24th Infantry in Korean War
One of the more pleasant aspects of my duties as executive chairman of the International Korean War Veterans Memorial project involves meeting people, some of them fellow Korean War veterans.
Two years ago I met and formed a friendship with retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Charles M. Bussey of Los Angeles. Based on this friendship, I can say without reservation the article on this man is an insult to Lt. Col. Bussey and to the veterans of that war.
Charlie was a fighter pilot during World War II in the original all-black 332nd Fighter Group, commonly called the “Tuskegee Airmen.” As commanding officer of the 77th Combat Engineer Company of the 25th Infantry Division, he and his soldiers were among the first to meet the enemy in Korea. Like other United States military units in those early days of the war, the 25th Division and its combat support units were rushed from Japan into combat woefully unprepared to meet and fight the professional North Korean Army.
I know Charlie Bussey to be a man of dignity and personal integrity with a down-to-earth understanding of reality. To make him appear as a doting old man with a feeble memory of the past is without honor.
It is unfortunate the reporter was unable to see and know the real character of Charlie Bussey.
JACK STITES
Los Angeles
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