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General Douglas MacArthur ordered the Eighth Army’s 24th Infantry Division from Ford Wood, Japan, to Pusan, Korea, after President Harry S. Truman committed US ground forces to stop the North Korean invasion of South Korea. The July 1, 1950, operations order provided for a delaying force to go to Pusan, Korea, by air immediately. Named for its commander, LTC Charles B. "Brad" Smith, Task Force Smith was assembled June 30 and then trucked to C-54 aircraft at nearby Itazuke Air Base for flight beginning at 0845 on July 1. This initial commitment of US ground troops in the Korean War consisted of two understrength rifle companies, half a battalion headquarters company, half of a communications platoon, a 75-mm recoilless rifle platoon with two guns, and two 4.2-inch mortars. Also, the two rifle companies had six 2.36-inch bazooka teams and four 60-mm mortars. Each man carried 120 rounds of .30-caliber ammunition and two days of C-Rations.

Only five years after the end of World War II, less than one-sixth of Task Force Smith had combat experience. After the 406 men arrived at Pusan, Task Force Smith was trucked through cheering crowds to the train station for its trip north. This send-off in South Korea boosted the already high morale of the soldiers who thought that the North Koreans would stop in the face of the "invincible" US Army. LTC Smith chose an excellent infantry position three miles north of Osan to set up a road block for the first engagement on the morning of July 5, but he did not have the firepower to stop the Soviet-made T-34/85 tanks. General MacArthur had called this small, ill-equipped unit an "arrogant display of strength." Like everyone else, the general thought that the mere presence of US troops would "chill the enemy commander into taking precautionary and time-consuming" actions.

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

www.quartermaster.army.mil

On June 25, 1950, communist North Korea invaded their southern neighbor, the Republic of Korea. After their artificial separation following World War II, both nations had contemplated reunification by way of invasion, and border clashes were common. Knowing this and underestimating the North Korean army, the United States refused to supply the South with heavy weapons, including tanks and artillery. The ROK Army initially offered stiff resistance, but it lost vital battles north of Seoul and lost many men and important equipment when a bridge over the Han was prematurely blown in Seoul.

US defense spending had reached a modern day low after World War. The military was ill-prepared and those in authority embaced questionable doctrines. The usefulness of the tank in World War II had been lost to those in charge, and the Army had only a single armored division. The weaponry of World War II had not been significantly improved upon. Aircraft carriers and amphibious warfare were thought obsolete in the nuclear age, and the A-Bomb was seen as a serious deterent to ANY enemy aggression.

In Japan, US occupation forces were prepared for quick shipment to Korea. A 540 man battalion sized task force of the 24th Infantry Division under Lt. Col. Charles Smith was rushed to Korea on transport planes and moved north through hordes of refugees and retreating ROK Army units to block the enemy advance. They were told the communists would flee at the sight of American soldiers.

Early on the morning of July 5th, Task Force Smith took up position a mile long just north of Osan on ridge 300 feet above the plain to the north. A platoon of B Company occupied a knob to the west of the road while the other two platoons as well as the two platoons of C Company occupied the ridge to the east. Two mortar platoons were 400 yards to the rear and five 105 mm howitzers were 2,000 yards to the rear.

At around 7:00 AM the approaching enemy was sighted, and at 8:16 the artillery began firing on the advancing enemy. Leading the North Korean advance was the 107th Armored Brigade equipped with T-34 tanks. Not bothering to deploy, the tanks advanced straight up the road toward the American position.

Fire from two American 75 mm recoilless rifles did not damage the advancing T-34s. No anti-tank mines had been brought along, and anti-tank guns, a vital part of World War II armies, were no longer used. As the tanks continued, the Americans opened up with the 2.36 inch bazookas. These weapons were quickly obsolete in World War II and predictably could not penetrate the T-34s' frontal armor. They were even of questionable use against the weaker areas of the tanks. One of the 105 mm howitzers fired HEAT rounds as the tanks crested the ridge, and the front two tanks were disabled. The remaining 33 tanks continued down the road, firing as they went. The tanks tore up the communications wire as they went and bypassed the howitzers, whose rounds stopped only three of the T-34s.

