KOREA DECEMBER 1950: A USMC howitzer defends the Hagaru-ri airstrip against Chinese Communist troops. The second photo in StrategyPage’s Korean War photo series.

RELATED: In case you missed it, the first photo in the series (tank convoy to Chosin).

NORTH KOREA, NOVEMBER 1950: Tanks from the USMC’s 1st Tank Battalion roll toward Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. Frozen Chosin became a nightmare.

Earlier this week StrategyPage.com began a Korean War memorial photo series, similar to the Battle of the Bulge series that ran from December 2016 to January 2017. This is the first photo in the series.

THE OLYMPICS WON’T LAST FOREVER: The USAF maintains its Continuous Bomber Presence (CBP) mission in U.S. Pacific Command. This B-1B was photographed in December returning from an exercise in Australia. Earlier this month three B-2s deployed to Guam (linked photo dates from September). This B-52 deployed last week (photo previously linked). Since North Korean athletes are participating in the games, everyone expects the Kim regime to behave. But what happens if Pyongyang rattles a saber? Though unlikely, it could happen. So plan for it. The Pentagon frequently assigns heavy bombers “show of force” missions. A show of force mission is one way of rattling back.

UPDATE: Three B-2s is a significant “forward deployment” of that particular aircraft. Here’s one of the B-2s now on Guam. The B-52 in the photo above arrived as part of a group of six. The B-52s and B-1Bs usually deploy as groups of anywhere from four to 12 (or more) aircraft. The bombers rotate between Guam and their bases in the U.S.

THE REAL THING FROM NOVEMBER 2001: Original U.S. Army “Horse Soldiers” photo.

B-52 ON GUAM: Good photo.

TRUMP VERSUS DURBIN?: Alligator fights python on Florida golf course. I know, Durbin is a swamp creature and Trump isn’t. But the gator is winning, hence the headline.

EMBRACE THE SUCK: The second edition is a second chance.

NO, THE U.S. DID NOT SPEND $43 MILLION ON A GAS STATION IN AFGHANISTAN: An audit shows a scandal touted by media didn’t happen.

MISSILE DEFENSE TEST IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: The Navy’s SM-3 IIA anti-missile missile “could add another layer of defense to Hawaii” against North Korean intercontinental-­range missiles. Note the qualifier “could.” The missile is effective against several the of IRBMs North Korea deploys.

VERY MUCH RELATED: Learning from Hawaii’s false missile attack fiasco. (bumped)

LEARNING FROM HAWAII’S FALSE MISSILE ATTACK FIASCO.

BREAKING FORMATION: Four USAF F-15C fighters return to Hawaii after an exercise. The F-15s belong to the California Air National Guard.

KOREA WAR OLYMPIAD: My latest Creators Syndicate column. (bumped)

TIME FOR A SECOND EMBRACE : The second edition is in print and available in Kindle.

THE 2018 KOREAN WAR OLYMPIAD.

EMBRACE THE SUCK ALERT: Yes, the second edition is in print. And there’s a Kindle version.

MORTAR IN ACTION: 501st Parachute Infantry regiment mortar fires in support of Afghan soldiers.

NEW YEARS ON THE USS RONALD REAGAN.

THE AYATOLLAH REGIME CONFRONTS A NEW REVOLT.

NEWS YOU HOPE YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO USE: North Korea’s anthrax threat.

MORE COVERAGE OR IRANIAN PROTESTS AT RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY: Note to former President Obama: It’s the regime, stupid.

IT’S THE REGIME, STUPID: Visual evidence of Iranian ballistic missile proliferation.

SPECIAL FORCES FIFTY CALIBER MACHINE GUN TRAINING: In southern Syria.

WHITE CHRISTMAS ON THE USS STENNIS

MAINE’S VIKING PENNY: The archeological debate continues. And an interesting one it is. The Norse coin was allegedly discovered in 1957 at the Goddard Site (near Brooklin, Maine).

The article says that new analytic evidence supports those who argue the coin was found at the site.

Here’s how the article describes the Goddard Site:

While no other Norse artifact has ever been found there, the site did hold surprises—artifacts attesting to an explosion of trade contact between Native American groups, stretching from the eastern Great Lakes up to Labrador. At the same time the coin shows up, for instance, archery first appears in the region.

“The site has an unspeakably dense concentration of archers,” says Bourque. Excavations have turned up thousands of arrowheads, along with mounds of pottery sherds and stones that come from hundreds of miles away. “It’s off the charts,” he says. “The real mystery is—what the hell is going on at the site at the time?”

To Bourque, the coin is a clue in this other mystery. All sorts of objects that seem out of place in 12th-century Maine show up in this one spot, as if it were site of a pre-Columbian World’s Fair for northeastern coastal America, from Lake Erie to Newfoundland. Unlike the sagas—all story, little evidence—this site is full of interesting evidence in search of a story.

A trade fair. OK. But it’s Maine, so it could have been a pre-Colombian L.L. Bean.

DISTANTLY RELATED: The Gault Site near Florence, Texas was a source of high-quality flint. I heard a lecture a few years ago where the archeologist said he suspected the Gault Site was part of a trade network.

5TH FLEET SANTA SENDING SPECIAL GIFTS: Santa Claus on the USS Theodore Roosevelt launches a Super Hornet.