The Korean War (1951‐1953) is known as the “forgotten war.” Sandwiched between World War II and the Vietnam War, it is often overlooked. The Korean War Project home page (http://www.koreanwar.org/) provides a wealth of information on this important but often ignored period of history. The project began in 1979 as a family history of Hal and Ted Barker, whose father was a veteran of the Korean War. It eventually expanded and found its way on the web at the beginning of 1995. The page provides information for and about Korean War veterans, including a forum for veterans to communicate with one another and to the world at large. Among other things, one can access information about POWs and MIAs, the DMZ (demilitarized zone) War, Korean War memorials, maps, history, and North Korea. From the various times I examined the site, I noticed that it is continually being updated. These modifications improve the organization of the page. One convenient feature that remains constant is the side bar on the left side of the page that allows one to access most of the links that are highlighted throughout the page.
On the History and Reference page (http://www.koreanwar.org/html/history_and_reference.html), one can find information on the following: memorials, the DMZ War, government, an overview of the war, libraries, the United States military, the United Nations, awards and medals, genealogy, books, and newspapers and periodicals. One can also search for those involved in the war. All of the links on this site are relevant to the Korean War or to war information in general. The only link that does not directly deal with the Korean War is that for the Desert Storm operation. Nevertheless, this is an excellent resource to gain much knowledge of various aspects of the war.
Johnson’s List (http://www.koreanwar.org/ tiger/johnson.htm) is a list of miliary and civilian deaths during the Korean War. It was compiled by Wayne Archer “Johnnie” Johnson, a Korean War veteran who became a prisoner of war on July 11, 1950. Due to his meticulous work on the list, Johnson was awarded the Silver Star Medal in August, 1996. As one might expect, it takes a while for the list to load because the number of casualties from the war was enormous.
Unlike all other major wars, the Korean War never had a decisive ending. It ended in a cease‐fire, without a formal peace treaty. At the end of the war, the 38th parallel was drawn, splitting Korea into the communist North and democratic South. The DMZ War page (http://www.koreanwar.org/html/ dmz_war.html) is an account entitled “The Forgotten DMZ” by retired Major Vandon E. Jenerette. It is a lengthy article; but it is worth reading, as it brings to life the precarious situation at the DMZ from 1966 to 1969.
The Friends of Korea (http://members.aol. com/ForKorea/Index.htm) is a non‐profit corporation that “promot[es] greater awareness and appreciation of the value of Korean heritage in the United States.” In addition to providing links to news sources, this web page concerns itself with Korean history, culture, and services geared toward Korean Americans in the United States. A major section of the site provides links that are adoption‐related. Although this site is less directly related to the Korean War, it is a very good information source.
In addition to Korean War information, the Korea Web Weekly home page (wysiwyg://23/ http://www.kimsoft.com/korea.htm) includes links to the news and editorials, Korean nationalism, Americans in Korea, book reviews, and other related sites. In addition to links about specific issues, one can find news sources such as the Korea Herald, Korean Labor News, and the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. A useful link from this site is the Korean War Webs page (http://www.kimsoft.com/kr‐war.htm). It includes information on MIAs/POWs, adoption issues, war memories, war history, covert actions and intelligence wars, and other helpful web sites.
The Korean War Project is an excellent place to begin research about the “forgotten war.” Not only does it provide relevant information about the war, but it is presented clearly and concisely. In addition, it is easy to navigate; and there were hardly any dead ends. The maps I looked at did a good job of delineating the different battle plans. For the most part, they did not fit on the screen and it was necessary to scroll down and sometimes across the page to see the entire map. Other than that, they were easy to comprehend, even for the layperson. I did notice that there were many cross references among the different web sites. For example, one could access the Korea Web Weekly directly from the main home page or indirectly through the Friends of Korea link. This could be viewed as negative if the links circled around one another and did not give many other options to expand a search. Fortunately, this is not the case and these cross references serve to provide an additional avenue for navigation. Highly recommended.
