Korean War - North Texas Vets - Some Gave All, All Gave Some

Korean War History

The invasion of South Korea by North Korea came as a complete surprise to the US; Dean Rusk of the State Department had told Congress on June 20 that no war was likely. However, a CIA report in early March had predicted a June invasion. US officials had previously publicly stated that America would not fight over Korea, and that the country was outside of American concern in the Pacific. This attitude may have encouraged the North or given Syngman Rhee in the South a motive to gain US support.

On hearing of the invasion, Truman agreed with his advisors to use US air strikes, unilaterally, against the North Korean forces. He also ordered the Seventh Fleet to protect Formosa. The US gained a United Nations mandate for action because the Soviets were boycotting the Security Council while the (Nationalist controlled) Republic of China held the Chinese seat. Without the Soviet veto and with only Yugoslavia abstaining, the UN voted to aid South Korea.

The US would have fought whatever the outcome, and Douglas MacArthur later told Congress "I had no connection with the UN whatsoever". US forces were eventually joined during the conflict by troops from fifteen other UN members: Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Greece, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, Colombia, the Philippines, Belgium, and Luxembourg. (Truman would later take harsh criticism for not obtaining a declaration of war from Congress before sending troops to Korea. Thus, "Truman's War" was said by some to have violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the United States Constitution.)

The US forces were suffering from demobilization which had continued since 1945. Excluding the Marines, the infantry divisions sent to Korea were at 40% of paper strength, and the majority of their equipment was found to be useless.

The Americans organized Task Force Smith, and on July 5 engaged in the first North Korean/American clash of the war.

In initial stages of the war, North Korea's troops overwhelmed South Korean forces and drove them to a small area in the far South around the city of Pusan. This became a desperate holding action called the Pusan Perimeter. Upon the entrance of US and UN forces, American General Douglas MacArthur, as UN commander in chief for Korea, ordered an invasion far behind the North Korean troops at Inchon. United Nations troops drove the North Koreans back past the 38th parallel and continued on toward the Yalu River border of North Korea and China. This brought the communist Chinese into the war.

The communist Chinese had issued warnings that they would react if the UN forces encroached on the frontier at the Yalu River. Mao sought Soviet aid and saw intervention as essentially defensive. "If we allow the US to occupy all of Korea... we must be prepared for the US to declare... war with China", he told Stalin. Zhou Enlai was sent to Moscow to add force to Mao's cabled arguments.

Mao delayed his forces while waiting for Russian help, and the planned attack was thus postponed from 13 October to 19 October. Soviet assistance was limited to providing air support no nearer than sixty miles (96 km) to the battlefront. The MiG-15s in PRC colors were an unpleasant surprise to the UN pilots; they held local air superiority against the F-80 Shooting Stars until the newer F-86 Sabers were deployed. The Soviet role was known to the US but they kept quiet as to avoid any international and potential nuclear incidents.

A Chinese assault beginning on October 19, 1950, under the command of General Peng Dehuai with 380,000 People's Liberation Army troops repelled the United Nations troops back to the 38th parallel, the pre-conflict border. The Chinese assault caught US troops by surprise, as war between PRC and the United States had not been declared. The United States XX Corp retreat was the longest retreat of a US unit in history. The Marines, on the northern side of the peninsula, faired better, mainly due to better training and discipline.

On January 4, 1951, communist Chinese and North Korean forces captured Seoul. The battle of Chosin Reservoir in winter was a terrible defeat for the United Nations troops, who were mainly American Marines. The situation was such that MacArthur mentioned that atomic weapons may be used, much to the alarm of American allies.

MacArthur was removed from command by President Harry S. Truman in 1951. The reasons for this are many, and well documented. They include MacArthur meeting with Chiang Kai-shek in the role of a US diplomat. MacArthur also was wrong at Guam when President Truman asked him specifically about Chinese troop buildup near the Korean border. Furthermore, MacArthur openly criticized the Commander in Chief during press conferences. He also was rude, and flippant when speaking to Truman.

