The Triumph and Tragedy of U.S. Involvement in Korea Grace Berlier

The Triumph and Tragedy of U.S. Involvement in Korea

Grace Berlier Senior Division Historical Paper Paper Length: 2,455 words

“Had I not been adopted by my American parents,

I would have ended up on the streets in Korea.”

- Rosina Rohrs, G.I. baby1 The Korean War is often referred to as “The Forgotten War” because of the limited public awareness of the conflict and its timing of occurrence in between more prominent

2 conflicts of World War II and the Vietnam War. Yet, for many Koreans, the lasting impact of United States involvement in the Korean War is difficult to forget. The U.S. involvement in

Korea may, at first glance, appear to reflect triumphs. Indeed, U.S. involvement in Korea resulted in the formation of a strong foundation for international adoption practices and policies and created an improved Korean public education system. A closer look at these seemingly positive outcomes, however, reveals that much of these celebrated triumphs are actually the result of United States’ efforts to fix the problems created by the presence of U.S. servicemen in

Korea in the first place. In fact, U.S. involvement in the Korean War left a legacy of tragedy in the form of large populations of “G.I. babies”, mixed race infants and children of U.S. servicemen and native Korean women, who were left behind in Korea during and following the

3 war. These G.I. babies faced a challenging life characterized by cultural isolation and discrimination if they remained in Korea or a life marked by the emotional and social consequences associated with being adopted internationally and moving half of a world away to live with U.S. families in a vastly different culture. As such, U.S. involvement in the Korean War is as much a tragedy as it is a triumph, particularly for the abandoned infants and children of U.S. military servicemen.

At its root, the Korean War reflected the growing tension between communists and

2 anti-communists. On June 25, 1950, North Korean troops ventured across the 38th parallel border into South Korea. Backed by Soviet and Chinese communists, North Korean troops sought to to capture non-communist South Korea within three weeks. To quiet worries of Soviet

4 confrontation, President Truman refrained from calling the conflict a war, but there was no denying that the Korean War was a Cold War conflict between communists and

5 anti-communists. When North Korean troops marched into South Korea, they were in fact

6 violating the charter of the United Nations. After World War II, the world experienced a brief

7 moment of peace in that the Soviet Union and the United States had not yet begun to push their

8 proxy war agendas. As part of the United Nations, the United States and Soviet Union had

9 shared the common goal of preventing one power from dominating over others. However, as President Eisenhower explained, “This common purpose lasted only an instant—and perished.

10 The nations of the world divided to follow two distinct roads”. The world divided into communist and anti-communist positions signifying the beginning of American fears of communist domination. From the U.S. perspective, an attack on Korea, meant an attack on all of

11 Asia which could result in a fully communist Asia. Attempting to prevent World War III, the

12 United States, acting under the “auspices of the United Nations”, fought a limited war in

13 Korea consistent with the desire to halt the spread of communism. With the decision of the United States to involve itself in the Korean War, American forces were sent overseas to Korea. As might be expected, American servicemen began engaging in relationships with native Korean women. Unfortunately, in Korean society, a common story prevailed: A Korean woman bore the child of an American soldier and dishonor descended upon her family, often resulting in the woman committing suicide to rid herself of the shame and pain

14 of isolation from mainstream society. If the woman chose not to not to commit suicide, she and her child faced social discrimination in Korea for the entirety of their lives. In bearing a single child of an American serviceman, a Korean woman risked severing her family ties, losing her

15 financial safety net, and sacrificing her societal standing. A Korean woman could be kicked out

16 of her house and left to fend for herself. In essence, a Korean woman jeopardized her own social and emotional welfare when she became involved with and had a child with an American serviceman.

Several factors accounted for the shame thrust upon Korean mothers and children conceived with American servicemen, the first reflecting the pre-existing culture in Korea at the

17 time. Koreans had a long-standing ideal of racial purity. Specifically, Koreans wanted Korea to be comprised of only full Koreans, and G.I. babies threatened this idea. Moreover, in Korean culture, names and birthdates are perceived to bring good or bad luck. In many cases, however,

G.I. babies were not given actual names and their birthdates were unrecorded, thus bringing

18 shame to the child. An additional factor bringing shame to Korean women and G.I babies was that many mixed-race, mixed-ethnicity children resulted from relations between U.S. servicemen

