JOINT REPORT:
GIs KILLED REFUGEES
News-Gazette,
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – The United States and South
Korea have concluded after 15 months of investigation that American soldiers
killed "an unknown number" of refugees during the early days of the Korean War
at Nogun-ri, where poorly trained troops were under
the command of "leaders with limited proven experiences in combat," a joint
summary says.
President
Clinton planned to express
A joint
"statement of mutual understandings" says the investigations found no proof of
orders to fire on civilians. The report
cites military documents that U.S. troops in the war zone at the time were
operating under what it calls "guidelines on shooting refugees" to prevent them
from crossing U.S. front lines.
It does not
explain what that meant, but the declassified record found in archives by The
Associated Press shows that
The joint
statement said that the soldiers were "young, under-trained, under-equipped and
new to combat," and that their leaders were untested in battle.
Units operating
near Nogun-ri "were under
the command and control of leaders with limited proven experience in combat. They were unprepared for the weapons and
tactics of the North Korean forces that they would face and the speed of the
North Korean advance," the joint statement said.
The summary
adds that "U.S. soldiers were legitimately fearful of the possible infiltration
of North Korean soldiers who routinely entered American lines in groups
disguised as civilians in refugee columns and then attacked American positions
from the rear."
Korean
survivors say as many as 300 people, including women and children, were killed
over three days in late July 1950 at Nogun-ri by the
U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment after 100 were killed in an Air Force
strafing.
The joint
statement notes that Korean officials have compiled a list of 248 names of
dead, wounded and missing. It says ex-GI
witnesses gave lower estimates.
The refugees
were killed by "small arms, machine guns, mortar and artillery fire," the
summary quoted American veterans as saying.
The report
notes that Korean witnesses said refugees were strafed by
AP obtained a
copy of the seven-page document from a source close to the Korean
investigation.
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