Before noon, 1,000 men in two regiments of the North Korean 4th Division supported by three tanks deployed to attack the ridge. The Americans held off attacks to their front, but the enemy began moving around both flanks. At 12:30 PM, the North Koreans occupied a hill overlooking the American position west of the road, so the American platoon fell back to the east side. Running low on ammunition and with the enemy around both flanks, Smith ordered a withdrawal at 2:30. The retreat was confused and the guns were abandoned. Although they had inflicted 127 casualties, the task force suffered 181 casualties and was so scattered it would be largely ineffective. Over the coming months, additional US troops were sent to Korea, and the battlelines finally stabilized at the Pusan Perimeter, where UN troops fought off desperate human wave attacks. In September, landings at Inchon would turn the tide in favor of the UN.

The battle at Osan is a low point in American history. It symbolizes the price in blood our troops pay for ill preparedness and inadequate defense spending. Has America learned this lesson? Other than Korean War veterans, how many people have heard of Task Force Smith?

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Today's classic warship, Montana (BB-51)

South Dakota class battleship
Displacement. 43,200 t.
Lenght. 684' 0""
Beam. 105' 0"
Draft. 33' 0"
Speed. 23.0 k.
Armament. 12 16"; 16 6"

Montana, a 43,200-ton South Dakota class battleship, was laid down at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, in September 1920. Her construction was suspended in February 1922, under the terms of the Washington Naval Limitations Treaty, and she was subsequently formally cancelled. Stricken from the Navy List and sold in October-November 1923, her hull was scrapped on the building ways.

Battleship trivia: Montana is the only one of the 48 contiguous states for which no commissioned battleship has been named.

On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on January 10:
1502 Hendrik Niclaes German/Dutch merchant/cult leader ('Family of Love')
1628 Jan Theunisz Blanckerhoff [Jan Maet], seascape painter)
1635 Willem à Brakel Frisian theologist (Reasonable religion)
1638 Niels Stensen Danish astronomer
1738 Ethan Allen Revolutionary War fighter (led the Green Mountain Boys)
1747 Abraham L Breguet French clock maker
1768 James Varicick 1st AME Zion Bishop
1769 Michel Ney French marshal (Waterloo)
1780 M Heinrich C Lichtenstein German zoologist
1815 Alexander Brydie Dyer Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1874
1815 Thomas Williams Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1862
1825 Alexander Travis Hawthorn Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1899
1834 John Acton English historian/MP
1864 George Washington Carver agricultural scientist (estimate date - actual birthdate unknown)
1876 Johannes W "Jan" Eisenloeffel Dutch goldsmith
1877 Frederick Gardner Cottrell inventor (electrostatic precipitator)
1880 Grock [Adrien Wettach], Swiss clown/circus director
1880 Manuel Azaña y Díaz PM/President of 2nd Spanish republic (1936-39)
1883 Francis X Bushman Norfolk VA, silent film actor (Ben Hur, Spy's Defeat)
1892 Dumas Malone Mississippi, historian (Jefferson & His Time)
1898 Sergei M Eisenstein Russian director (Alexandr Nevski)
1904 Ray Bolger Dorchester MA, actor/dancer (Wizard of Oz)
1908 Bernard Lee London England, actor (M in James Bond movies)
1917 Jerry Wexler music producer (Aretha Franklin/Bob Dylan)
1927 Gisele MacKenzie Winnipeg Manitoba, singer/actress (Your Hit Parade)
1930 Roy E Disney CEO (Disney)
1935 Ronnie (the Hawk) Hawkins Ark, rocker (Who Do You Love?)
1938 Willie "Stretch" McCovey 1st baseman (San Francisco Giant #44)
1939 Sal Mineo New York City NY, actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause)
1942 Walter Hill director (48 Hours, Extreme Prejudice)
1943 Jim Croce Philadelphia PA, singer/songwriter (Time in a Bottle, Bad Bad Leroy Brown)
1945 Rod Stewart London England, singer (Maggie Mae, Da Ya Think I'm Sexy)
1948 Donald Fagen Passaic NJ, rock vocalist/keyboardist (Steely Dan-Peg)
1948 William Sanderson Memphis TN, actor (Larry-Newhart, Deuce-Babylon 5, Blade Runner)
1949 Teresa Graves Houston TX, actress (Laugh-in, Get Christie Love)
1949 George Foreman Marshall TX, world heavyweight boxing champ (1973-74, 95)
1953 Bobby Rahal Indy-car racer (over 15 wins)
1968 Lyle Menendez NY, accused of killing his parents (Menendez Brothers)