The rest of the war involved little territory change and lengthy peace negotiations (which started in Kaesong on July 10 of the same year). A cease-fire established a demilitarized zone (DMZ) around the 38th parallel, which is still defended today by North Korean troops on one side and South Korean and American troops on the other. No peace treaty has yet been signed, fifty years later. Newly-elected US President Dwight D. Eisenhower on November 29, 1952 fulfilled a campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what could be done to end the conflict.

Korea was officially a police action, not a war, in US parlance. 600,000 Koreans had died and perhaps a million Chinese. US troops suffered about 50,000 fatalities, roughly equal to the Vietnam conflict, but in a much shorter time. Later neglect of remembrance of this war, in favor of the Vietnam War, World War I and II, has caused the Korean War to be called the Forgotten War or the Unknown War.

The war was instrumental in re-energizing the US military-industrial complex from their post-war slump. The defense budget was boosted to $50 billion, the Army was doubled in size, as was the number of Air Groups, and they were deployed beyond American soil in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia, including Vietnam, where covert aid to the French was made overt. The Cold War became a much stronger state of mind for American policy makers.

Japan was a key beneficiary of the war. The US material requirements were organized through a Special Procurements system, which allowed for local purchasing without the complex Pentagon procurement system. Over $3.5 billion was spent with Japanese companies, peaking at $809 million in 1953, and still significant in 1955. Other foreign non-military investment was less than 5% of this.

US Aid Counterpart Funds gave Japan, by 1956, the most modern shipyards in the world and a 26% share in launched tonnage. Left-wing organizations were closed down, and the zaibatsu went from being distrusted to being encouraged - Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Sumitomo were amongst the zaibatsu that thrived, not only on orders from the military but through American industrial experts, including W. Edwards Deming. Japanese manufacturing grew by 50% between March 1950 and 1951.

By 1952, pre-war standards of living were regained and output was twice the level of 1949. The 1951 peace treaty returned Japanese sovereignty (excluding Okinawa and the Ryukyu islands) and the non-belligerency clause in the constitution was being considered a "mistake" by 1953.

Korean War Facts

6.8 million served on active-duty during the Korean War
1.8 million served during period of hostilities 36,940 died in theater during the war
4,793 died while missing in action
92,100 service members were wounded in theater, some several times
8,176 are still listed as missing in action 7,140 were POWs of whom 4,418 returned
131 Korean War participants received the Medal of Honor
The median age of Korean War veterans (2003) is 69
California has the highest number of Korean Veterans
18% of Koran War era veterans did not have a high school diploma
46% of American casualties were sustained between July 1951 and July 1953
16% of veterans serviced by Veteran Hospitals are Korean veterans
172,600 Korean veterans receive service-connected compensation
The Second Infantry Division suffered the largest number killed: 7,094
1.8 million Korean veterans used VA Home Loans to buy their first house
Nearly 79,000 Koran veterans received disabled vocational rehabilitation
The First Marine Division suffered the largest number wounded; 25,864
There are more than 40,000 Internet web sites related to the Korean War
More than 60,000 headstones have been provided for Korean War veterans
Fewer than 21% of Korean veterans are associated with any reunion or military association

Korean War Summary

Koreans welcomed the defeat of Japan in World War II with great joy and relief. However, their joy was short-lived. Liberation did not bring the independence for which the Koreans had fought so hard, but the inception of ideological conflict in a divided country.

The efforts of the Koreans to establish and independent government were frustrated by the United States in the South and the occupation of the North by the Soviet Union.

In November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution which called for a general election under the supervision of the UN Commission. However, the Soviet Union refused to comply with the UN resolution and denied the UN Commission access to the northern part of Korea. The UN Assembly adopted a new resolution calling for elections in areas accessible to the UN Commission.

The first elections in Korea took place on May 10, 1948, in the area south of the 38th parallel, and the government of the Republic of Korea was inaugurated on August 15,. A Communist regime was set up in the North under Kim Il-sung, a Stalinist ruler with absolute power.