19 20 and Korean prostitutes. Although prostitution was outlawed in Korea in 1948, Koreans and Americans stood idle as “one million Korean women provided sex for them [six million

21 American servicemen] in the camptowns. As a result, many Koreans predominantly perceived

22 G.I. babies as “the children of prostitutes”. Moreover, G.I babies were not regarded as Korean citizens. These children could not be entered into a hojuk (similar to a U.S. birth certificate), so they could never obtain Korean citizenship. Additionally tragic, many U.S. servicemen fathers failed to recognize their own offspring, thus leaving these children with neither Korean nor

American citizenship. Thus, due to a lack of legal status, these G.I. babies continued to face arduous experiences long into adulthood when trying to attend school, find employment, and get married.23 Certainly not all children were the product of relations between U.S. servicemen and

Korean prostitutes. Yet, even when a Korean woman and a U.S. serviceman fell in love, she could not immigrate easily to the U.S. due to U.S. laws. The Immigration Act of 1924 (a result of the Quota Act of 1921) limited the number of immigrants who could enter into the United States to 150,000 immigrants per year, with each nationality having a quota that could not be exceeded.

This act was often referred to as the “Oriental Exclusion Law”, because it limited quotas of

24 immigrants from Asian countries versus European countries. Prior to 1921, immigrants were turned away from the United States on a qualitative rather than quantitative basis with the intention to limit the number of undesirable characteristics versus the number of people

25 immigrating. On June 27, 1952, the United States passed the McCarran-Walter Act which

26 effectively “eliminated all restrictions on nationalization” allowing Asians to immigrate to the U.S. and become U.S. citizens. The national-origins quota system, however, continued to prevail until the introduction of the Immigration Act of 1965, ensuring that immediate relatives of

27 American citizens were not subjugated to the quotas. This class of “immediate relatives” was

28 comprised of the children, spouses, and parents of United States citizens. Hence, with these changes in law, native Korean women could finally immigrate to the United States, regardless of quotas, with their U.S. serviceman husbands and their children.

Even with changes to immigration, Korean women and U.S. servicemen faced significant difficulty with getting married in the first place. The U.S. military opposed interracial marriages,

5 and commanding officers, as a general practice, did not give servicemen permission to marry the native Korean women. Some commanding officers went as far as to transfer servicemen to prevent interracial marriage. As a consequence, due to a lack of an official marriage, these servicemen could not bring their Korean partners and children home to the U.S.. On occasion, these couples had a Korean wedding, yet sadly, these services were not recognized by U.S. law, preventing Korean women from immigrating to America with their U.S. servicemen husbands.

In some tragic cases, servicemen divorced their Korean wives, unbeknownst to these women, prior to returning to the United States.29 Simply put, Korean women who had children with U.S. servicemen faced incredible obstacles. Typically, only two options for these Korean mothers existed: either put their children up for adoption or keep their children and bear watching them struggle on the receiving end of prejudice and discrimination from native Koreans. It was not unusual for Korean adults to throw

30 stones, spit, and urinate on these children as they passed in the streets. Native Koreans could tell by the children’s physical appearance that they were different. Even South Korean President

Rhee stated at the time that mixed-race children “will never have any real place in Korean

31 society”, reflecting the discrimination that these children faced on a daily basis. Despite the fact that free, universal education was made available for Korean children up to the sixth grade,³² mixed-race children faced prejudice in the school environment as well. One former G.I. baby described her experience as a mixed-race child in Korea:

In third grade, all of the students had to bow to the teacher when we entered the

classroom, and every time I entered the room, I got hit on the head. My [Korean] teacher

never gave me my books. I sat in the back of the classroom, and my teacher would tell

me how stupid I was. Two to three times a week, I pretended I was going to school, and I

would hide under a bridge all day. I would write in the dirt with a stick and practice my

math.³³

This former G.I. baby’s experience within the Korean education system conveys the tragedy associated with being mixed-race in Korea at that time. Her challenges with attending school were not due to a lack of intelligence or interest in learning, but due to her Korean teacher’s prejudice. Indeed, some Korean mothers dyed their children’s hair and eyelashes black to hide the lighter hair color of their mixed-race children,³ but this did little to mask the distressing fact ⁴ that G.I. babies were unwanted in Korean society.

For these tragic reasons, Korean mothers ultimately sought adoption for their children.

