Tag: Korean War

Canada’s Contributions to the Korean War

The United States has a long history of sharing the sacrifices of war with our northern neighbor of Canada and the Korean War was no different. With the outbreak of the Korean War the Canadian government did not immediately deploy troops to fight in the Korean War. The far east had never served any strategic national interest for Canada, especially a small, very poor country like Korea, which very few people had ever heard of before. Plus even if the Canadian government wanted to deploy soldiers to Korea, they simply did not have the manpower to do so. The Canadian military was not large enough for a deployment and maintain troop strength at home as well. After World War II, Canada had drastically reduced it’s military to a peace time size that was only interested in home land defense. With the United States as their southern neighbor and only Native American tribes as their northern frontier it didn’t take a very large military to compose a home land defense force.

As the fighting in Korea escalated and the United Nations put out a call to arms from it’s members to defend Korea, the Canadian government began to seek volunteers for what they called the Canadian Army Special Force (CASF) and was to be commanded by Brigadier General J.M. Rockingham. The CASF was to be composed of a full combat brigade of soldiers and it was going to take a few months to raise and train that many soldiers to fight in Korea. While the force was being formed the Canadian government had cargo planes from the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) begin transport duty for the UN forces between Ft. Lewis, Washington State and Haneda Airfield in Japan. Ft. Lewis was the major dispatch point of troops and supplies to fight in Korea. The RCAF contributed a total of 22 planes to help transport the needed supplies into the combat theatre. Additionally the Canadian government dispatched three naval destroyers to Korea. The destroyers arrived in July 1950 and would later serve during the September 1950 Inchon Landing Operation.

After General Douglas MacArthur’s successful Inchon Landing Operation it appeared that the Korean War was winding down and that full combat brigade of soldiers was not needed. So instead of deploying an entire brigade it was decided that only one infantry battalion would be deployed to Korea. That battalion would be the second battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J.R. Stone.

PPCLI’s Deployment to Korea

The second battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry regiment sailed from the port of Seattle to Korea on November 26, 1950 and didn’t arrive into the port of Yokohama, Japan until December 20, 1950. However, by the time the ship arrived in Japan the course of the war had changed dramatically. The Chinese military had entered the war and the UN forces were in full retreat from the Chinese onslaught. The Canadians had expected to take part in mop up and peacekeeping duty when they left Seattle, but by the time they reached Japan they discovered they were going to fight in a bloody, full scale war. The battalion was quickly rushed to the Korean peninsula and their first base camp would be in the city of Miryang near Daegu. Here the battalion would conduct training to prepare them for combat conditions in Korea. However, the battalion quickly found themselves in combat against South Korean communist guerrilla forces located in the southern mountains of Korea. After completing it’s actions against the guerrillas the PPCLI was assigned to the British led 27th Commonwealth Brigade which also included units from Australia and New Zealand plus one company of American tanks from Alpha Company 72nd Armor Regiment.

The PPCLI joined the 27th Brigade in mid-February and the Canadians saw their first combat action of the Korean War in late February during the UN offensive to the 38th parallel following the Chinese defeat at Chipyong-ni by the US 23 Infantry Regiment and their attached French Battalion. It was during this advance that the Canadians also received their first combat casualties of the Korean War. In April of 1951 the 27th Brigade was assigned to move south and construct blocking positions in the hills of Myeongjisan mountain just north of the city of Kapyong. The Chinese had launched their Spring Offensive of 1951 to recapture Seoul and the Kapyong valley was one of three high speed avenues of approach to capture Seoul. The other two were the Uijongbu and Munsan corridors. The Chinese had decided that the Kapyong Valley would be where they would concentrate their attack to recapture the Korean capitol. The Chinese command figured that if they recaptured Seoul they could negotiate a ceasefire from a position of strength since they controlled the South Korean capitol.

First Contact

The Chinese main effort during much of the Korean War focused on attacking South Korean frontline units first and then attacking American and UN units from the flanks after crushing the South Koreans. The Battle Kapyong would be no different. On the night of April 22, 1951 the Chinese 60th and 118th Division attacked the ROK 6th Division near the Hwacheon Reservoir just North of the Kapyong valley. The ROK 6th Division folded almost immediately into a full scale retreat back down the valley towards the 27th Regiment. The first column of ROK Army vehicles, equipment, and men flooded the 27th’s line before they had even been able to construct adequate fighting positions. What little obstacles and most importantly the communications wire the 27th had been able to put up were tore down as the South Koreans stormed South down the valley. As the South Koreans passed the 27th lines the retreat was able to be halted 5 miles south of Kapyong. The ROK 6th Division commander reported the next day that he was able to round up and organize 5,000 of his men or about 50% of his combat power from the day before.

