Project Overview

The Horry County Legacy Project was created under Coastal Carolina University’s Prince Fellows program, and its purpose is to uncover the history of Horry County, South Carolina during the Korean War. The Korean War is often referred to as the forgotten war, yet further research has indicated that the conflict is much more of a ignored war than a forgotten war. A common saying amongst historians is ‘that all history is local history somewhere,’ and that is surely the truth for Horry County during the Korean War. The conflict had a profound affect on the people of Horry County, and the war deeply impacted Horry County’s history, culture, identity, and legacy since the onset of the war in June, 1950. From the numerous local families that lost their sons in the conflict, to Korean War veterans who survived the conflict and became pillars of the community (some of whom are still active in the community) it becomes clear that the war had a direct impact on Horry County that is easily overlooked, yet overwhelmingly present. Closer examination has shown that the Korean War directly impacted the local economy, politics, public opinion, race relations, culture, and education extensively. In the early 1950s Horry County was going through an incredibly transformational period where many of the foundational characteristics of the county and its people forged. The region was increasingly entering the modern age with greater access to modern technologies like electricity, heating and air conditioning, telecommunications, radio, television, automobiles, home appliances, and mechanized farm equipment that accelerated the development of the area. There was a steady increase in population bringing in people from across the nation, and even drawing in people from all over the globe including nations like Germany and Korea. This influx of individuals and families to the area under the backdrop of the Korean War brought forth rapid change to most aspects of local life, yet the war’s impact on local politics, culture, and the economy were the most severe. The burden of war fell heavily on the people of Horry County with heavy taxation, and national politics stirring up great political, and cultural change on a local level. Up until the outbreak of the Korean War, South Carolina, and Horry County in particular retained a long history of supporting and upholding Democratic ideals. Yet, President Harry Truman (D), and his administration soured local sentiments towards the Democratic Party contributing to a slow, but steady shift towards Republicanism. Generally speaking one of the biggest issues that the electorate of Horry County took issue with regarding the Truman administration was its push towards an expansion of civil rights and liberties for racial minorities. It is quite evident that President Truman’s executive order desegregating the Armed Forces, and the fight for equity, equality, and representation in the military mirrored the struggle for the same virtues on the Horry County home front. There was growing demand amongst the local minority population for equality whenever, and wherever it was attainable, and the battleground for this movement towards equality among races was South Carolina’s education system. Scholars have often cited that the NAACP’s campaign against racial segregation in the education system was in reaction to the desegregation of the military, for even the President himself was calling for “equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.” The same approach could and should be applied to the public education system, and it was. Despite the rapid change that was occurring within Horry County during the conflict in Korea some of the most profound impacts of the Korean War began after it ended. Many local Korean War veterans chose to remain in Horry County after their discharge from service, and the impact that they had of the community is arguably more impactful than all of the heretofore mentioned factors combined. Local veterans like ‘Fat’ Harold Bessent who founded the North Myrtle Beach nightclubs Fat Harold’s Beach Club, Spanish Galleon Night Club, and Harold’s on the Ocean among others chose to chase the American Dream trotting down the path entrepreneurship not only bringing wealth to the community, but also heavily impacting the local culture and identity. The history of Horry County in conjunction with the Korean War is rich, expansive, and undeniably continues to have ripple affects into the present day. The Korean War may have ended in an armistice in 1953, but no formal end to the war was hashed out between North and South Korea. To this very day the decades old conflict could reignite at a moment’s notice, and the United States remain heavily involved on the Korean peninsula. Most Americans are acutely aware of North Korea’s presence on the world state, since it is not an uncommon occurrence for North/South Korea to make headlines across the United States. Nearly, every American is familiar with the Kim regime, and its seemingly routine ballistic missile launches, harsh labor camps, uncanny isolation, the imprisonment and murder of American Otto Warmbier, the daring defection of Oh Chong-song in 2017, and the Trump-Kim summits. Very recently the world observed, for the first time in history, an American President enter North Korea, and the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un enter South Korea. The Korean War maintains a seemingly everlasting presence in the American worldview, and international current events, so this conflict cannot merely be a forgotten war. This conflict continues into the modern day, and the ever-present impacts of the war clearly demonstrates that the conflict in Korea is not at all forgotten.