Unwed Korean women faced criticism for giving their children up for adoption,³⁵ but they opted to do so because they wanted to give their children their best life which was not possible in

Korea. As such, triumph began to surface from tragedy as the beginnings of a systematic international adoption process and policy emerged. With American troops stationed in Korea,

Americans began adopting children outside of their own nationality and cultural background for the first time.³⁶ In total, from 1955 to 1977, approximately 13,000 Korean war orphans (full and mixed-race Korean children) immigrated to the United States.³⁷

Notably, Christianity played a large role in the growth of a strong international adoption system. The church, a significant part of Korean life, was an important connector between

America and Korea. First introduced to Koreans by American missionaries, Christianity in Korea acted as a way to counter Japanese colonialism. And later, when Koreans came to the United

States, churches acted as meeting centers, places to worship, and places to keep the Korean

7 language alive. The Korean church represented strength and was the center of nationalistic activity.³⁸ Despite World War II atrocities, the Korean church managed to survive.³⁹ As a result,

Americans began to view Korea as a Christian nation. Americans perceived the adoption of

Korean children as a part of missionary work, because adoption would be helping out other

Christians in need. By adopting children outside of their own race and ethnicity, Americans supported the idea of racial liberalism, helping them to gain support in the Cold War effort.

These adoptions stemmed from the idea that any person, regardless of their race, could be a good

Christian, and thus, a good American. ⁰ Without both Protestant and Catholic missionaries, it is ⁴ unlikely that Korean children would have been adopted with such significant U.S. backing.

Prospective adoptive parents even wrote letters to U.S. and Korean government officials, begging them to change policies so that they could adopt Korean children. ¹ Americans wanted ⁴ to be good Christians by helping out other Christians, and they wanted to support their country in fighting off communism. Adopting Korean children accomplished both of these goals.

Of note, Harry Holt, founder of an international adoption agency, played a vital role in the systematic adoption of Korean children. In 1956, he began an adoption program that made

Korean adoption accessible to American families through proxy adoption and “baby lifts”. Proxy adoption eliminated the need for adoptive families to travel to Korea, and “baby lifts” sent large groups of Korean children to the United States on chartered flights. Holt paved the way for developing a systematic adoption model that is still in use today, and Americans had an easier

experience adopting Korean children as a result of this model. ² A triumph, U.S. families could ⁴ provide these Korean children who were social outcasts with a loving home and opportunities for security, education and possibility of future success in America. As shared gratefully by a

Korean adoptee reflecting upon her adoption by a U.S. family, “I have a wonderful life, and sometimes I pinch myself, and I think how did this happen to this little girl who was once peed on and spit on?” ³ ⁴ Thus, triumphs and tragedies characterize the legacy of United States’ involvement during and following the Korean War. An enduring set of systematic international adoption procedures and policies gave Korean adoptees access to supportive homes and loving families in the United States, but these solutions were propelled by the overwhelming need to care for the large number of G.I. babies abandoned in Korea by American servicemen. The U.S. presence in

Korea was instrumental to improving the Korean public education system and gave children in

Korea an opportunity to get an education, but these efforts to build the educational system did little to protect mixed-race G.I babies from experiencing societal discrimination from native

Koreans. The United States helped to halt the spread of communism, subsequently sparking the beginning of prosperous growth for the South Korean economy, yet these triumphs were met with unexpected societal costs. For better or for worse, the people of South Korea and America will forever be connected as a result of the Korean War through circumstances not easily forgotten.

Endnotes

¹Rosina Rohrs, 5 January 2019, Greenville, IL, Transcript, n.p.

²David Halberstam, The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War. (New York, NY: Hyperion, 2007), 2.

³Arissa H. Oh, To Save the Children of Korea: the Cold War Origins of International Adoption. (California: Stanford University Press, 2015), 15. Halberstam, The Coldest Winter, 1-2. ⁴ ⁵G.F. Hudson, “Korea and Asia,” International Affairs, 27 (1951): 18. ⁶Press Release, Statement by the President , 6/27/1950. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/76089606, Internet, Accessed 10 January 2019, n.p. ⁷President Eisenhower's "Chance for Peace" Speech, 4/16/1953. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/72736172, Internet, Accessed 10 January 2019, n.p. ⁸Erik Melander, Magnus Oberg, Jonathan Hall, “Are ‘New Wars’ More Atrocious?