After the two Chinese divisions had routed the ROK 6th Division, the CCF 118th Division was chosen to continue the attack down the Kapyong valley to finish off the ROK division. On the night of the April 23, 1951 the lead elements of the CCF 118th had hit the frontlines of the 27th Commonwealth Brigade, which the Chinese commanders had not even realized were there. Thus the 27th though greatly out manned by about 3 to 1 by the Chinese had one advantage and that was surprise, which would help them fend off the Chinese attack.

The Battle of Kapyong

The first Chinese units moved quickly down the valley floor in pursuit of the retreating ROK units and smashed into Australian positions on each side of the valley augmented with the American tanks from Alpha Company 72nd Armor Regiment. The initial contact was chaotic because the Aussies and the Americans at first thought the soldiers coming down the valley were more retreating South Koreans. The fighting that erupted was ferocious, but the Australians and their American allies continued to hold on despite the huge disadvantage of limited obstacles and having no artillery support. The Australians could not communicate with their supporting New Zealand artillery battalion because of the retreating South Koreans ripping out the communications lines. Quickly the Australians were surrounded and the New Zealand artillery had to withdraw from their positions South of the Australians once they came into contact with the enemy. The New Zealand artillery withdrew further south down the valley and set up an artillery support position behind the British Middlesex Regiment.

The Australians requested reinforcements from the British, but the British company sent forward to reinforce the Australians took fire from the Chinese not to far North of the Middlesex Regimental lines and instead of fighting through the fire to aid the Australians the company took up defensive positions on the hillside. Seeing that no help was coming the Australian commander ordered his men and the supporting American tanks to conduct a tactical withdrawal south towards the Middlesex Regimental lines. As the Australians moved southward other supporting elements located behind the Australian lines confused the tactical fighting withdrawal southward as a full scale retreat and began running down the valley leaving their equipment behind. Their was a growing sense of impending disaster as panic mounted. As the Australians moved southward this caused the Chinese to come into increasing contact with the men of the Canadian Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry on Hill 677 commanded by Lieutenant Colonel J.R. Stone.

LTC Stone seeing the increasing amounts of Chinese soldiers trying to encircle his unit decided to move Bravo company which was located near the valley floor and the only road access into the area further up the hillside to protect the battalion’s rear. LTC Stone had turned Hill 677 into a virtual Canadian island surrounded by a sea of Chinese soldiers. Throughout the remaining daylight of April 24th and into the night the Chinese continued to attack the Canadian positions with no success. The commanders of the Chinese units attacking the Canadian lines requested additional manpower to over run the Canadians. Additional Chinese troops that had been pursuing the Australians along the eastern hillsides of the valley came off the hills and began to wade across the Kapyong River to launch an overwhelming assault on the PPCLI’s Eastern flank. LTC Stone seeing the masses of Chinese soldiers fording the Kapyong River in the moonlight called in an artillery strike. Due to their position the Canadian’s communications lines had not been snapped by the retreating South Koreans. The New Zealand artillery pounded the advancing Chinese soldiers that were exposed in the open river valley. The Chinese soldiers that survived the artillery barrage advanced up the eastern hillside where they were met with overwhelming Canadian machine gun fire.

While the Chinese were launching their attack on the East another large Chinese force pressed their attack on the PPCLI’s Western flank by infiltrating along a high saddle that connected to the ridge line that PPCLI’s Delta Company occupied. Unlike the eastern attack, the Chinese forces in the west were attacking from only a slightly lower elevation than the Canadians and had not been degraded by artillery fire before launching their attack. Hundreds of Chinese soldiers poured into the Canadian defensive lines. The fighting became so desperate that the Delta Company commander called in New Zealand artillery fire on his own position. Artillery rained down on the Canadian position. The artillery fire suppressed the Chinese attackers enough for the Canadians to reestablish their defensive lines and begin directing artillery fire on the advancing Chinese units outside of the Canadian lines.

That night, the mighty Chinese Army that had caused an entire 10,000 man ROK Army division to retreat a day prior, had given their best effort to destroy one Canadian battalion and the Canadians did not budge. The heroic defense of Hill 677 allowed the withdrawing Australians and the American tank company to reorganize and rearm behind the Middlesex Regimental lines. At dawn on April 25, 1951 an Australian counterattack led by the American tanks slammed into the eastern flank of the Chinese forces. As the battle continued to rage the surrounded Canadian commander LTC Stone radioed in a resupply request since his men were running short of supplies and ammunition. In an amazing feat of logistical brilliance six hours later an American resupply plane from Japan flew over the Canadian lines and air dropped in fresh stocks of supplies and most importantly ammunition.

