WAR IN KOREA

[Music] SP [Music] theice when World War II ended Korea ruled by Japan since 19005 was divided in half and occupied by two of the Allied Powers north of the 38 parallel the USSR assumed the duties of maintaining order and helping the Koreans to reestablish their National entity but the administration of North Korea as practiced by the Russians was characterized by much more than a friendly interest in North Korean industry and government soon after the start of the Russian occupation a communist government was functioning in North Korea Guided by such native communist leaders as Soviet trained kimil and his henchman south of the 38th parallel the Koreans made an Earnest attempt to arrive at a basis for closer understanding with the occupying us Force but to the South Koreans young and old it was difficult to comprehend the mysterious foreigners from another hemisphere who had arrived in Korea suddenly and set about introducing American methods into the life of South Korea American occupation forces checked the spread of disease and helped the south Koreans themselves to work more effectively toward improving the National Health in South Korea at least the people seemed destined for a somewhat better life than they had known for Centuries by mid1 1950 almost 5 years after the end of World War II South Korea had built up an army of some 100,000 men trained by American army officers and noncoms the South Koreans felt in the spring of 1950 that they could handle any attack from across the 38th parallel but in late June that boundary was crossed in force by the North Koreans the Communist thrust across the 38th parallel heralded the beginning of one of the most tragic periods in the history of the Korean people the South Korean forces had proved pitifully inadequate for the job of withstanding the invaders for the citizens of the infant Republic of Korea whose IND dependence had been proudly proclaimed less than 2 years before the immediate future looked all but hopeless the unquiet peace which had existed among the great powers of the world since World War II was at an end in the US at Lake Success the United Nations with the Soviet member conspicuously absent took enforcement action against the aggressor 48 hours ago the security Council in an eer session determined that the armed invasion of the Republic of Korea by armed forces from Northern Korea constituted a breach of the peace accordingly the security Council called for a cessation of hostilities forth with and the withdrawal of the northern Korean authorities of their Armed Forces to the 38th parallel it is clear that the authorities in North Korea have completely disregarded and flouted the decision of the security Council the armed invasion of the Republic of Korea continues this is in fact an attack on the United Nations itself agreed that the armed attack upon the Republic of Korea constituted a breach of the peace the United Nations of the world took decisive action to secace and security recommends that the members of the United Nations furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack and to restore International Peace and Security in the area in Korea for the first time time enforcement action was taken against an aggressor by direction of the United Nations on 28 June aircraft of the United States Air Force operating pursuant to the resolution of the security Council of the United Nations began air operations against the North Korean Invaders in support of Republic of Korea forces and later struck at military targets nor north of the 38th parallel with a view to disrupting the lines of communication and supply of the invading [Music] [Music] forces the badly decimated Republic of Korea forces reformed south of the Han River sought to delay the North Korean Advance by sheer weight of numbers and material they were forced back step by step until on two July the town of suwan 20 mi south of su was reported in North Korean hands meanwhile in pursuance of United Nations recommend ations United States ground forces were committed to the area for stabilization of the front on five July a very small United States force made contact with the Invaders south of suwan the first United States troops were small in number and were committed as a holding Force only they were followed by additional supporting forces as rapidly as these could be transported to the battle line facing odds at times as high as 221 our Army troops distinguish themselves in the most difficult of military operations a delaying action the first un Heroes were American GIS of the 24th division in the deserted Villages of South Korea the nations of the Free World would shortly make their stand against the forces of aggression in Tokyo the appointment of general Douglas MacArthur as commander of United Nations Forces was celebrated in a ceremony conducted by US Army Chief of Staff General laon Collins during the first weeks of fighting South Korean and American forces were pushed back toward the tip of the Korean Peninsula and the prospect of another dunker the outnumbered UN forces took heavy losses during that first month in the desperate fight for time on July 31st elements of the first Marine Division arrived at pan swelling the force of American fighting men in Korea to some 100,000 the battle to keep the enemy from overrunning all of Korea approached its most critical stage men and material were now arriving from the US in some quantity 7,000 mil away at Lake Success New York on the following day August 1st marked the return to the United Nations security Council of the hitherto absent Soviet member yakob Malik who assumed the presidency of the council for the month of August the discussion