On June 25, 1950, North Korea launched an unprovoked full-scale invasion of the South and started a war that lasted three years. As the Communist North Koreans campaigned to unify the country by force, the entire land was devastated and millions of people were left homeless and separated from their families. A cease-fire was signed in July 1953, and both sides have since gone through enormous changes in their efforts at rehabilitation.

Reunification remains the long-cherished but elusive goal of all Koreans on both sides of the vigilantly guarded Military Demarcation Line. The fall of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and the unification of Germany raised expectations in Korea the unification could be achieved in the not very distant future.

Some progress in promoting trust and cooperation between the two halves of the peninsula was made in recent years. However, the threat of North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons development program has stood in the way of real forward movement, and there is still a long bumpy road before the proposed Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) project for the construction of light water nuclear reactors gets under way in the North and other North Korean nuclear issues are completely settled.

Korean War Timeline

1950

June 25	North Korea invades South Korea with 135,000 men, initiating the Korean War.
June 27	President Harry S. Truman deploys the 7th Fleet to waters off Taiwan to prevent the spread of the conflict in Korea to other Far East waters.
June 27	First air victory of the war. A 68th All-Weather Squadron F-82 shoots down a North Korean Yak fighter. Two more enemy planes are destroyed in this air battle.
June 29	Fifth Air Force's 3rd Bombardment Group sends 18 B-26 Invader light bombers against Heijo Airfield near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang: 25 enemy aircraft are destroyed on the ground; one Yak fighter is shot down.
July 1	First U.S. infantry unit arrives in Korea: 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. Along with Battery A of the 52nd Field Artillery Battalion, it comprises Task Force Smith.
July 2	Off Chumunjin, on Korea's east coast, the USS Juneau helps destroy three of four attacking North Korean torpedo boats.
July 5	Battle of Osan. First U.S. ground action of the war: Task Force Smith (406 infantrymen and 134 artillerymen) engages and delays advancing North Korean People's Army (NKPA) units.
July 6	Fifty-seven Army nurses arrive in Pusan, Korea. They helped establish a hospital for the wounded. Two days later, on July 8, twelve Army nurses moved forward with a mobile Army surgical hospital (MASH) to Taejon.
Aug. 4 - Sept. 16	16 84,478 U.S. troops participate in the defense of the Pusan Perimeter, including the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division, 2nd, 24th, and 25th Infantry Divisions, and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade.
Sept. 15	Inchon Landing (Operation CHROMITE). U.S. and allied forces land U.S. Marines and U.S. Army troops at Inchon.
Sept. 15-30	Inchon Operation and Liberation of Seoul. U.S. and allies re-capture Seoul on Sept. 27 after a week of fighting.
Sept. 16-27	Pusan Perimeter breakout. Eighth U.S. Army (EUSA) breaks out of the Pusan Perimeter. Four U.S. divisions (1st Cavalry Division, 2nd, 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions) participate.
Oct 20	War's first airborne operation. Seventy-one C-119s and 40 C-47s of the Far East Air Force's (FEAF) Combat Cargo Command drop 2,860 paratroopers of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team (RCT) at Sukch'on and Sunch'on north of Pyongyang. Only one trooper killed and 36 injured in jump. Paratroopers, in association with ground forces driving north, kill or capture about 6,000 North Koreans during this operation.
Oct. 25	Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launch their first phase offensive of the Korean War.
Nov. 8	First all-jet combat in history. An F-80 Shooting Star of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing shoots down a MiG-15 fighter near Sinuiju in a 30-second dogfight.
Nov. 8-26	FEAF B-29s and Navy aircraft attack Yalu River bridges in attempt to isolate the battlefield.
Nov. 25 - Dec. 15	CCF Counteroffensive in North Korea. Seven U.S. divisions participate (1st Marine Division, U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions).
Nov. 27 - Dec. 9	Battle of the Changjin (Chosin) Reservoir. The encircled 1st Marine Division fights its way southward from the Chosin Reservoir to the port city of Hungnam.
Dec. 24	Hungnam Operation is complete—the U.S. Navy evacuates 105,000 U.S. and Republic of Korea (ROK) forces.