The newly resupplied Canadians combined with the Australian and American counterattack was too much for the Chinese to overcome. Their defeat at Kapyong combined with their additional defeat by the British and American units during the Battle of the Imjim led to overall failure of the Chinese Spring Offensive of 1951 to capture Seoul. If it wasn’t for the leadership of LTC J.R. Stone and his brave men from Canada holding Hill 677 the Chinese may have captured Seoul and that would have possibly led to an embarrassing cease fire where the North Korean communists controlled the South Korean capitol.  The modern existence of the Republic of Korea would not have been possible without their current capitol city of Seoul. The Canadians had 10 soldiers killed in action and 23 wounded after the battle, while over an estimated thousand Chinese corpses littered the hillsides from the combined Canadian, Australian, and American defenders. For their actions during the Battle of Kapyong the second battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Royal Australian Regiment including their attached American tank company were awarded the prestigious US Presidential Unit Citation.

Birth of the Commonwealth Division and the Holding of the Imjim River Line

After the Battle of Kapyong the remainder of the Canadian forces had arrived in Korea after completing their initial training at Ft. Lewis, Washington. They were at first assigned to the US 25th Infantry Division and participated in a number of battles to shore up the UN frontline positions just North of the 38th parallel. By August of 1951 the entire Canadian brigade was consolidated into the newly formed British Commonwealth Division. The British Commonwealth Division was assigned the task of holding and patrolling the lower Imjim River as cease fire negotiations dragged on for two more years. During this time the Chinese had challenged the Commonwealth Division a number of times, but just like during the Spring Offensive of 1951 the Commonwealth forces held their ground until the cease fire was signed. Today the strategic, sliver of land on the North side of the lower Imjim River held by the Republic of Korea that borders the DMZ was only made possible by the blood, sweat, and tears of the brave men of the Commonwealth Division.

In total 26,791 Canadian soldiers participated in the Korean War. Of those soldiers 1,558 soldiers were wounded and 516 Canadians were killed fighting for the freedom of the Korean people.

Note: You can read more of the ROK Drop featured series Heroes of the Korean War at the below link:

France’s Impact on the Korean War

After the North Koreans invaded South Korea in June of 1950 an emergency session of the United Nations was convened to gather military support for the Republic of Korea. 16 countries from the United Nations offered military aid that fell under United States command. The total international force of all 16 countries combined only equaled one tenth of the US military’s contribution to the defense of Korea with many of the international soldiers being rear echelon types. So the actual amount of combat soldiers was much lower.

However, countries that did offer combat soldiers usually sent their best. England, Australia, New Zeland, and Canada all sent units that went on to fight heroically in great battles such as The Battle of Kapyong and The Battle of the Imjim. Sword wielding Turkish and Thai soldiers were also highly respected for their combat skills. However, out of all the international soldiers sent to fight in the Korean War, one battalion to me sticks out more than all the others. This is due partly to their combat record and also to the reputation and personality of their commander. That unit is the French Battalion de Coree under the command of the then Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Monclar.

The French Battalion consisted of 39 officers, 172 non-commissioned officers and more than 800 enlisted personnel, the battalion arrived at Pusan on November 30, 1950. During the war 3,421 French soldiers would fight in Korea.

One battalion of soldiers may seem like a small contribution from a country as large and wealthy as France, but you need to look at the historical context of those times. France was deeply involved in heavy combat in Indochine against communists insurgents there, then they had a insurgency in Algeria to combat, plus military commitments to secure their colonies in Africa. Obviously France was spread very thin and could only afford the one battalion. However, the one battalion they did send was an all volunteer battalion composed of some of their top soldiers led by France’s best commander Ralph Monclar.

Legendary French Foreign Legionaire Ralph Monclar

Now why would their best soldiers volunteer to go fight in Korea? First of all, many French soldiers were still embarrassed by the performance of the French military during World War II. This was an opportunity on an international stage to show that World War II was just a fluke and that the French were back. You had others that simply hated communists. Some fought simply for the glory, others were in it for the money since the battalion’s volunteers were payed quite well. Then you had some that volunteered because they had already been to the hot steamy jungles of Indochine and the cold winters of France and figured that Korea would be a nice year around temperate Mediterranean climate since the 38th parrallel runs through the Mediterranean Sea. How wrong those guys were.

