recruits or draftees, march off for training. A wife (and mother) walks alongside her husband, her face showing the anguish of a sad farewell. ,
This helmeted diver arrived on the scene to give assistance after a tank had fallen off a pontoon bridge at a river crossing. ,