of the Korean aggress flared into violent and bitter debate at intervals throughout Soviet delegate Malik's month as the security council's president the USSR delegation declares to the security Council and to the public opinion of the world that the United States resolution is intended to extend the scale of the United States government's aggression against the Korean people when the president as or as the representative of the Soviet Union it makes no difference Which hat he wears while he's doing it but when he undertakes to persuade this great audience here present and in all the world outside that the United States of America is an aggressor in Korea I'd like to ask whose troops are attacking deep in the country of somebody else whose troops the North Koreans who is assisting the Republic of Korea to defend itself the United Nations with the support of 53 out of 59 members is the Soviet Union one of the 53 no the United States government is now making every effort to extend its scope to wage war on an increasingly large scale to drag as many other governments as possible into this war not only against the people of Korea but also against the other people of Asia the whole world knows that armed intervention in the internal affairs of Korean people armed aggression in Korea is being carried out by American forces under the personal orders of President Truman and under the command of the American General Mau now let us consider the trick of concealing guilt through accusation the classic example of this trick of course is that of the thief who is running away and he cries stop thief stop thief at the honest man ahead of him in order to confuse his pursuers the Soviet delegate referred several times to quote the aggression of which the United States is guilty against the Korean people end quote this statement has been repeated over and over through every Soviet inspired channel on Earth we've had it telegraphed To Us by others and we've heard it again today it is a lie it is a big lie to call the action of those governments who are seeking to support the resolutions of the security Council acts of aggression is a falsehood so grotesque that even the technique of the big I will not disguise it the determination of the United Nations to ensure that Korea shall be free unified and independent of outside influence from any great power on or off the continent has never wavered this is what the United Nations Forces are fighting to uphold in Korea it is a supreme effort to give the Korean people the right to control their own Destinies a right that so many countries caught in a net of imperialism with a new name communist imperialism have lost in Korea the identity of the aggressor was no Mystery by late August the North Korean forces had seized most of South Korea except for an area surrounding the port of pan with their backs to the Sea americ forces fought desperately to hold their ground against the powerful enemy Drive The crucial battle was fought in the Hills flanking [Music] taigu it was a bruising fight for the Boney American GI but they never gave up the battle in holding the pan perimeter the American forces suffered heavily but the enemy offensive was beaten back thanks to the sacrifices of American fighting men Korea did not become a communist Peninsula by early September the pan perimeter was no longer in immediate danger of being overrun on September 15th the tide of battle turned by virtue of a daring amphibious attack at Inon the Attack Force which made the assault on Korea's West Coast was engaged in an extremely difficult operation an operation undertaken at the insistence of General MacArthur the problems of fluctuating Tides unpredictable currents and narrow channels made the success of the Enon Landing a doubtful quantity the burden of responsibility for risking the forces committed in an operation which might well prove a failure rested with General MacArthur 12,000 Marines many veterans of World War II headed for sure in the first amphibious assault of the Korean War with the Marines who stormed the beaches at Wy and inchon was Time Life correspondent Frank Gibney also a veteran of the war with Japan some of the Marines in the assault had been brought from Duty in the Mediterranean others had been pulled out of the line in southern Korea Inon had to be taken to cut the enemy's Communications with the southern front and to trap thousands of his troops in between the Marines didn't give the enemy time to recover from the surprise attack back on his flank progress was Swift many of the Marines I was with were Past Masters at flushing enemy troops out of holes and acquired Talent they never lost hundreds of North Koreans were killed on that overcast September morning dday at inchon the surprised North Korean troops had failed completely in their hurried attempt to beat off the amphibious attack the operation was a spectacular success a proud day for General MacArthur whose judgment was Vindicated and for Marine General op Smith on the southern front the situation had changed considerably by virtue of the inchan operation for the enemy the battle had taken a turn for the worst us8 Army G smashed into enemy positions with renewed spirit and moved slowly but steadily forward in the Enon area the Marine stepped up the attack in a drive to take Soul as quickly as possible on September 24th only 10 days after d day at inchon US Marines and soldiers were fighting in [Music] Souls the fight for the South Korean capital was Bloody but relatively brief for 5 days the battle for soul raged on the US troops took their losses but efficiently Stamped Out enemy Resistance 3 months after the Communist Invasion Soul was once again