The New USFK Commander: General Burwell B. Bell

The Chosun Ilbo names him as General Burwell B. Bell. What about him? He’s an Oak Ridge, Tennessee native, seems the scholarly type, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and formerly commanded (gargantuan) Fort Hood and U.S. Army, Europe. Back in 1979, he held a company-grade staff job in Korea. From the looks of this letter, purportedly written by Mrs. Burwell B. Bell, the couple will not be pleased with the way some of the soldiers are being treated downtown:

The older folks know how we saved Europe some 60 years ago. My opinion is that the younger generations see us as having everything they want. I am convinced that their hatred stems from envy, on several layers.

There have been, lately, instances of Americans being heckled in towns. These incidents have not been anything but words. Americans are cautioned to keep a low profile and we are warned to stay away from some areas, like Hamburg, but we mainly go about business as usual. If any of this changes B.B. may have to put certain places off limits. I believe that we will see some repositioning of our troops in Europe in the next year or two or three. There may even come a time when families won’t be allowed to accompany their soldiers over here and those soldiers will just come for a short tour, much like we do in Korea. All this is very sad but was actually in the planning before all these latest contingencies.

If you don’t think the opinion of Mrs. General matters, you have not been in the Army. The letter continues by describing a very moving visit by the Bells to wounded solders from Iraq who were arriving at Army hospitals in Germany.