The commander of the battalion, Raoul Charles Magrin-Vernerey, who in World War II shortened his name to Ralph Monclar to be more understandable to Allied forces, was actually a 3 star general before the war and voluntarily took a demotion to Lieutenant Colonel to lead the battalion. He was a veteran of World War I where he was wounded seven times and received eleven awards for valor. After World War I, he was left 90% disabled from his wounds. He was sent to Syria to heal and up and lead soldiers there. By 1924 he was fully recovered and was selected for the French Foreign Legion and led soldiers in Morrocco, the Middle East, and Vietnam. During World War II Monclar and 500 French soldiers joined the Free French forces in England. They went on and fought and defeated the Italian Axis forces in Eritrea. He was on the verge of retirement in 1950 when he volunteered to lead the French battalion in Korea.

Here is how one infantry company commander CPT Ansil Walker, remembered LTC Monclar:

The French soldiers were volunteers from Legion garrisons in Africa and other parts of the world. Their leader was a battle-scarred veteran of the Legion who led them in battle wearing his monocle, a beret, a bright red scarf–and using a cane to compensate for his limp. Sixty-year-old Raoul Monclar, as he called himself, had given up his three-star general’s rank and his true name of Magrin-Venery and had reverted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, since general was too high a rank for a battalion commander. Now, with a nom de guerre and the proper rank to lead a volunteer battalion in combat under the U.N. flag, he and his 1,000-man force had become Colonel Freeman’s “Fourth Battalion.” “This is my finest hour,” Monclar declared.

During the Korean War the French battalion was task organized under the 23rd Infantry Regiment which fell under the US 2nd Infantry Division. The 2ID is the lone US Army Division remaining in defense of Korea to this day. A true legacy of the Korean War. The French Battalion would remain with the 23rd Regiment until hostilities ended on July 27, 1953 with the signing of the Armistice Agreement. During this time the French Battalion would participate in many notable, bloody battles.

The 23rd Regiment was commanded by Colonel Paul Freeman. Freeman and Monclar would become quick friends. It must of felt strange for Freeman to be commanding such a legendary combat veteran as Monclar who had just a few months earlier had been a 3 star general. These two men would be key leaders in three very important battles that would cement their friendship in blood; the Battles Wonju, the Twin Tunnels, and Chipyong-ni.

During the Twin Tunnels battle on January 30, 1951, in the Kumdang Chon Valley, Monclar actually led a company of his men up Hill 453 to secure the northern flank of the regiment. COL Freeman actually commented that the French company was slow in securing the hill because of Monclar. Freeman wanted Monclar to stay behind with the rest of his battalion but Monclar insisted on leading his men up the hill himself. Keep in mind that Monclar is at the time 59 years old with many injuries and prior bullet wounds leading his men up this large mountain. It shows what kind of shape the guy was in for his age. The French company was attacked on February 2nd by an entire regiment of Chinese. Monclar ordered them to fix bayonets and charge the Chinese. Despite heavy odds the Frech drove the Chinese forces back into full retreat off of Hill 453.

Picture of the modern day village of Chipyong-ni.

On the 11-14 February 1951 the 23rd Regiment was ordered to defend the city of Chipyong-ni at all costs against 6 Chinese divisions. The odds were stacked against the regiment 10-1 but 8th Army Commanding General Matthew Ridgeway was determined to make a stand against the advancing Chinese who had won every battle since entering the war and Chipyong-ni was going to be the place. The entire regiment was completely surrounded by the Chinese so the soldiers dug in and prepared for the up coming onslaught.

Chinese positions were located on the hills seen in the distance from the French positions at Chipyong-ni.

The Chinese attacked the night of February 13, 1951 against the defensive perimeter the French Battalion manned. The Chinese during the war liked to blow horns and bang drums to command troops and also for psychological impact against the UN forces. When the Chinese began their bugle calls and drumming to start their attack, the French soldiers began blowing their own air horns and yelling back at them. The French were actually looking forward to a fight and couldn’t wait. When a Chinese platoon attacked the French line, a squad of French soldiers fixed bayonets and charged them. The Chinese platoon had the French squad outnumbered 3-1 but they turned and ran after seeing the French squad charge them with bayonets.

Small hill where the French positions at Chipyong-ni were located.

Here is how another company commander remembers the Chinese assault on the French lines:

The enemy soldiers formed one hundred or two hundred yards in front of the small hill which the French occupied, then launched their attack, blowing whistles and bugles, and running with bayonets fixed. When this noise started, the French soldiers began cranking a hand siren they had, and one squad started running toward the Chinese, yelling and throwing grenades far to the front and to the side. When the two forces were within twenty yards of each other the Chinese suddenly turned and ran in the opposite direction. It was all over within a minute. After this incident it was relatively quiet in the rice paddies near the road cut.

This is how CPT Walker recalled the French actions that day:

A noisy party of Chinese seemed about to fall upon the French in the west. Hearing the preparations, the legionnaires leaped out of their positions screaming a battle cry, fixing bayonets as they charged, and cranking a shrieking Chinese siren of their own. They set upon the surprised and terrified enemy. Survivors turned to escape, only to be tackled, caught, and hauled back by the French as prisoners of war.

