United States in the Korean War
The military history of the United States during the Korean War began after
In 1950, a
The United States entered the war led by president
Background
At the conclusion of World War II the Allied nations began the process of disarmament of
Initial response
Following North Korea's invasion of South Korea, the United Nations convened to formulate a response, demanding North Korea's immediate withdrawal. United States Army General Douglas MacArthur was appointed supreme commander of U.N. forces. To halt the rapid progress of North Korean forces into the south Task Force Smith was deployed to the Korean front from Japan.[2] Task Force Smith consisted of U.S. Army officers and regiments of the Army's 24th Infantry Division that were stationed in Japan as occupational forces. The 24th were under trained, poorly supplied, and outnumbered. The 24th offered very little resistance against the North Korean advance.[2] American and South Korean troops were pushed south and in late July 1950 Task Force Smith was overrun in the city of Taejon. Troops from the Army's 25th Infantry Division were deployed to Taejon to establish a new line and pullout the decimated 24th I.D.[2] This addition of combat troops did not stop the North Korean advance and both American and South Korean troops were pushed further south.[2]
Main Battles
Battle of Osan (5 July 1950)
The first battle the Americans entered in the Korean War was the
On July 5, the troops were finally put to the test when North Korean tanks crept towards Osan. The four hundred infantryman of the U.S. also called Task Force Smith opened fire on the North Koreans at 8:16 am. Only four of the North Korean tanks were destroyed and twenty-nine kept moving forward breaking the US line. At the end of the battle only two more North Korean Tanks and two regiments of North Korean infantry were destroyed. The US had lost the battle, revealing that the mere sight of US troops would not reverse the military balance in Korea. By early August, the North Korean troops had pushed back the US and South Korean troops all the way to
Battle of the Kum River and Battle of Taejon (13–20 July 1950)
Battle of Pusan Perimeter (4 August–18 September 1950)
Great Naktong Offensive (1–15 September 1950)
Battle of Inchon (10–19 September 1950)
Although
Battle of Chosin Reservoir (27 November–13 December 1950)
Operation Thunderbolt (25 January–20 February 1951)
Battle of the Punchbowl (31 August–21 September 1951)
Battle of Heartbreak Ridge (13 September–15 October 1951)
Operation Commando (3–12 October 1951)
Battle of Triangle Hill (14 October–25 November 1952)
First Battle of the Hook (2–28 October 1952)
Battle for Outpost Vegas (26–30 March 1953)
Battle of Pork Chop Hill (16–18 April / 6–11 July 1953)
Impact
Casualties
As of 2021, 1,789,000 Americans served in the war, with 36,574 deaths (battle deaths 33,739, other deaths 2,835), 103,284 woundings[5][6][7][8]
As of 2022, according to the list of Wall of Remembrance in the Korean War Veterans Memorial, killed soldiers were 36,634.[9][10] But this figure fluctuates depending on the ongoing correction of the list.[11][12]
As of 2014, The total number of POWs and MIAs is 8,176: Total captured: 7,245 (killed in POW Camps: 2,806, returned: 4,418, defectors: 21), unaccounted: 931.[13][14] [15][16]
As of 2023, The total number of
Japan
During the mid-1940s, Germany and Japan were both at a desperate state caused by World War II. Germany received a sort of benefit from the U.S. as a compensation of war and reconstruction. The Japanese on the other end were devastated by the aftermath. People were suffering, eating out of garbage, and many people starved. Meanwhile, the U.S. troops in the Korean War were in great demand of uniforms and other equipment. The American government turned to Japan for the favor, which eventually stimulated the manufacturing factories that were in jeopardy due to damage caused by World War II. Japan accepted the offer and mainly supplied U.S. troops in Korea with uniforms and other sorts of clothing. Bases were also erected in Japan for U.S. Air Force planes, such as B-29 Superfortress bombers. [citation needed]
Controversies
A controversial event in the war domestically was when President Truman fired General Douglas MacArthur in April 1951. Another point of controversy were the Chinese and North Korean allegations that the U.N. forces engaged in biological warfare.
