The Korean War is sometimes referred to as the "Forgotten War" because it seems to have receded from the national consciousness-eclipsed in large part by the continuing legacy of the Vietnam War. On July 27, the nation paid overdue tribute to the Americans who served in Korea when President Clinton and South Korean president Kim Young Sam helped dedicate the Korean War Veterans Memorial in the nation's capital.

On May 10, 1968, at three o'clock in the morning at Ngok Tavak, a Forward Operating Base near the Vietnam-Laos border, a small force of U.S. Marines, a handful of Australian and U.S. Special Forces, and 122 ethnic Chinese Nungs working under the command of Australian Capt. John White engaged elements of an invading North Vietnamese Army division and Viet Cong guerrillas. Ngok Tavak was not the primary target of the vastly superior NVA force. The FOB stood in the way of NVA's primary goal Kham Duc, five kilometers to the north, the last Special Forces camp still standing in the area.

Military history is composed of the events in the history of humanity that fall within the category of conflict. This may range from a melee between two tribes to conflicts between proper militaries to a world war affecting the majority of the human population. Military historians record (in writing or otherwise) the events of military history.

Sometime the emergence of new designs could coincide with that of the personal designs of the rulers like that of King Louis XVI. The variety in tastes of the patrons sometimes gives birth to new designs. The non-accessibility of these furniture gives ways to fake products of the original because sometime the prices of the original were not affordable for everyone to possess them. But sometimes it is very difficult to identify the name of the makers.

It is staggering to think that elephants sought higher ground immediately before the Tsunami hit Asian shores on December 26th 2004, while no advanced technology existed in the form of an early warning detection system that could prevent the loss of human life … or so said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism of Sri Lanka. I can’t say for sure. I wasn’t there. I was safe and dry in Varese, Italy at the time, and a long way from Pound Ridge, New York, from where I hail.

As survivors of World War II are quickly moving on into memory, and the information revolution facilitates a modern society of well educated, less “gullible” individuals, the world of fascism and the ideology of racial hatred is moving farther and farther into the past. We’ve all seen the history channel videos showing images of death and destruction, complete with bulldozers pushing corpses into mass graves, but that seems like another time, right? Of course, people wouldn’t do that now. We’ve all learned from the past. Or have we?