Battle Severity, Civilians Killed and Forced Migration Before and After the End of the Cold

War,” European Journal of International Relations 15 (September 2009): 525. ⁹”The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Caffery)” pp. 707. In Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945, Vol. II: General: Political and Economic Matters. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1967.

¹⁰Eisenhower's "Chance for Peace", n.p. ¹¹Harry S. Truman, Radio Report to the American People on Korea and on U.S. Policy in the Far East, 4/11/1951. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/230394, Internet, Accessed 10 January 2019, n.p.

¹²Liam Stack, “Korean War, a ‘Forgotten’ Conflict that Shaped the Modern World.” New York Times, 1 January 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/world/asia/korean-war-history.html, Internet, Accessed 10 January 2019, n.p.

¹³Harry S. Truman, Radio Report, n.p. ¹ Elizabeth Kim, Ten Thousand Sorrows: The Extraordinary Journey of a Korean War ⁴ Orphan (New York: Doubleday, 2000), 30. ¹⁵Sara Dorow, I wish for you a beautiful life : Letters from the Korean Birth Mothers of Ae Ran Won to Their Children (St. Paul, MN: Yeong and Yeong Book Company, 1999), 15. ¹⁶Rosina Rohrs, Transcript, n.p.

¹⁷Arissa H. Oh, To Save the Children, 51. ¹⁸Elizabeth Kim, Ten Thousand Sorrows, 30. ¹⁹Arissa H. Oh, To Save the Children, 50. ²⁰Whang-Kyung (Evelyn) Koh, “The Status of Women in Korea,” Pi Lambda Theta Journal, 27 (1949): 155. ²¹Arissa H. Oh, To Save the Children, 50. ²²Ibid., 7.

²³Ibid., 51.

² Won Moo Hurh, The Korean Americans (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998), 34. ⁴ ²⁵Carol M. Crosswell, A Guide to Admission to the United States Immigration Laws of the United States (New York, NY: Oceana Publications, 1953), IV.

²⁶Franklin Odo, The Columbia Documentary History of the Asian American Experience (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2002), 335.

²⁷Won Moo Hurh, The Korean Americans, 35. ²⁸Roy D. Weinberg, Eligibility for Entry to the United States of America (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1967), 10.

²⁹Arissa H. Oh, To Save the Children, 6, 50. ³⁰Rosina Rohrs, Transcript, n.p.

³¹Arissa H. Oh, To Save the Children, 51. ³²Channing Liem, “United States Rule in Korea,” Far Eastern Survey 18 (1949): 77-78. ³³Rosina Rohrs, Transcript, n.p.

³ Arissa H. Oh, To Save the Children, 51. ⁴ ³⁵Sara Dorow, I wish for you a beautiful life, 1. ³⁶Arissa H. Oh, To Save the Children, 2-5. ³⁷Won Moo Hurh, The Korean Americans, 39. ³⁸Erika Lee, The Making of Asian America: A History (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2015), 144-145.

³⁹Kwansik Kim,“The Christian Church in Korea,” International Review of Mission 36 (April 1947): 125.

⁰Arissa H. Oh, To Save the Children, 8, 80. ⁴ ¹Rosina Rohrs, Transcript, n.p. ⁴ ²Arissa H. Oh, To Save the Children, 8-9. ⁴ ³Rosina Rohrs, Transcript, n.p. ⁴

Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources

Crosswell, Carol M., A Guide to Admission to the United States Immigration Laws of the United States. New York, NY: Oceana Publications, 1953. Crosswell’s guide relays the immigration laws enacted during the mid-twentieth century. I employed this source to relay information surrounding quotas. Her guide was particularly beneficial to me in understanding the nature of the restrictions placed on immigration based on nationality.

Dorow, Sara. I wish for you a beautiful life : Letters from the Korean Birth Mothers of Ae Ran Won to Their Children. St. Paul, MN: Yeong and Yeong Book Company, 1999. Dorow’s composition contains a collection of letters from unwed birth mothers in Korea. Although these women were not the mothers of G.I. babies, they still gave me valuable insight into Korean culture. I utilized this source to convey the stigma attached with being unwed and with a child in Korea.

Hudson, G.F. “Korea and Asia,” International Affairs, 27 (1951): 18-24. This source enhanced my understanding of the nature of the Korean War. Hudson informed me of the Communist and Anti-Communist conflict driving the Korean War, and I used the source in my paper to describe that rivalry. The source was somewhat helpful in that it gave me an idea of the Cold War’s influence on the decision of the U.S. to intervene in Korea.