In addition to these controversial events, the topic of nuclear weapons caused widespread debate among world leaders. Internally, the United States had to consider various perspectives when making this decision. General Douglas MacArthur was a large proponent for the use of atomic weapons as he pushed for all-out war in Korea.[18] However, he gave little thought to the social and political implications of this decision. The Joint Chiefs of Staff were President Truman’s top military officials who offered a different perspective, thus they were very against the use of atomic weapons to end the conflict.[19] These advisors aimed to end the war in a way that would not cause further conflicts for the United States, so they had to approach the situation with caution. At the time of the Korean War, nuclear weapons programs were still in development and the United States did not have the supply of weapons that we would later see by the end of the Cold War. This small stockpile of weapons forced military officials to prioritize their security interests and determine the places where atomic weapons would be most useful.[20] The United States’ primary allies were in Europe, so the Joint Chiefs of Staff felt it was more important to save the supply of weapons to aid European allies as opposed to those in Asia. [21] America’s NATO allies, specifically Great Britain, were very opposed to the use of nuclear weapons in the conflict in Korea.[22] These relationships had a heavy influence on U.S. decision-making, thus playing a large role in the decision to not use nuclear weapons in order to avoid further controversy.[23] The United States needed to maintain positive relationships with her European allies as there was the looming threat of a future war with the Soviet Union which would have required an immense amount of support.[24]
See also
- United Nations Forces in the Korean War
- Medical support in the Korean War
- Korean War Veterans Memorial
References
United States in the Korean War.
- ^ Herbert H. Hyman, and Paul B. Sheatsley, "The political appeal of President Eisenhower." Public Opinion Quarterly 17.4 (1953): 443-460 online.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Korea: The Forgotten War 1950-1953. Timeless Media Group, 2010. DVD.
- ^ Stueck, W. W. (2002). Rethinking the Korean war: A new diplomatic and strategic history. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- ^ Stueck, W. W. (1995). The Korean War: An international history. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- ^ Fact Sheet: America's Wars". U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Washington D.C., May 2017.
- ^ "Defense Casualty Analysis System". Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
- ^ "U.S. Military Casualties – Korean War Casualty Summary". Defense Casualty Analysis System. United States Department of Defense. 29 April 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
- ^ "How Many Americans Died in Korea?". www.cbsnews.com. 5 June 2000.
- ^ The Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembranc
- ^ 추모의 벽’ 준공…6·25전사 미군·카투사 4만여명 이름 각인
- ^ A Korean War Wall of Remembrance Set Hundreds of Errors in Stone
- ^ 워싱턴 '추모의 벽' 전사자 명단 오류와 관련하여 다음과 같이 설명드립니다
- ^ Marsh, Alan. "POWs in American History: A Synopsis". National Park Service.
- ^ "Records of American Prisoners of War During the Korean War, created, 1950–1953, documenting the period 1950–1953". Access to Archival Databases. National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
This series has records for 4,714 U.S. military officers and soldiers who were prisoners of war (POWs) during the Korean War and therefore considered casualties.
- ^ The Statistics of the Korean War, 309 Page - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 2014 (E-BOOK) Archived 2023-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean)
- ^ The Statistics of the Korean War, 309 Page - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 2014 (PDF) Archived 2021-01-11 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean)
- ^ "Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency > Our Missing > Past Conflicts". www.dpaa.mil.
- ISSN 0020-8183.
- ISSN 0020-8183.
- ISSN 0020-8183.
- JSTOR 2146665.
- JSTOR 2146665.
- JSTOR 2146665.
- ISSN 0020-8183.
