Posted on 06/25/2016 7:00:19 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
June 25, 1950: When North Korea invaded South Korea
by Dennis Jamison - Jun 25, 2016
Not so much a conflict as a global War, Korea had the United Nation allies fighting the Soviet Union, North Korea (D.P.R.K.), and People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) all for control of South Korea.
SAN JOSE, Calif., June 24, 2016 — To many Americans under the age of 50, the Korean War (previously known as the “Korean Conflict” in politically sanitized language) may not be viewed as a major military confrontation like the involvement of the United States in Vietnam. Nevertheless, this conflict was a global war. When one considers that the Soviet Union, North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – D.P.R.K.), and the newly formed Communist regime of the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) all participated in fighting to take over South Korea against the combined military forces of the United Nations, this “conflict” could have mushroomed into World War III.
On Sunday, June 25, 1950, President Harry Truman was visiting his home in Independence, Missouri. when he received a telephone call from Secretary of State Dean Acheson. He informed Truman that South Korea had been invaded by North Korea.
In the moment, President Truman seemed ready to return to Washington, D.C., but Acheson told him that the commander in chief should get some sleep, and the secretary would provide relevant updates.
The following Sunday morning, Truman visited his brother while his wife and daughter attended local church services. A second call from Acheson that afternoon prompted Truman to fly back to Washington, D.C.
World headlines quickly revealed the surprise invasion of South Korea by North Korea.
(Excerpt) Read more at commdiginews.com ...
P!
Tungil!
We stopped Communist expansionism cold.
But it wasn’t a victory.
Bump
And thus began the first war that our beloved country ever lost. Shame on our Congress.
TC
My dad’s family was fairly well-to-do in pre-war Seoul.
He’s never talked much about the bad old days there. He told me once that his family was well enough off to flee the city by bus, while many others trudged off on foot.
I think Dad did some English translating for the ROK army.
An engineer uncle of his was supposedly “kidnapped” by retreating Nork forces and never seen again.
Had Dad not left there to go study in the States, I never would have been.
Dad’s in his 90s now. We should talk more about this while we still can.
And thanks to MacArthur it wasnt a total loss. As i remember it was his battle plan and luck, that pushed N.Korea back to the 38 parallel position. Before then i think they were close to taking over S. Korea.
I live on the 38th parallel.
MacArthur got his butt kicked by the Norks, but managed to hold onto Pusan closest to Japan. With reinforcements, he managed to push them back almost to the Chinese border as the Norks couldn't maintain their supply lines, until the ChiComs came in and whipped his butt.
Inchon was the one bright spot in his performance.
Truman’s fecklessness almost lost the Cold War in the 2nd Inning (Berlin blockade was the 1st Inning).
I think Korea was even more of a “major” war than that in Vietnam. Time and time again, especially in the first year of that struggle, US and UN Forces faced defeat in detail on the battlefield.
We have not faced such an enemy capable of inflicting a battlefield defeat since the summer/winter of 1950 on the Korean Peninsula. The names of Task Force Smith, the 1st Battles of Taejon and Seoul, the Pusan perimeter, the near destruction of the 2nd Infantry Division at Kunu-Ri, the annihillation of Task Force Faith, the 120 mile retreat of 8th Army and the 80 mile withdrawal of the 1st Marine Division from the Chosen Resovoir seem but distant memories.
This is why all the lunatic talk about admitting significant numbers of women to ground combat roles riles me so much. Many of these policy making dunces seem to think we will never face such an enemy again, just lightly equipped insurgents or NVA type armies of the type before the Offensive of 1975.
I believe it was Acheson who had said that South Korea was outside our sphere of interest.
Some accounts on the war also say that North Koreans lost bulk of their experienced combat troops in the battle of attrition in Pusan perimeter. Kim Il-sung was so eager for victory and needlessly pushed their troops to their death.
A South Korean movie titled, “71: Into The Fire” came out a few years ago that is about the beginning of that conflict based on a true story.
More here about it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/71:_Into_the_Fire
Trailer.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qa1G3FAaMM8
Whole movie with subtitles.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ008InBecE
“What Price Security?” by Gordon B. Greer page 41-42
Truman and pals had been savagely slashing the US military at the time. Truman very nearly lost Korea before any shots had been fired. All the later myth making about “Give ‘em Hell Harry” ignores that he made a total botch of the early “Cold War” years.
A defacto No.2 man in S. Korea’s military regime back in 60’s was sidelined after some political infighting. With some free time in hand, he decided to tour U.S. and paid visit to Truman at his home in Missouri. During their conversation, Truman blamed Clement Attlee, then the British Prime Minister, for not finishing off Norks and Chinese troops. Attlee was worried that U.S. was putting too much focus on Korean Peninsula, while neglecting Soviet threat in Europe. His argument contributed to the push for armistice in Korea. This is from the said No.2 man’s memoir. His name is Kim Jong-pil.
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