1951

Jan. 1-15	Third Phase CCF Offensive: 500,000 enemy troops push U.N. forces 50 miles south of the 38th Parallel and recapture Seoul.
Feb. 1	Battle of the Twin Tunnels. The 23rd Infantry Regiment (2nd Infantry Division), French Battalion and 347th Field Artillery Battalion confront several CCF regiments, killing at least 1,300 Chinese.
Feb. 13-15	Battle of Chipyong-ni. First mass assault by CCF: 18,000 troops. CCF offensive contained by 23rd Regiment (2nd Infantry Division), French Battalion, 1st Ranger Company, 37th Field Artillery Battalion, and Battery B of the 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion.
Feb. 16, 1951 - July 27, 1953	Siege of Wonsan. Task Force 95 (U.N. Blockade and Escort Force) blockades Wonsan Harbor. An unprecedented 861-day naval operation—it is the longest effective siege of a port in U.S. Navy history.
March 7 - April 4	Operation RIPPER. Drives the Communists back to the 38th Parallel and retakes Seoul. Seven U.S. divisions participate (U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 24th, and 25th Infantry Divisions, and the 1st Marine Division.)
March 23	Operation TOMAHAWK. One hundred twenty C-119s and C-46s drop 3,437 paratroopers of the 187th Regimental Combat Team near Munsan-ni in second largest airborne operation of the war.
April 12	War's first major aerial duel. More than 40 MiG-15s attack a B-29 formation, shooting down two bombers. Eleven of the MIGs are destroyed, seven by B-29 gunners.
April 22-29	CCF First Spring Offensive. Largest single battle of the Korean War. CCF launch their Spring Offensive with 250,000 men in 27 divisions. Five U.S. Army divisions (2nd, 3rd, 7th, 24th, 25th) participate.
May 17-22	CCF Second Spring Offensive. Four U.S. divisions (U.S. Army's 2nd, 3rd and 25th Infantry Divisions, and the 1st Marine Division) participate.
May 20 - Sept. 20	Operation STRANGLE. Massive all-out air interdiction campaign 20 is carried out by FEAF, TF 77 and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW).
June 10-16	Battle for the Punchbowl (vicinity Hwach'on Reservoir). The 1st Marine Division encounters heavy North Korean resistance, but succeeds in taking its objective.
Aug. 18 - Sept. 5	Battle of Bloody Ridge (Hill 983). The 15th Field Artillery Battalion sets a record by firing 14,425 rounds in 24 hours.
Sept. 13 - Oct 15	Battle of Heartbreak Ridge (Hill 931). The 2nd Infantry Division seizes Heartbreak Ridge.
Sept. 21	Operation SUMMIT. A company of 228 Marines is lifted by 12 Sikorsky S-55s in the first helicopter deployment of a combat unit.
Nov. 30	In a rare air battle with Communist bombers, 31 Sabers knock down eight Tu-2 bombers, three La-9 propeller-driven fighters, and one MiG-15.
July 10 - Nov. 27	Korean War truce talks began July 10, 1951. Although the talks started slowly, on Nov. 27, 1951, the two sides agreed on the 38th Parallel as the line of demarcation and almost immediately military operations slowed down. When Gen. Mark Clark assumed command of U.N. forces in Korea, on May 12, 1952, he was confronted with a military deadlock on the front lines, stalled Armistice negotiations, and a violent prisoner of war situation on the island of Koje-do, off the southern coast of South Korea. Clark believed that the Communists only understood force and stepped up military pressure on the enemy to break the stalemate at Panmunjom.