free thousands returned to the homes they had abandoned before the Communist thrust overwhelmed the Korean Republic's Capital other thousands upon thousands had stayed on during the communist occupation as soon as the fight for Soul was ended they fell to work rebuilding their badly battered City for the inhabitants of Soul life was a good deal more makeshift than it had been before the Communist Invasion government officials of the Republic of Korea who returned to Soul after its recapture addressed the inhabitants who had been subjected to daily doses of communist propaganda on South Korea's immediate problems during the summer of 1950 many thousands of South South Koreans were killed by their countrymen from the north whatever the future held for Korea it could hardly prove more tragic than the early years of the infant Republic's existence in Many Lands Freedom had been achieved by Bloodshed but nowhere was newly W Freedom put to a stronger test than in the Republic of Korea by Early Autumn fighting forces from other member countries of the United Nations arrived in South Korea to join the struggle in defense of South Korean [Music] Independence to that Crusade Britain committed some 5,000 soldiers several of the Nations which had fought in the Pacific during World War II sent troops to South Korea a thousand Filipino soldiers and a thousand Australians swelled the ranks of the United Nations Forces the diggers from Down Under who had fought so well in the steaming jungles of New Guinea 8 years before were determined to add further Laurels to their Battlefield record in Korea on October 1st South Korean troops pushed northward across the 38th parallel 3 months and 1 week after the Communist attack as the Rocks Republic of Korea soldiers seized more and more territory in in their northward drive there were impromptu Celebration commemorating The Liberation of the area the Koreans along the Route seemed genuinely happy to greet the advancing Rock forces the city of Kong just south of the 38th parallel was seized by Americans of the first Cavalry division on October 8th the gis then drove quickly North to the well publicized boundary which the UN had authorized its forces to cross by October 15th United Nations troops had swept across the 38th parallel and seized a considerable area in North Korea 2500 mil East Wake Island was the scene of a most important engagement that mid October morning President Harry Truman had flown 7,000 miles to talk with his top General in the Far East a man he had never before met they conferred for one hour in complete privacy and then held a more General discussion in one of wake Island's few buildings this conference included the president's top military advisers Joint Chiefs chairman Bradley and army secretary pce before the meeting broke up a decoration ceremony was held to the Delight of the photographers though only the two men knew what had been said at the secret meeting they claimed to be in complete agreement on October 20th Rock soldiers and American GIS seized the North Korean capital of Pyongyang after 5 years the Communist hold on that City had been broken by the UN forces 2 Days Later 120 Troop Carrier planes transported paratroopers of the 187th Airborne regiment to an area some 25 mil north of bangyang over the target area near suan and Sunan the paratroopers hit the silk General MacArthur cruised above the area watching the initi ual stage of the operation the 800t drop took each man only about a minute the operation went off smoothly the drop was made at precisely the points indicated in the original planning the trap on the enemy was sprung some 30,000 North Koreans were bottled up between the UN forces in pangang to the South and the men of the 187th Airborne regiment the North Koreans were completely taken by surprise by this unfamiliar maneuver on North Korea's East Coast off onon us mine sweepers went to work on clearing out one of the most intensive sea Mine Fields in military history the job was done by laying magnetic lines finally after a 6-day delay The Landing at wansan was made by Advanced elements of the first Marine Division but this Landing was not in the tradition of Marine Amphibious Invasion for the area had already been taken 2 weeks earlier by other un troops though the landing was no problem the Marines had been alerted to expect plenty of action when they reached Shore and began the push along the east coast of the peninsula the Marines first assignment was to mop up a large group of organized North Korean guerillas the job was done efficiently by men who were experienced in that line of [Music] work the Marines fighting along the east coast were part of the US 10th Corp a combined Marine Army Force commanded by US Army Major General Edward Alman who reported directly to General MacArthur in Tokyo on Kore West Coast Lieutenant General Walton Walker commanded the US 8th Army both US forces were driving pelm toward the northern boundary of Korea that objective received the full attention of both e8th Army and 10th core commanders who did not coordinate their movements but reported independently to Tokyo the Frozen Yo which separates Korea from manua was reached at the North Korean town of hes Jean by GIS of the seventh division most of the men felt that this achievement signaled the answer to their prayers the end of the war and a chance to get home for Christmas but the gis did not realize on that cold November afternoon that an even greater enemy across the Yow was about to attack on November 26 in a move which stunned the UN forces the Chinese Reds hurled their armies into North Korea and drove deep into the soft center of the UN line [Music] CHR [Music] [Music]