Kim, Elizabeth. Ten Thousand Sorrows: The Extraordinary Journey of a Korean War Orphan. New York: Doubleday, 2000. In her piece, Kim explains her experiences as a G.I. baby. Her insight was extremely valuable in learning about Korean culture. Kim shares insight on the stigma that single mothers received as well as reveals information about her own adoption experience. In my paper, I included aspects of Korean culture that she mentions.

Kim, Kwansik. “The Christian Church in Korea,” International Review of Mission 36 (April 1947): 125-140. This journal article is about the strength of the Christian Church in Korea, and I added information about the influence of Christianity on Korea in my paper. This source was somewhat valuable in gaining knowledge surrounding the nature of the Korean Church, but I felt that I gained more extensive knowledge of the church from other sources.

Koh, Whang-Kyung (Evelyn). “The Status of Women in Korea,” Pi Lambda Theta Journal, 27 (1949): 151-155. Koh’s journal article is about the role of women in Korea. It helped me to understand the submissive culture of women in Korea and how women’s rights in Korea changed over time. The article was helpful to a limited extent. I only referenced the source in my paper

one time, but it aided me in comprehending the existing culture in Korea and the role of women. I used this source to underscore the effect of prostitution in Korea.

Liem, Channing. “United States Rule in Korea,” Far Eastern Survey 18 (1949): 77-80. This journal article reveals the imperialistic nature of the United States. The source communicates many of the effects of United States involvement in Korea and was extremely valuable in my understanding of the nature of the United States’ influence, both positive and negative. Although I did not reference this source much in my actual writing, Liem’s piece was essential developing my own understanding of the influence of the United States on Korea. I weaved this source into my writing by referencing the United States’ effect on the education system in Korea.

President Eisenhower's "Chance for Peace" Speech, 4/16/1953. Available from https://catalog.archives.gov/id/72736172, Internet, Accessed 10 January 2019. Eisenhower’s speech informed me of the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States. As a president, Eisenhower provided me with an accurate idea of the nature of the relationship between the two powers at that time. Eisenhower addresses the two nations as having former goals of peace. The source was helpful for me in bringing in aspects of the Cold War into my paper. I implemented this piece to demonstrate the relationship between the two powers.

Press Release, Statement by the President , 6/27/1950. Available from https://catalog.archives.gov/id/76089606, Internet, Accessed 10 January 2019. Truman’s press release is about Communists’ defiance of the Charter of the United Nations, and the implications of Communists’ decision to push into South Korea. The source was beneficial to me in terms of learning about the relations between the Soviet Union and the United States, during the Cold War. I took this source into account when I mentioned a violation of the United Nations Charter.

Rohrs, Rosina. Korean adoptee. 5 January 2019, Greenville, IL, Transcript. This interview with my primary source was the main inspiration for this research paper and heavily influenced my decision to focus on the social aspects of U.S. involvement in the Korean War versus the military, economic and political aspects of the Korean War. Rosina Rohrs is not only a G.I. baby from Seoul, South Korea who was adopted by an American family in 1961, she also is my aunt. Similar to the circumstances of many Korean women in the time period described in this paper, my Korean grandmother engaged in a relationship with a U.S. soldier, Rosina’s biological father. Ultimately, my grandmother was abandoned by the soldier who returned to the United States after his tour of duty in South Korea, leaving her with two mixed-race children (Rosina and her brother, John) to raise. Rosina and John faced discrimination among native Koreans for being mixed-race. My grandmother knew that they would get a better education if they lived in America instead, so upon the advice of the elders from her village church, she put them up for adoption. My grandmother and her family were very involved in their church, and the Christian missionaries had suggested that the children be given up for adoption to the United States for better opportunities. The children were aware that they

were going to the United States for a better education but were not aware that they would never see my grandmother again. At nine years and seven years of age respectively, Rosina and John were sent to the United States in a “baby lift” on a plane filled with many other Korean adoptees. They were adopted by Wilda and Ernest Crouch. Upon arrival to the United States, Rosina (and John) were provided numerous educational opportunities that were not available in Korea. Ultimately, Rosina got a master’s degree in education and became a special education high school teacher, and John went on to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. As adults, Rosina and John found and reunited with my grandmother in the United States. My grandmother had started a new life, legally marrying my American grandfather (another U.S. soldier stationed in Korea). She successfully immigrated to the United States, became a U.S. citizen, and had my mother. I implemented this primary source to highlight the discrimination that mixed-race G.I. babies faced in Korea as well as underscored her feelings and perceptions of the opportunities she gained by coming to the United States. This interview was extremely valuable to me, because it provided a first hand account of what it was like to live emotionally and socially as a mixed-race child with an unwed mother in Korea in juxtaposition to her ultimate experience with coming to live in the United States with her adoptive family.