1952

May 25	Raid on Agok. Nine tanks of the 245th Tank Battalion, 45th Infantry Division, retaliate for three raids on the division's sector.
June 6-14	Operation COUNTER. The 45th Infantry Division launches a two-phased series of attacks to establish 11 patrol bases in the Old Baldy area. Second and 3rd Battalions, 180th Infantry Regiment, fight fiercely for Outpost Eerie on Hill 191, which is counterattacked by two Chinese battalions.
July 17 - Aug. 4	Battle for Old Baldy (Hill 266).
July 23	FEAF and Navy planes launch massive air strikes against North Korea's hydroelectric power grid, causing an almost complete blackout for more than two weeks. Results of strikes extend into northeast China, which loses nearly 25 percent of its electrical requirements.
Aug. 12-16 - Sept. 5-15	Battle of Bunker Hill (Hill 122). First major Marine ground action in western Korea is fought by the 1st Marine Division.
Aug. 29	War's largest air raid. FEAF and carrier planes bomb Pyongyang in a 1,403-sortie assault—the largest single-day raid of the war.
Sept. 1	Largest all-Navy raid. A total of 144 planes from three carriers destroy the oil refinery at Aoji, North Korea.
Sept. 17-24	Outpost Kelly. The 65th Infantry Regiment (3rd Infantry Division) is besieged by CCF.
Oct. 9 - July 1953	"Cherokee" Strikes. Seventh Fleet bombing campaign against battlefront enemy supply facilities.
Oct. 14-25	Operation SHOWDOWN/Battle of Hill 598 (Sniper Ridge). 7th Infantry Division battles the Chinese near Kumhwa, the right leg of the Iron Triangle.
Oct. 26-28	Battle of the Hook.
Nov. 3	Hill 851, Heartbreak Ridge area, held by the 2nd Battalion, 160th Infantry Regiment (40th Infantry Division)
Dec. 25	T-Bone Hill. The 38th Infantry Regiment (2nd Infantry Division) repels Chinese forces during an intense battle

1953

Jan 25	Operation SMACK. Assault on Spud Hill by elements of the 31st Infantry Regiment (7th Infantry Division).
March 17	Hill 355 (Little Gibraltar), held by the 9th Infantry Regiment (2nd Infantry Division), is assaulted by Chinese.
March 23-24	Old Baldy/Pork Chop Complex. Held by 31st Infantry Regiment (7th Infantry Division). The 32nd Regiment (7th Infantry Division) relieves the 31st.
March 26-30	Outposts at the Nevada cities (Vegas-Reno-Carson), held by the 5th Marine Regiment, come under heavy attack. A Chinese regiment is destroyed.
April 16-18	Battle of Pork Chop Hill. The 17th and 31st Infantry Regiments (7th Infantry Division) hit hard and suffer heavy casualties.
April 20-26	Operation Little Switch exchanges sick and wounded POWs, including 149 Americans.
May 13	Raid on Toksan Dam. A dramatic strike by 58th Fighter-Bomber Wing F-84s destroys a major irrigation system. Five miles of valuable rice crops are scoured and miles of highways and railroad tracks are destroyed. Further attacks on irrigation dams follow over the next two weeks.
June 15	USS Princeton launches 184 sorties, establishing a single-day Korean War record for offensive sorties flown from a carrier.
June 15	Navy and Marine Corps aircraft fly 910 sorties—the highest combined number for a single day.
June 30	FEAF Sabers destroy 16 MiGs, the largest number shot down in one day.
July 6-10	Battle of Pork Chop Hill. The 7th Infantry Division is ordered to evacuate its defensive positions after five days of fighting.
July 13-20	Battle of Kumsong River Salient. Last Communist offensive. CCF launches a six-division attack partly directed at the U.S. IX Corps (3rd, 40th, 45th Infantry Divisions). The 187th RCT is attached to 2nd Infantry Division during the fighting.
July 24-26	Final U.S. ground combat. Heavy enemy (3,000 men) attack is launched in the Berlin Complex ("Boulder City") area held by the 7th and 1st Marine Regiments. Last Marine ground actions of the war are fought on Hills 111 and 119.
July 27	Last air kill of the war. F-86 pilot downs an enemy transport near the Manchurian border.
July 27	The United States, North Korea and China sign an armistice, which ends the war but fails to bring about a permanent peace. To date, the Republic of Korea (South) and Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (North) have not signed a peace treaty. A total of 33,651 service members died in battle during the Korean War; 27,709 U.S. Army; 4,269 U.S. Marines; 1,198 U.S. Air Force; and 475 U.S. Navy. 7,140 service members became prisoners of war.