Ethiopia Book Extracts Remember History

This is a re-blog of an April 2022 post called “HR6600 Against Ethiopia”. We include our Ethiopia book extract: “Ethiopians in Korea” by Mesfin Tadesse. African Americans and Ethiopians served in that war. Did their lives matter afterwards? Do black lives matter today? The US HR6600 bill suggested not. However, it ought to remember history: Ethiopian UN Peacekeepers excelled as soldiers and taught Americans military strategy and healthy self-management. Jump to book extract.

HR6600 Bill

The HR6600 bill introduced in April 2022 by the US attacked Ethiopians. It would have stopped Ethiopian diaspora in the US from easily sending so much as $1 to a hungry mother in Ethiopia – AFTER they had paid US tax. Inside Ethiopia, enterprises would not have been able to import medicine or industrial supplies without cash payment. I signed the petition against US Bill HR6600 at change.org

The following countries backed HR6600: UK, New Zealand, Germany, France, Mexico. These were against it; that is, they were in favour of Ethiopia: Cuba, Djibouti, Kenya, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Zambia, South Africa, Israel, Russia, China, India, United Arab Emirates. Venezuela and Yugoslavia were too, but not counted. No European nation opposed HR6600. However, because of opposition, the bill was not introduced. Why even attempt it? Ethiopia has not bombed any other country or stirred up trouble. Like the Bahir Dar bird featured on this page, she minds her own business… and innovates.

Addressing the HR6600 Insult

By posting our Ethiopia book extract, we address the HR6600 insult. It is from Chapter 3 of Lucy’s People: An Ethiopian Memoir by Mesfin Tadesse, 2nd edition. Here is book information.

Today, Koreans give enormous credit to Ethiopian soldiers sacrificing themselves for their freedom. The people built a condominium, school and substantial hospital in Addis Ababa. Their use is free to descendants of Ethiopian UN Peacekeepers. Click or tap here to view the memorial-park monument that Koreans gave Ethiopians.

By serving as exemplary soldiers in the 1950–53 Korean War, Ethiopians were invaluable to Americans. They were the only Africans to serve. Mesfin’s historical source was his father, the late Colonel Tadesse – murdered by the Derg in 1974. He had served in 2 rounds as a UN Peacekeeper in the Korean War. Then he trained officers. Colonel Tadesse was decorated by Emperor Haile Selassie I and received a UN award. Recently, his eldest daughter received his posthumous honours in Korea.

Mesfin’s eye father (like a god father) Lieutenant-General Aman Andom was also murdered brutally by the communist Derg in 1974. This was how they thanked him for having led Ethiopia’s UN Peace Keepers. The late lieutenant-general was a huge influence on American soldiers, including a US general.

America, show Ethiopians some gratitude!

How does US President Biden thank them? From 2020, the US and others in the West backed wholesale slaughter and desecration by the TPLF (junta rebels) in Ethiopia. Remember our The November War in Ethiopia post? Ethiopia defended herself. Infuriated, the US, backed by others, imposed sanction-upon-sanction-upon-sanction. This culminated in HR6600. America, show Ethiopians some gratitude!

Ethiopia Book Extract: “Ethiopians in Korea” by Mesfin Tadesse

Korea 1950-53

US soldiers had socialised with Ethiopian UN Peacekeepers in Korea. High-ranking officers went shopping for something new at the Ethiopian camp. An Ethiopian corporal taught General MacArthur to play the Ethiopian violin. They risked court martial, but nobody enforced the rules.

In an army boxing spar, Lieutenant-Colonel Aman floored General MacArthur. The general became wary of thin, bony hands. Americans never won a volleyball match or football game against our slight soldiers. US soldiers began to call them kind killers. If insulted they did not retaliate, but none dared touch them.

Americans ate beans straight from the tin while Ethiopians added spice, basil, onions and smoked meat from wild-caught fish and goats. US soldiers began taking rations to the Ethiopian seven-star hotel for improvement.

Ethiopian Soldiers’ Self-Management and Military Strategy

A researcher found that Ethiopians remained at the battlefront for long periods yet returned looking refreshed. They never ate junk, nor smoked or drank heavily. After battle, they rehabilitated themselves with dance and music. Our soldiers chatted while playing table games – gebita, dama and chess.

They travelled light. With heavy gear, Americans were slow to demobilise and escape attack. In battle, Ethiopians did not retreat. One short Ethiopian soldier fired his gun at three fleeing Americans. Shivering, they sat. One became a war hero. He visited the Ethiopian twice in Addis Ababa and, later, his grave.

North Korean suicide missions detonated truckloads of explosives at depots. Lieutenant-Colonel Aman told General MacArthur to dig pits and fill them with sand as traps. US soldiers had to stop boozing and bringing women to their camps. Hospitals and food, water and fuel depots needed to be top secret, isolated and camouflaged.

After the War was Over

General MacArthur said that the very word ‘army’ reminded him of Ethiopian soldiers

Lieutenant-General Aman Andom. In “Lucy’s People” by Mesfin Tadesse

White Americans gave African American World War II heroes no opportunity for leadership.^[i] They segregated, slurred and abused them. At Nuremberg and Berlin, the US military served African American men meals after Nazi war criminals. US war heroes called Asian people ‘goose’ and ‘rabbit’ and African Americans ‘hippo’.

General MacArthur said that the very word ‘army’ reminded him of Ethiopian soldiers, and that he was optimistic about the future of non-White societies.

End of extract from Chapter 3 of Lucy’s People: An Ethiopian Memoir © Mesfin Tadesse & Ianet Bastyan 2021

---

Black Lives Matter

I CAN’T BREATHE

After African American soldiers served during World War II, did their lives matter more? How about today? Try and wear our I CAN’T BREATHE t-shirt in Perth, Western Australia. You’d need a pair of running shoes as well. Aussies take offence at our reference to US George Floyd, murdered in 2020 by a policeman. Even so, we excel at murdering indigenous Australians. Read about our 500 deaths in custody since 1991.

Bias Prevents a Fair Go

Has any bullying superpower nation ever examined its biases? Now is the time to do so.

Fair Go

Bronwyn Williams wrote I Have Seen the Moon. It is about working on Nauru in the Pacific Australia, where Australia dumps asylum seekers. Australia shows bias for rich immigrants, never asking how they got their money. Come on Australia, “Where is fair go?” Bronwyn argues that we all have biases, for or against some people or groups. Perhaps you are free of them… if you are a monk, although you would not boast about it. Has any bullying superpower nation ever examined its biases? Now is the time to do so. Look at Bronwyn’s bias specialist website.

How about a fair go for world peace? Africans, including Ethiopians, continue to drown in the Mediterranean Sea. African and Indian students studying in Ukraine died sought asylum due to the current war. They were beaten, kept off trains to the border and some died.

Resources

• [i] Clark, Alexis. “When Jim Crow Reigned Amid the Rubble of Nazi Germany.” The New York Times Magazine. February 19, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/magazine/blacks-wwii-
• “Ethiopians in Korea by Mesfin Tadesse”. In Bastyan, Ianet, and Mesfin Tadesse. “HR6600 Against Ethiopia”. Ethiopia Blog.  ianetbastyan.com. July 04 2022.
• Featured Image: Bahir Dar Bird © Mesfin Tadesse 2020
• Photo: Colonel Tadesse Shwasegid © Imperial Ethiopian Government. Ministry of Information 1972?