Remember soldiers, past and present

In June 1950, North Korean communist soldiers crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea. The United States' stance against global communism would endure its first bloody test.

Sixty years later, not many Americans know much about this war and most know nothing about the highly classified U.N. Special Operations unit, the 8240th AU.

Well, here is a little history lesson about this unit. The unit, along with the British Military Intelligence (MI), was responsible for various covert actions behind enemy lines. Among these actions were to recruit and train North Koreans to blow up supply depots and critical strategic targets, track enemy movements, capture high valued personnel and rescue downed pilots.

This unit was so secret no regular combat line units even knew what they did. However, rumors were abound and most did not like the men in the 8240th. They were seen as undisciplined and rogue cowboys and were given the name the "Sneaky Petes." This name was not well received and even today they get very annoyed if you refer to them as the "Sneaky Petes."

The newly formed 10th Special Forces was headed up by Aaron Banks (OSS in World War II) and recruited various U.S. armed services men to serve in the 8240th. The 10th Special Forces is currently serving in Afghanistan. The original 10th SF men had to be quiet about their assignments until the late 1990s when the Pentagon declassified the unit's operations.

During that time of silence, they could not be recognized for any awards such as the CIB or combat jumps. I personally know three of these men who are now in their 80s and also served in Vietnam where they did receive their CIB - HOORAH.

But to this day, there are deep scars about the lack of recognition of their accomplishments in the Korean War.

The historical importance and the lessons learned of the 8240th AU operations set the foundation on how Special Forces operates in today's theaters of combat such as Afghanistan.

All these men want is for America to remember and appreciate their efforts. So in this year of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, please remember the forgotten men of a forgotten unit of a forgotten war in your prayers.

May God bless the men of the 8240th AU and all armed servicemen and women!

Gary Sarkesian

Lake Zurich