The heroic French defense would set the tone for the rest of the defenders of Chipyong-ni that day.

During the battle Monclar and Freeman would move from foxhole to foxhole encouraging soldiers and dodging bullets at the same time. They were very much lead by example type of commanders who did not want to be seen hiding in the rear during a tough fight. The Battle of Chipyong-ni was ferocious and bloody but it proved to be a turning point for UN forces in the war after the 23rd Regiment and the French decisively defeated the Chinese offensive at Chipyong-ni.

The word of the Chinese defeat spread throughout the front lines of the 8th Army and it proved that the Chinese were not invincible and could be decisively defeated. However, this victory would not have been possible without the French Battalion and their legendary commander Ralph Monclar.

Monument to US and French forces that fought in the Battle of Chipyong-ni.

The battalion after Chipyong-ni went on to fight in other pivotal battles in the Korean War including Hongchon and Heartbreak Ridge. In the weeks following Chipyong-ni many of those wild French soldiers that held the line Chipyong-ni would perish in the hills of Hongchon. The French had 40 soldiers killed and 200 wounded in the capturing of a 1000 meter high Chinese fortified hill in -30C temperatures that would eventually open the road for the 8th Army across the 38th parrelell. At Heartbreak Ridge that fall of 1951 another 60 of these brave Frenchmen would die in one month of fighting on the isolated ridgeline.

For their heroics during the Korean War, the French Battalion received three United States Presidential Unit citations, for the battle of the Twin Tunnels, Chipyong-ni, and Hongchon. During the Korean War the French Battalion had 287 soldiers killed in action, 1,350 wounded in action, 7 missing in action, and 12 become prisoners of war. The name of the dead French soldiers can seen today on the wall at the Korean War Memorial in Yongsan commemorating the dead from all the countries that participated in the Korean War. The battalion proved the French was a capable fighting force and won back some of the prestige the French military had lost from World War II not to mention helping to secure the freedom of this now thriving democracy of the Republic of Korea.

General Ridgeway best summed up the actions of the French Battalion during the Korean War with these words given to a joint session of the US Congress in 1952:

I shall speak briefly of the 23rd US Infantry Regiment, Colonel Paul L. Freeman commanding, [and] with the French Battalion. Isolated far in advance of the general battle line, completely surrounded in near-zero weather, they repelled repeated assaults by day and night by vastly superior numbers of Chinese. They were finally relieved. I want to say that these American fighting men, with their French comrades-in-arms, measured up in every way to the battle conduct of the finest troops America and France have produced throughout their national existence.

However the glory this battalion won back for the French would be short lived. After the Armistice Agreement was signed effectively ending the Korean War, the French Battalion was reassigned to Indochine to battle the communist insurgency. The battalion was eventually completely destroyed in a series of ambushes along the infamous Highway 1 which ran parrallel to the coast of Vietnam and was dubbed the Street Without Joy. Though the French Battalion found no joy in Vietnam they did find honor from their actions in Korea.

Note: You can read more of the ROK Drop featured series Heroes of the Korean War at the below link:

The Marmot’s Hole is reporting that a Korean film about the events of the No Gun-ri tragedy has been completed:

After many news reports and documentaries about Nogeun-ri came out, director Lee Sang-woo felt obliged to make a fictional film to tell the story. He wanted to ask the U.S. government whether there was no other way than war, a question still relevant today.

“Writing the scenario, I asked myself what story I have to tell. This is not going to be about the incident, not the event, but it’s going to be about the people. It is going to tell the relationships that people had in the small community and how intimate and beautiful they were, and ask them (the U.S. military) if they knew what they were doing. They were destroying these beautiful human beings, Lee said after shooting the film’s last scene in Sunchang, South Jeolla Province, early this week.

Expect another anti-American hatefest film much like Welcome to Dongmakgol that drew record Korean audiences with it’s story of North and South Korean soldiers joining together to kill Americans in order to save a rural village during the Korean War.

Why do I think it will be an anti-American hatefest film? Just look at what the Yonhap article says about the No Gun-ri tragedy:

Cows plowing rice farms, children bathing in a nearby stream and elderly men playing chess on a lazy afternoon — this was life in Nogeun-ri, Yeongdong County, central South Korea, before a nightmarish event occurred in July, 1950.

The incident came without warning on the 31st day of the Korean War. The sky split open as U.S. warplanes appeared and strafed hundreds of villagers walking along a railroad track. They were leaving their homes under a directive from retreating U.S. soldiers in the advance of North Korean communists.