Further reading
- South to the Naktong North to the Yalu - U.S. Army Center of Military History
- Over the Beach: US Army Amphibious Operations in the Korean War - US Army Combined Arms Center
- The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War-4 (United States) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1975 (E-BOOK)
- The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War-4 (United States) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1975 (PDF)
- The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War-5 (United States) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1976 (E-BOOK)
- The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War-5 (United States) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1976 (PDF)
- The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War-6 (Summary) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1977 (E-BOOK) Archived 2023-07-09 at the Wayback Machine
- The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War-6 (Summary) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1977 (PDF) Archived 2023-06-28 at the Wayback Machine
- The Korean War and the UN Forces - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 2015 (E-BOOK) Archived 2023-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean)
- The Korean War and the UN Forces - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 2015 (PDF) Archived 2023-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean)
- The Statistics of the Korean War - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 2014 (E-BOOK) Archived 2023-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean)
- The Statistics of the Korean War - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 2014 (PDF) Archived 2021-01-11 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean)
- The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1998 (E-BOOK) Archived 2023-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean)
- The History of the UN Forces in the Korean War - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1998 (PDF) Archived 2023-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean)
- The Summary of the Korean War - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1986 (PDF) Archived 2023-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean)
- The History of the Korean War-11: The UN Forces (New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Denmark, India, Italy, Norway, Sweden) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1980 (E-BOOK) Archived 2023-07-07 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean)
- The History of the Korean War-11: The UN Forces (New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Denmark, India, Italy, Norway, Sweden) - ROK Ministry of National Defense Institute for Military History, 1980 (PDF) Archived 2023-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean)
- Caridi, Ronald J. The Korean War and American Politics: The Republican Party as a Case Study (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016).
- Chen, Jian. China's road to the Korean War: The making of the Sino-American confrontation (Columbia University Press, 1994).
- Dingman, Roger. "Atomic diplomacy during the Korean War." International Security 13.3 (1988): 50-91. online
- Foot, Rosemary. The Wrong War: American Policy and the Dimensions of the Korean Conflict, 1950–1953 (Cornell University Press, 2019).
- Foot, Rosemary J. "Nuclear coercion and the ending of the Korean conflict." International Security 13.3 (1988): 92-112. excerpt
- Fordham, Benjamin. Building the cold war consensus: The political economy of US national security policy, 1949-51 (University of Michigan Press, 1998).
- Halberstam, David. The coldest winter: America and the Korean War (Pan Macmillan, 2009).
- Jackson, Michael Gordon. "Beyond Brinkmanship: Eisenhower, Nuclear War Fighting, and Korea, 1953‐1968." Presidential Studies Quarterly 35.1 (2005): 52-75.
- Keefer, Edward C. "President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the End of the Korean War." Diplomatic History 10.3 (1986): 267-289.
- MANTELL, MATTHEW EDWIN. "OPPOSITION TO THE KOREAN WAR: A STUDY IN AMERICAN DISSENT" (PhD dissertation, New York University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1973. 7319947.
- Medhurst, Martin J. "Text and Context in the 1952 Presidential Campaign: Eisenhower's 'I Shall Go to Korea' Speech." Presidential Studies Quarterly 30.3 (2000): 464-484.
- Millett, Allan R. "Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Korean War: Cautionary Tale and Hopeful Precedent." Journal of American-East Asian Relations 10.3-4 (2001): 155-174.
- Ohanian, Lee E. "The macroeconomic effects of war finance in the United States: World War II and the Korean War." American Economic Review (1997): 23-40. online
- Park, Hong-Kyu. "American involvement in the Korean war." History Teacher 16.2 (1983): 249-263. online
- Parmar, Inderjeet. "Racial and imperial thinking in international theory and politics: Truman, Attlee and the Korean War." British Journal of Politics and International Relations 18.2 (2016): 351-369. online
- Stanley, Elizabeth A. Paths to peace: Domestic coalition shifts, war termination and the Korean War (Stanford University Press, 2009).
- Stueck Jr, William W. The Road to Confrontation: American Policy toward China and Korea (UNC Press Books, 2017).
- Suchman, Edward A., Rose K. Goldsen, and Robin M. Williams Jr. "Attitudes toward the Korean war." Public Opinion Quarterly 17.2 (1953): 171-184. https://doi.org/10.1086/266452 o
- Trachtenberg, Marc. "A" Wasting Asset": American Strategy and the Shifting Nuclear Balance, 1949-1954." International Security 13.3 (1988): 5-49. excerpt
- Tucker, Spencer C., and Paul G. Pierpaoli Jr, eds. The Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History (3 vol. ABC-CLIO, 2010).