Deaths which occurred on January 10:
0681 Agatho Sicilian pope (678-81), dies
0866 Lin-chi I-hsuan [J Rinzai Gigen], Zen teacher, dies
0976 John I Tzimisces co-emperor of Byzantium (969-76), dies at 51
1276 Gregorius X [Tedaldo Visconti], pope, dies
1542 Gerardus Noviomagus [Gerrit Geldenhauer], Dutch theologist, die at 59
1645 William Laud Archbishop of Canterbury, beheaded for treason at 71
1778 Carolus Linnæus "Carl von Linné" Swedish botanist/explorer/"Father of Taxonomy", dies at 70
1824 Victor Emanuel I king of Sardinia (1802-21), dies at 64
1862 Samuel Colt inventor (6 shot revolver), dies at 47
1917 Buffalo Bill Cody army scout & Indian fighter, dies
1934 Marinus van der Lubbe Dutch communist, beheaded in Berlin at 24
1941 Joseph Schmidlin German church historian, murdered at 67
1961 Dashiell Hammett author (Maltese Falcon, Thin Man), dies from throat cancer at 66
1971 Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel French fashion designer, dies at 87
1976 Chester Arthur Burnett(Howlin' Wolf) US blues pianist/harmonica player, dies at 65
1978 John D Rockefeller III US billionaire/philanthropist, dies at 71
1978 Zeb Turner country-rock performer (Chew Tobacco Rag), dies at 62
1980 George Meany labor leader, dies at 85
1981 Richard Boone actor (Paladin-Have Gun Will Travel), dies at 63
1982 Paul Lynde comedian/actor (Uncle Arthur-Bewitched, Bye Bye Birdie, Bewitched), dies at 55
1996 Alexander Robertus organic chemist, dies at 88
1996 Arthur Sydney Martin spycatcher, dies at 81

Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1967 GAULEY JAMES P.---RINGWOOD OK.
1967 STOVES MERRITT III---BIRMINGHAM AL.
1968 HOPPER EARL P. JR.---GLENDALE AZ.
[EJECTION PROBLEMS CRASH]
1968 HALL KEITH N.---GRAND FORKS ND
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1969 SPROTT ARTHUR R. JR.---DELRAY BEACH FL.
1970 ALLEN WAYNE C.---TEWKSBURY MA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 09/90 ID'D 04/91]
1970 CROSBY HERBERT C.---GA
1970 HOWES GEORGE A.---KNOX IN.
1973 CLARK ROBERT A.---NORTH HOLLYWOOD CA.*
1973 MC CORMICK MICHAEL T.---HONOLULU HI.
*Remains ID'd
Servicemen Missing from Vietnam War Identified
United States Department of Defense January 9, 2004 DoD
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1054904/posts?page=2#2