Survivors, cornered under a railroad bridge at Nogeun-ri, were indiscriminately machine-gunned. Out of about 500 villagers, only 25 remained, the witness and families of the victims say.

As usual the Korean media gets the whole incident wrong from the start. A theme in recent Korean movies is that life in rural villages was some kind of idealistic paradise until the big, bad Americans come and ruined it. If anyone wants a good cinematic example of what life before, during, and after the Korean War was like in rural Korean villages than I encourage you to see the excellent Korean movie The Taebak Mountains. Watch this movie and then compare it to the crap that is Dongmakgol. The people in these villages were dirt poor and life was hard which made many of these villages agreeable towards communism and uprise against the South Korean government including villages in the No Gun-ri area.

Also the villagers were not evacuated by US soldiers and without a doubt they were not strafed by US aircraft during the No Gun-ri timeframe as the Yonhap article claims.  Finally 500 people did not die at No Gun-ri, maybe 50 at best. How do I know all of this? Read my series of postings that I did last year on this very subject. The evidence is overwhelming about what really happened at No Gun-ri but when Pulitzer Prizes and millions of dollars in compensation money are at stake, who cares about the truth?

British sailors who are in port at Pusan stopped by the United Nations Cemetery in Pusan to pay their respects.

If you haven’t been to the UN cemetery in Pusan you really should go.  The cemetery has graves from many of the countries involved in the Korean War and the experience is quite sobering especially when you realize the few thousand graves there are just a small minute fraction of the overall war dead from the Korean War.  Another interesting fact about the cemetery is that it is the only UN operated cemetery in the world.  It is a quiet, pleasant place, which is actually quite amazing considering it sits in the middle of one of Korea’s busiest cities.

The Incheon Landing, code named “Operation Chromite” is quite possibly the most recognized action taken during the Korean War and what is most amazing about the operation is the fact that it happened at all. Just about every general in the Pentagon was against General MacArthur’s plan to invade Incheon because of the great danger involved in navigating Incheon’s infamous tidal flats. Everyone else was convinced that Kunsan or even Osan south of Incheon were better locations to launch an amphibious operation of this magnitude. MacArthur knew that this is where the North Koreans would expect the UN forces to land and the North Korean were in fact making preparations for landings in these areas because they believed no one was foolish enough to try and land at Incheon. Well no one accept General MacArthur.

MacArthur convinced the Secretary of Defense that his plan was the right course of action and eventually using has famous flare and prestige MacArthur was able to convince the Joint Chief’s of Staff and President Harry Truman to sign off on his plan. However, visions of landing crafts trapped in the Incheon mud which would be sitting ducks for the North Korean artillery raced through everyones minds.

Fortunately the successful “Operation Trudy Jackson” put those fears to rest. The operation allowed General MacArthur’s armada of ships containing the newly constituted X Corps and associated combat power to safely navigate the treacherous Incheon Bay the night of September 14, 1950. The bright light of the Palmi-do lighthouse proved to be a critical navigational aid for the sailors involved with the landing.

Lt. Eugene Clark’s successful intelligence gathering also allowed General MacArthur to gain much needed knowledge about the enemy’s strong points and weaknesses. However, General MacArthur had one weakness himself. The X Corps that would carry out the operation was highly inexperienced. The X Corps commanded by MacArthur’s close friend and advisor Major General Edmond Almond was created specifically for the invasion of Incheon and featured many troops with no combat experience.

Two of the three Marine regiments that composed the 1st Marine Division involved in the operation had no combat experience. In fact the 1st Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division was activated in August and staged in Japan preparing for the invasion and the 7th Marine Regiment was activated on the 1st of September before deploying to fight at Incheon. Both of these regiments were filled with replacements from state side school houses, half of them were from the US Marine Reserve, and Marines transferred from the Mediterranean. The 5th Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division on the other hand were battle hardened Marines who fought in ferocious battles along the Naktong River Line during the Pusan Perimeter defense. They were the only unit in the X Corps with combat experience.

The 7th Infantry Division which was the Army’s contribution to the invasion was in worse shape than the Marines. They were the division responsible for occupation duty in Japan. However, as the war raged on in Korea the division was stripped for replacement soldiers in Korea. In August of 1950 the 7th Division was at approximately half strength. By channeling all infantry and artillery replacements into the 7th Division and transferring 8,000 ROK Army KATUSA trainees from Pusan to join the 7th Division in Japan, the division was able to near 100% strength by September.

However, these 8,000 KATUSA soldiers were merely nothing more than poor Korean boys taken from the refugee camps of Pusan for KATUSA training before being picked up for the Incheon invasion. They had not received any English or military training before leaving for Japan. Many of the KATUSAs in fact wore only shorts and sandals when they reported to their respective units in Japan.

