reech ] ...and get another one free? before 9am. all april long. [ male announcer ] subway, eat fresh. up next on a second look, the korean war. we'll take you to the tense border between north and south and the tension that still lingers 16 years after the war ended. plus how the korean war brought the lab that transformed the bay. and how the war in korea helped japan's economy recover from world war ii. it's all straight ahead on a

second look. hello everyone i'm frank somerville and welcome to second look. 16 years ago today, north korea and south korea signed a treaty to stop war. but last week north korea said it would no longer honor that agreement. in 1995, reporter kathleen koch brought us this account of the memorial to their memory being dedicated in washington, d.c. >> reporter: standing more than 7 feet tall the stainless steel figures shrog across the field toward a distant flag. near by faces of actual support troops from the korean war. at this dedication president clinton and south korean

president kim jung-sam credited the soldiers. >> they set a standard that may be equaled but will never be surpassed in american combat. >> in this tribute to all those korean war veterans who set apart their lives. and i give respect to all those who fought in that war. >> reporter: nearly 58,000 americans died in the conflict. this week thousands of their comrades gathered at the washington wall. their once young faces have changed and so has their bitterness over the fact that it has taken so long to erect a monument to what many called the forgotten war. >> for many many years we have ended the korean war and many wars had memorials, and now we

have our own. >> reporter: north and south korea still suspicious remain poised in war. and veterans still battle with scars of war. >> 48 years i still get them. >> i had my 18th birthday under fire. there was blood and guts all the way. >> reporter: a fact of war. driven home by the truism engraved on the memorial. freedom is not free. kathleen koch, washington. just two months after the korean war started, casualties were growing. a hospital ship was getting ready to deploy to korea when it went down at the mouth of san francisco bay. it remains there to this day. in 2001, ktvu's bob mackenzie recalled the story of the wreck of the uss benevolence. >> reporter: in 1950 the u.s. military faced a new war in a place most americans knew nothing about.

korea. what was called a police action quickly mutated into a real war. fighting was fierce and casualties were high. there was a sudden desperate need for hospital ships. medical vessels that had been retired at the end of world war ii such as the u.s. s. hope were haul back into service. a hospital ship could carry medicine and supplies out to the war zone then bring back the wounded and give them immediate life saving care along the way. the hope sister ship the benevolence was also called back to service and renovated for duty. in 1950 the benevolence was returning to the bay before shipping out to korea. there were 526 people aboard. as it entered the golden gate in patchy fog the benevolence collided with the freighter mary looking back. the collision tore a hole on the side of the ship.

both ships had been going at high speeds despite the poor visible. we can't show you the benevolence today because the ship lies on the bottom of san francisco bay. but she was about the size and configuration of this one the golden bear which also served as a hospital ship and is now docked in oakland. in the confusion after the collision, people struggled to release the lifeboat but the lifeboat releasing mechanism relied on ship power and by this time the ship had no power. people tried to release them by hand but most of the crews had had no lifeboat drills. only one actually made it into the water. the captain of the benevolence had ordered the ship closed: but in the chaos that never happened. the benevolence went down and

rolled over. word went out and many boaters tried to see if they could go h help. the a 19-year-old hero coast guard recruit was not prepared for what he found. hundreds of sailors and medical workers floating in the bay obscured by fog and oncoming darkness. >> we were amazed and we had to get our boats rigged out and start picking up people and it was getting dark. and we went all night long. >> reporter: standing near the cliff house a few hundred yards from where the benevolence went town. parsons remembers looking for survivors in the dark. >> we yelled and told them asked them where they were. and they would raise their hands up over the water if they could. some of the people all they had was a light shirt, or a chef's uniform or something like that. >> the rescue effort by coast

guards men and fishermen went on through the night. remarkably of the 526 people aboard, 498 were saved. 28 lost their lives. the wreck of the benevolence left its mark as the worse crash at the bay. >> how the war of korea helped japan recover. and the cold war laboratory that grew up surrounded by the pastureland of the east bay.

tonight on a second look the korean war.

it turns out the three year military action had an unintented benefit. in 1992, ktvu's george watson recounted japan's miraculous economic recovery. >> reporter: on an august morning in 1945 japan experienced the evolution of war. bayonets and rivals, aircrafts the size of gnats made the seas vulnerable. the fire bombing of japanese cities was hell on earth. the war is finally over.

the victors are delirious with joy. america has won what was felt to be a just war. the vanquished wallow and defeat. they are hungry for food they cannot produce. they have even lost a god for the emperor now is most assuredly mortal. in what must be one of the most ironies of history, america the destroyer will become america the builder. >> the japanese economic miracle is an american creation. if it were not for the united states, if it were not for the united states market there would be no japanese economic miracle. >> reporter: the miracle would begin with the american population of japan. the japanese were at best

ambivalent. the americans were kind and general louse -- generous. since america won the war perhaps it would be a good idea to adopt the ways of the winner. schools were americanized and the american doctrine that permeated japanese schools vanished. large land holdings were broken up into 2-1/2 acre plots and deeded to farmers. the first elections were held in 1846 and for the first time women were allowed to vote. but this american inspired reformation was not born solely of the goodness of the american heart. washington felt national security in the midst of a cold war with the soviet union would be best served in the far east by a strong japan. japan was being groomed as the counter balance to the communist threat in the soviet

union. the cold threat created a void that would be the starting point of japan's economic miracle. >> this occurred within the context of the cold war. see after world war ii, the entire american society and its economy focused on the need of the cold war. so we organized our research, our developments, our production in relationship to military needs. to stop the expansion of the soviet union. and this meant then that we were diverting our resources to the production of military goods. and this of course opened the way for japan to enter and to penetrate the consumer goods market. >> when north korea crossed the 38 parallel and invaded south korea, the american led response pumped millions of the dollars into japan buying materials used to fight the war. korea was the key to japan's

recovery. >> the cold war lived to certain wars in asian involving the united states. the korean war, the vietnam war. and these two wars, stimulated the japanese economy. in 1950 you know during the korean war, the united states purchased stocks from toyota. this is what got the toyota automobile company its start. >> reporter: a more modest industrial start can be seen on this video. japanese collected the discarded empties and manufactured toy cans from the beer cans. gis paid 30-cents a piece for the toys. when we come back on a second look, the morris lab, how it came into being. and a bit later, visiting