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0049 -BC- Julius Cesar crosses the Rubicon, invades Italy
0236 St Fabian begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0681 St Agatho ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1072 Robert Guiscard conquers Palermo
1356 German emperor Charles I delegates Golden Degree
1429 Order of the Golden Fleece established in Austria-Hungary & Spain
1430 Duke Philip the Good marries Isabella of Portugal
1514 Complutensian New Testament in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek & Latin finished
1550 1st sitting of "Vurige Chamber" in Paris
1642 King Charles I & family flee London for Oxford
1663 King Charles II affirms charter of Royal African Company
1806 Dutch in Cape Town, South African surrender to the British
1810 French church annuls marriage of Napoleon I & Joséphine
1811 Louisiana slaves rebel in 2 parishes
1839 Tea from India 1st arrives in UK
1840 Penny Post mail system started
1845 Poets Elizabeth Barrett & Robert Browning begin corresponding
1861 US forts & property seized by Mississippi
1861 Florida becomes 3rd state to secede from US
1861 Fort Jackson & Fort Philip are taken over by Los Angeles state troops
1862 Battle of Big Sandy River KY (Middle Creek)
1862 Battle of Romney WV
1863 1st underground railway opens in London
1863 General McClernand's Union troops surround Fort Hindman AR
1863 January-uprising begins in Poland
1870 Georgia legislature reconvenes
1870 John D Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil
1878 US Senate proposes female suffrage
1889 Ivory Coast declared a protectorate of France
1890 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Sapientiae Christianae
1893 Richard Drigo's ballet "The Magic Flute" premieres, St Petersburg
1901 Oil discovered at Spindletop claim near Beaumont, Texas
1911 1st photo in US taken from an airplane, San Diego
1912 World's 1st flying boat's maiden flight, (Glenn Curtiss in NY)
1916 Russian offensive in Kaukasus
1920 League of Nations' 1st meeting, Treaty of Versailles in effect
1923 Last US troops leave Rhineland (Germany)
1923 Lithuania seizes & annexes country of Memel
1925 Miriam (Ma) Ferguson sworn in as Texas Governor, nation's 2nd woman governor
1927 Fritz Lang's Metropolis premieres
1928 Soviet Union orders exile of Leon Trotsky
1935 Actress Mary Pickford marries actor Douglas Fairbanks
1941 Joseph Kesselring's "Arsenic & Old Lace" premieres in New York City NY
1941 Seyss-Inquart begins registration of Jews
1942 Japan invades North-Celebes, Dutch East Indies
1943 1st US President to visit a foreign country in wartime-FDR leaves for Casablanca, Morocco
1943 Russian offensive against German 6th/4th Armies near Stalingrad
1944 1st mobile electric power plant delivered, Philadelphia
1944 British troops conquer Maungdaw, Burma
1945 Los Angeles Railway (with 5 streetcar lines) forced to close
1946 UN General Assembly convenes for 1st time (London)
1946 US Army establishes 1st radar contact with Moon, Belmar NJ
1947 British stop ships Independence & In-Gathering from landing in Israel
1949 RCA introduces 45 RPM record
1951 1st jet passenger trip made
1951 UN headquarters opens in Manhattan NY
1956 Elvis records "Heartbreak Hotel"
1957 Anthony Eden resigns & Harold Macmillan becomes PM Britain
1958 Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" reaches #1 on the country and r&b charts, #2 on the pop chart
1964 US version of "That Was The Week That Was" premieres
1964 Battles between moslems & hindus in Calcutta
1964 Panamá severs diplomatic relations with US
1966 Julian Bond denied seat in Georgia legislature for opposing Vietnam War
1966 India & Pakistan sign peace accord
1967 Edward Brooke, takes (Senator-R-MA) seat as 1st popular elected black
1967 PBS (the National Educational TV) begins as a 70 station network
1967 Lester Maddox inaugurated as Governor of Georgia
1968 US Surveyor 7 lands near lunar crater Tycho
1969 USSR's Venera 6 launched for parachute landing on Venus
1969 Sweden (1st Western country) recognizes North Vietnam
1972 Triple album set "Concert for Bangladesh" released in UK
1972 Sheik Mujib ur-Rahman arrives in Dacca, East-Pakistan
1979 1st brother Billy Carter makes allegedly anti-Semitic remarks
1980 Last broadcast of "Rockford Files" on NBC
1981 John Severin sets 100-mile unicycle speed record, 9 h 21 m
1981 El Salvador guerrilla group FMLN opens "general offensive"
1983 New York Supreme Court issues a preliminary injunction barring New York Yankees from playing season-opening series against Tigers in Denver
1984 Argentine ex-president/General Bignone arrested
1984 Clara Peller 1st asks, "Where's the Beef?"
1984 Luis Aparicio, Harmon Killebrew, & D Drysdale elected to Hall of Fame
1984 US establishes full diplomatic relations with Vatican after 117 years
1985 Daniel Ortega Saavedra inaugurated as President of Nicaragua
1990 China lifts martial law (imposed after Tiananmen Square massacre)
1991 US Congress begins debate on Persian Gulf crisis
1991 Japan ends routine fingerprinting of all adult ethnic Koreans
1994 Trial of Lorena Bobbitt who cut off her husband's penis, begins
1994 Ukraine says it will give up world's 3rd largest nuclear arsenal
1994 Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan agrees to abolish trade tariffs
1995 "Late Late Show" with Tom Snyder premieres on CBS at 12 30 AM
1996 Israel frees hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
1996 Jimmy Johnson announced as new coach of Miami Dolphins
1997 Dow Corning provides $2.95 billion to settle breast implant suits
1997 Italy's new 1,000 lire coin shows divided Germany on map
2000 America Online announced it had agreed to buy Time Warner for $165 billion, in what would be the biggest merger in history.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Switzerland : Meitlisunntig Festival-Woman in Villmergen War (1712) (Sunday)
US : Pun Week Ends
Blood Donor Month