To say the US invasion force lacked experience was an understatement but they did have numbers because X Corps when it was all said and done was composed of over 70,000 soldiers. MacArthur however, would rely heavily on the battle hardened 5th Marine Regiment to spearhead the landing at Incheon.

For two days prior to the landing the North Korean positions had been bombed repeatedly by US naval and air power. At 6:30AM on September 15, 1950 Marines from the battle hardened 5th Marine Regiment with nine Pershing tanks landed on Green Beach on Wolmi-do Island. The island sat in the middle of the harbor and had to be secured before the remaining invasion force could land at Incheon proper. The Marines secured the island in one and a half hours and killed or captured 400 North Korean soldiers while only suffering 17 wounded themselves.

However, the tide receded by 8:30AM and the invasion fleet had to retreat or risk being stuck in the mud flats. The Marines on Wolmi-do had to hold the island from an enemy counter attack along the tidal barrier connecting the island to the mainland until the tide rose again and more troops could land. The Marines held the island until 5:32PM when the tide rose again and the remaining Marines from the 1st Marine Division stormed Red Beach to the North and Blue Beach to the south of Wolmi-do, crushing the enemy resistance in the city of Incheon.

A picture of a Marine climbing a 15 foot high tidal barriers with a ladder while being shot at by North Koreans hiding in buildings over looking his position became the iconic image of the landing .

There had been no such amphibous landing during World War II into a city like what was being attempted now. Also during this time of combat in the streets of Incheon the Pershing tanks and Marines on Wolmi-do began to cross the tidal barrier to enter Incheon and also engage the overwhelmed North Koreans.

By 0130 on 16 September, 1950 the Marines had secured all their objectives in Incheon and allowed the ROK Special Marines to enter the city and mop up any remaining enemy forces, which they did with great brutality. Overall the X Corps had only 20 men killed, 174 wounded, and one MIA in taking Incheon. It was truly a brilliant amphibious operation constructed by General MacArthur.

The harbor was secured and the remainder of the X Corps, mostly the 7th Division, unloaded their equipment and men and began the march to capture Seoul. By September 26, 1950 Seoul was in UN forces hands and the North Korean supply lines had been effectively cut to their forces in the south. The 8th Army units at the Pusan perimeter mounted an offensive against the North Koreans and quickly the North Korean units were crushed by MacArthur’s hammer and anvil tactic. The North Koreans would never recover from this major defeat until the Chinese entered the war. But that is a story for another posting.

Information about the Incheon Landing was provided by the Kmike.com website and the book, This Kind of War by T.R. Fehrenbach.

The Battle of Incheon

This Kind of War

Then:

Freedom Bridge which crossed the Imjim River during the Korean War via Defense Media.

Now:

Notice the amount of trees that have since grown on the South Korean hillsides. The mountains you see in the background are the mountains near Kaeseong, North Korea.

UPDATE: I highly recommend everyone read my prior postings on this subject:

• Responding to the Bridge at No Gun Ri
• The Forensics of No Gun Ri
• Revisiting No Gun Ri
• Transcript of Briefing to Seoul Rotary Club
• The No Gun Ri Document Shell Game

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Recently many Korean news media have been providing inaccurate reports about the tragic events that happened today, 55 years ago, on July 26, 1950 near the village of Nogun-ri during the first month of combat during the Korean War. In an effort to set the record straight and hopefully educate the wide audience I have and appreciate that read my blog, I have decided to have my next Focus On series dedicated to the tragedy that happened at No Gun-ri during those dark days of the Korean War.

This topic is highly controversial and filled with inaccuracies and mythology that is taken to be fact by many people who have certain anti-military or anti-USFK agendas or are just not aware of all the changing stories and retractions made from the original Pulitzer Prize winning AP story from 1999.

Unfortunately this perception of war criminal GIs from the Korean War created by this irresponsible reporting continues to slime the slowly dying generation of veterans who left America to fight for the freedom of a country that many of them had never heard of before.

In an effort to get the opposing viewpoint of what happened at No Gun-ri out and restore honor to these veterans, I wrote a series of articles on the topic that are posted below to help people become more educated about what really happened at No Gun-ri:

Controversies of the Korean War: The Tragedy at No Gun-ri?

Part 1 – Who Were the Soldiers of the 7th Cavalry?
Part 2 – What Happened at No Gun-ri?
Parth 3 – The Aftemath of No Gun-ri
Part 4 – The Media and No Gun-ri

The AP tried everything in their power to discredit Robert Bateman who wrote the book No Gun-ri which challenged the original misreporting by the AP. The AP even contacted his publisher and boss at West Point to intimidate them. This is your freedom of the press in action. It didn’t work and his book was published, which exposed the distortions, frauds, and dishonesty in the original AP article.