”The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Caffery)”. In Foreign Relations of the United States, 1945, Vol. II: General: Political and Economic Matters. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1967. I used this source to describe the nature of relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. The two nations were a part of the discussion for peace treaties (as a part of the United Nations). Thus, this source was valuable to a limited extent in understanding the relationship between the two nations.

Truman, Harry S.. Radio Report to the American People on Korea and on U.S. Policy in the Far East, 4/11/1951. Available from https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/230394, Internet, Accessed 10 January 2019. Truman’s report informed me of the United States’ effort to enter the Korean War to a limited extent as well as made me more aware about Communists’ motives. I used this source to convey the limited involvement of the U.S. as well as U.S. goals for entering the conflict.

Weinberg, Roy D.. Eligibility for Entry to the United States of America. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1967. Weinberg discusses immigration laws in this source. He made me aware of the groundbreaking legal decisions that opened the door for Asian immigration to the United States. This piece was beneficial to me in seeing the changes over time that allowed those of Asian descent to immigrate more easily to the United States. I used Weinberg’s writing to describe those legal changes.

Secondary Sources

Halberstam, David. The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War. New York, NY: Hyperion, 2007. In his book, Halberstam relays information regarding the Korean War, describing battles and aspects of the war itself (rather than topics surrounding social issues). His book was beneficial to me in gaining a background about the Korean War in general; however, as my piece focused on social effects of U.S. involvement in Korea, I used information from this source mainly to provide contextualization.

Hurh, Won Moo. The Korean Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Hurh analyzes the Korean people as a whole, conveying the history of the development of a Korean culture that is still popular in the modern world. I used this source to portray the influence of the Korean church. Furthermore, the source was beneficial in gaining knowledge surrounding Korean culture.

Lee, Erika. The Making of Asian America: A History. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2015. In her piece, Lee presents Asian American history as a whole. She discusses Asian’s first arrival in America up to the present. This source was valuable to a limited extent in understanding the role of the Korean church on Korean culture. I utilized this source to discuss the importance of the Korean church in the United States.

Melander, Erik, Magnus Oberg, and Jonathan Hall. “Are ‘New Wars’ More Atrocious? Battle Severity, Civilians Killed and Forced Migration Before and After the End of the Cold War,” European Journal of International Relations 15 (September 2009): 505-536. Melander explains proxy wars during the Cold War in this journal article. I used this source to bring up the topic of proxy wars as they were how the U.S. and the Soviet Union settled conflicts. I found this source to be beneficial to a limited extent. The information was helpful for developing background knowledge of the conflicts between Americans and Soviets; however, I did not incorporate a lot of the elements of this source into my research paper.

Odo, Franklin. The Columbia Documentary History of the Asian American Experience. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2002. Odo presents information conveying the heritage of Asian Americans. The source presented major documents covering the experience of Asians in the United States. I referenced an act presented in this source to further my discussion of immigration policy. The source was helpful in gaining knowledge surrounding the changes in immigration policy, allowing Asians to immigrate to the United States more easily.

Oh, Arissa H. To Save the Children of Korea: the Cold War Origins of International Adoption. California: Stanford University Press, 2015.

Oh relays the influence of Cold War values on shaping the international adoption structure. This source was indispensable to me in learning about the lives of G.I. babies, the influence of the Christian church, and the establishment of international adoption. I employed this source to describe the circumstances of G.I. babies, their unwed mothers, and the influence and support provided by Christian missionaries.

Stack, Liam. “Korean War, a ‘Forgotten’ Conflict that Shaped the Modern World.” New York Times, 1 January 2018. Available from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/world/asia/korean-war-history.html, Internet, Accessed 10 January 2019. Stack delineates the reasoning behind the United States’ decision to enter into the Korean War under the auspices of the United Nations charter and Soviet defiance of this charter. The source was valuable to a limited extent in understanding this decision, and I implemented this source to convey the nature of U.S. involvement in the Korean War.