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Feast of St Gonzalvo
Roman Catholic : Feast of St Agatho, Roman Catholic pope (678-81)
Roman Catholic : Feast of St Gregory X, Roman Catholic pope (1271-76)
Anglican : Commemoration of William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury

Religious History
1514 The first section of the Complutensian Polyglot (the world's first multi-language Bible) was printed at Alcala, Spain. (The complete translation was published in 6 volumes in 1517.)
1538 Regarding the doctrine of purgatory, German Reformer Martin Luther reported in a "Table Talk": 'God has placed two ways before us in His Word: salvation by faith, damnation by unbelief (Mark 16:16). He does not mention purgatory at all. Nor is purgatory to be admitted, for it obscures the benefits and grace of Christ.'
1772 Pioneer American Methodist bishop and circuit rider Francis Asbury penned this prayer in his journal: 'Let me sooner choose to die than sin against thee, in thought, word, or deed.'
1858 English poet Frances Ridley Havergal, 21, while on a visit in Germany, penned the verses which later became her first popular hymn: "I Gave My Life for Thee."
1947 U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall prayed: 'May we resolve, God helping us, to be part of the answer, and not part of the problem.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Life can't be all bad when for ten dollars you can buy all the Beethoven sonatas and listen to them for ten years"

Question of the day...
When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?

Murphys Law of the day...(Thwartz's Theorem of Low Profile)
Negative expectation thwarts realization, and self-congratulation guarantees disaster.

Astounding fact #612...
Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

Interesting.
If there had been time enough, and supply enough, the artillery should have been emplaced defilade on the hillside west of the road.
The road should have been made impassable, and the hilltop on the right hand side that the infantry went over should have had artillery sitting on it.
But.. there wasn't really time, and there wasn't any planning, and supply was almost nonexistent.
It's easy to sit here 50+ years later and say, "This is what should have been."
But the thinking back then was different, and they should have known better.

"It was a hell of a way to go to war."

I like this guy's wit.