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tonight on a second look the years after world war ii and the conflicts they brought us from korea to the cold war. here in the bay area one of the looming legacies of the cold war is the lawrence livermore lab. it built the defense necessary. >> reporter: it sits in a rolling brown valley about 40 miles east of san francisco. from the air the 800 or so acre site has a look of a small college campus. on the grown tree lined streets and buildings remind you of those old company towns. the self-sustaining communities that existed solely for the industry they maintained. but this place gated and guarded here in livermore is in

fact, one of the most technologically advanced and dangerous places on earth. today the lauren livermore plant is the defense of the most powerful nations in the world. a lofty position when you consider its humble and not too distant beginnings. this has always been cattle country. then the government came in and built that plant. by 1952 the uc radiation facility opened a modest lab. it employed 75 people and it came to be known as the lawrence livermore lab. this small group of scientists found themselves working in left over world war ii facilities. the infirmary was the first lab. their mission was one of

outstanding measures. >> of the 600 plus people that lived here nearly all of them were engaged in that specific very, very tight focused mission. >> and there was no time to waste. the cold war was very clear. creating a buffer from the west. china has turned to communism under the leadership of tomi. the war in korea was under way and the world seemed on the brink of another conflict only this time the stakes were much higher. >> there was fear that many countries would have nuclear weapons. that they would be increasingly sophisticated and there was a pace to build the most effective -- a race to build the most effective weapons.

lawrence was a noble prize winner. created teams of research, uniting different physics of chemistry, biology and engineering. what drew them all together was the lab in the area of controlled fusion. the bang that makes the universe go round. >> fusion is i think the ultimate energy source for man. it is certainly what powers the stars. and the idea of being able to make energy inexhaustible and in a very safe way appealed to me. >> reporter: the concept of the lawrence livermore lab was born in war. by necessity its first and primary mission was the development of nuclear weapons. that remains the primary mission today. but now with the end of the cold war the bomb is no longer so much in the dark forefront of the world's consciousness. no longer is nuclear

destruction considered the inevitable path to armagedon. but the threat still lingers so scientists say there is still need for a deterrent and that some argue has been the primary mission of the lauren livermore lab all along. >> i think the biggest accomplishment of the lab is we haven't had a conflict since world war ii. i think the technology that has created the system is the greatest contribution. we'll take you to the last postof the cold war. the tense border between north and south korea. mom, i invited justin over for lunch. good. no, not good. he's a vegetarian and he's going to be here in 20 minutes!

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for more than 60 year, north korea has been a thorn on the side of the south. in recent years the u.s. has

spear headed the efforts to keep north korea from acquiring nuclear weapons. all the while, troops have staredded at each other between north and south. it's a trip called the demilitarized zone. and ktvu visited the dmz and filed this report. >> reporter: this is the demilitarized zone. this 2-mile slither of land belongs to neither country. it was carved out by an uneasy truce that ended hostilities here in 1953. now a barbed wire fence separates these two countries who after years can still find no peace. the dmz is one of the most heavily armed locations on earth. some 38,000 american troops help guard this last hot spot of the cold war. all soldiers here carry heavy

weapons on duty. this officer didn't like us taking a picture of guns being checked out. tension is everywhere. >> down, down, down, down. >> reporter: this is the tip of the spear. where u.s. and south koreans stand shoulder to shoulder in defense of freedom. soldiers say that this can be dangerous zone. these soldiers are being trained. only the best make it to the dmz. >> you really need to think on your feet. >> reporter: each night communists in the mountains

send messages. this night, yankees go home. this is one of many tunnels dug from the north and discovered by the south. some are so big north korean tanks could drive through them. in just the last month, three armed north korean spies were found in the south. south korean soldiers make up the majority of armed forces guarding freedom here. every korean soldier has a black belt in at least one martial art. their iron discipline is evident even in the chow line. >> their discipline is very sturdy. they have a very specific regimen they go through while they're here before being accepted in the union. >> reporter: americans and koreans sleep, work and eat side by side. but the american koreans are thousands of miles from home. sergeant jones graduated from george washington high school in san francisco's richmond district. a world away from this tiny two

man room. he now calls home. >> what's the hardest part of life here? >> being away from everybody. everybody that you love basically. being away from your friends, being away from just every day life. >> reporter: how do you handle it? >> i go to church. i read books. i go to school. i do different things, you know. read, write. write letters. >> reporter: this soldier from san francisco is now an expert in the weapons of war. minutes up the road from jones barracks is john. half of the dmz and half in north korea. u.n. negotiators and south korea have been negotiating peace for decades.

the day we visited there was a rare ceremony. the north koreans were returns remains of an unidentified american or british soldier from the korean war. it was the only repatriation this year. no salute between united nations and korean officers. there is still hostility. but this decorated soldier who held the line many years ago is finally coming home. patriots continue to guard freedom at this final frontier of the cold war. and that's it for this week's second look. i'm frank somerville. we'll see you again next week. map