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SSG Robert Webster
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Why do some of these authors make claims that can not be substantiated by any means?
This claim is pure propaganda BS, made only in conjunction with unsubstantiated claims of three generations of the Kim family.
Kim Jong-il's official government biography states that his grandfather was "the leader of the anti-Japanese national liberation movement and was a pioneer in shifting the direction from the nationalist movement to the communist movement in Korea." This is widely disputed among foreign academics and independent sources, who claim that Kim's opposition was little more than general grievances with life under Japanese occupation. Kim Il-sung claimed his ancestors, including his grandfather Kim Bo-hyon and great-grandfather Kim Ung-u (1848–1878), were involved in the General Sherman incident, but this is also disputed and believed to be a fabrication. (And Kim Bo-hyon could not have participated in the General Sherman incident, because he was not born yet; and it is highly unlikely that he participated in the 1871 Battle of Ganghwa as at the most he would have been only 6 months old.)

Beginning in the late 1960s, North Korea's government historians began to claim the attack on General Sherman was planned and led by Kim Hyong-jik, a direct ancestor of North Korean president Kim Il-sung. The claim has no confirmation in historical records but is still being repeated in North Korean publications, including textbooks. What makes this claim so far out of bounds is that Kim Hyŏng-jik has been shown to have been born on or about 10 July 1894, twenty-eight years after the incident and twenty-one years after the Battle of Ganghwa.

Even the original article has a bit of the information incorrect. What has happened to the USNI, they used to be much better? What is even worse is that there is only a minor connection between the flags and the Kim family. The Kim family members in all likely hood never even participated in any of the battles on Ganghwa Island, which is where the flags came from and the fortifications were commanded by General Eo Jae-yeon, who was killed in the battle and would then have actually belonged to units and fortifications he commanded. It is very interesting that the flag pictured was General Eo Jae-yeon's.

I am sure that we would have been better suited by an older version of this story - K. Jack Bauer. “The Korean expedition of 1871.” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings,v, 74, no. 2 (Feb 1948), pp. 196-203.
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1stSgt Nelson Kerr
1stSgt Nelson Kerr
7 y
Kim is of no relation to the folks who fought against our invasion at all.
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SSG Edward Tilton
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GLAD they found my flag, The Marine Captain pictured led the assault (McClane Tilton), his father was Edward G Tilton a Naval Captain who died in 1861. The two Marines got Medals of Honor for this 1871 action. If you notice they are black but on the records it has them as unknown.
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1stSgt Nelson Kerr
1stSgt Nelson Kerr
7 y
Good men sometimes fight for bad causes
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SSG Edward Tilton
SSG Edward Tilton
7 y
D224bd72
Not a clue about that. The Marines were sent in because the Koreans were Crucifying Christian Missionaries and we decided they should stop...
Apparently the flag was captured by Cpl Charles Brown, who disappeared shortly afterward and was awarded his MOH in Absentia
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