My dad often tells the story of how he was spared going to Korea during his military service in Turkey, when a cease fire was declared while they were literally at the airport waiting to board a transport plane. Or so he thought until his (suddenly turned lunatic) commanding officer (who had just returned from a tour at Korea - and did not want the war to end) ordered the battalion to board the plane anyway despite the order from high above not to. How do you resist the temptation to not follow an order from your immediate officer in that situation?
Well, my dad was court-martialed along with everyone else who obeyed this war hero and had to serve an additional month over and above his 24 months of mandatory service in the army.
Turkey had the fourth largest contingent in the five-year Korean War. According to ROK (Republic of Korea) Drop, a leading military weblog out of Korea, "the fact that a nation like Turkey would deploy such a large force for a country it had no historical ties and little contact with would seem strange on the surface, but when you recognize the geo-politics of the Korean War era, the deployment of this Turkish Brigade was vital to the survival of an independent Turkish state."
How true is that today still?
Shouldn't Turkey align itself with the decision makers of global repositioning of the current era? It seems today Turkey is more preoccupied with internal strife, let alone take on responsibilities that extend beyond her immediate borders.
Maybe heroes are made, not born, is not necessarily true. One such hero of Turkey from its recent past was General Tahsin Yazici, who had served as a unit commander during the battle of Gallipoli, and placed in charge of the Turkish brigade in Korea. But he had to voluntarily ask for a reduction in rank to be able to do so, because he "recognized the overall importance this deployment would have for the overall future of his own country."
Here's more about General Yazici and his heroic men . . .
"The Turks are the hero of heroes. There is no impossibility for the Turkish Brigade."General Douglas MacArthur - U.N. Forces Commander in Chief