Amazingly one of the AP reporters found time to even go after me for posting about No Gun-ri. I guess my No Gun-ri postings have been getting to many hits from readers which they don’t like.

The No Gun-ri issues continues to be a hot button issue that has been shaped with to much emotion and myth making and not enough facts. Unlike the AP I want you to judge the facts of No Gun-ri for yourself and make your own decision about what happened at No Gun-ri. Read all my postings and then I highly recommend you read both Bateman’s and the AP’s books and then judge the information for yourself. It also helps to read some of the good quality Korean War books available as well to further educate yourself about the Korean War.

Below are more No Gun-ri related postings that I have done and I update this list as new No Gun-ri information becomes available:

No Gun-ri Compensation Money Goes Unused

Claimants Want Washington to Show them the Money

Oh My News and No Gun-ri

AP Reporter Charles Hanley Responds to GI Korea Criticism

No Gun-ri Compensation Money Goes Unused

No Gun-ri Movie Completed

No Gun-ri the Comic Book, Coming to Europe

What Does Iraq and No Gun-ri Have in Common?

Bateman Responds to Latest AP Scandal

No Gun-ri Misreporting Continues

The Muccio Letter: Making Old News New Again

Fishing for the Next No Gun-ri

The US has stopped recovering the remains of soldiers killed during the Korean War in North Korea.

The Pentagon on Wednesday abruptly suspended U.S. efforts to recover the remains of American soldiers from North Korea, accusing the Koreans of creating an environment that could jeopardize the safety of U.S. personnel performing the work.

The work has been proceeding since 1996, resulting in the recovery of more than 220 soldiers’ remains. Thousands more are still missing, and a large number of those are believed to be recoverable.

The move came just one day after the Pentagon announced that a number of remains of U.S. soldiers had been recovered during the first of what had been scheduled to be a series of missions this year at two former battlefields in North Korea. That announcement gave no indication there was a problem with safety.

This is interesting, I wonder if the North Koreans are demanding more money? The recovery of the remains is a nice little money maker for the North Koreans because they make a lot of money for allowing the US authorities to recover the remains. I don’t think the US government would suspend this type of mission unless the money demand was completely unreasonable.

I have actually seen one of the repatriation ceremonies at Panmunjom in the JSA. It really is a solemn moment to see the coffin being brought across the MDL (military demarcation line) at Panmunjom. It kind of brings home the ultimate sacrifice that 53,000 American soldiers made in the hills of Korea 50 years ago and we continue to make today in the deserts of Iraq. It has to mean a lot to the families that the US government is so vigorously pursuing the recovery of their family members. Hopefully this program will continue again once the North quit doing whatever they were doing.

Basic Information

• Name: Incheon Landing Operation Memorial Hall (인천상륙작전기념관)
• Where: Incheon, Gyeongi Province
• Cost: Free
• Hours: 0900-1800 (Closed for holidays)
• More Info: Visit Korea website

Narrative

For those who want to learn more about the Incheon landing operation or about the Korean War in general I recommend you visit the Incheon Landing Memorial Monument Hall in the Songdo area of Incheon. The memorial is fairly new and houses a nice collection of artifacts and memorabilia from the landing operation and the Korean War. The best part is that admission into the museum is free.

The entrance to the memorial features a large archway adorned with the flags of the 16 countries that participated in the Korean War. Climbing up the stairs to the second outside level of the memorial you can see a static display of aircraft and equipment used during the Korean War. Most notably the landing crafts used during the invasion.

The third level of the memorial houses a large statue that honors the soldiers that fought at Incheon Harbor on September 15, 1950. The statue is detailed and quite impressive. Near the statue is a bronze plaque in tribute of the 1st Marine Division that spearheaded the Incheon Landing Operation. Like the Marine heroes in action at Incheon that fateful day, today’s 1st Marine Division was called on to lead the November 2004 successful assault to retake the terrorist held city of Fallujah in Iraq.

From here head back down to the first level of the memorial to enter the museum. The museum is actually put together quite nicely with events of the Korean War and the Incheon Landing Operation presented in chronological order complete with explanations of the exhibits presented in Korean, English, and Japanese by the push of a button.

Conclusion

If in Incheon make sure you visit the Incheon Landing Memorial. It is free and really well put together and worthy of a visit. It is open on Tues-Sun from 9:30-18:30. To reach it just get off at the Incheon train station and have a taxi taking you to Songdo where the Memorial is located.

This weekend I took a trip to the remote Northern Gangwon-do area to see the infamous Korean War battle site, the Punchbowl. I reached the Punchbowl by traveling North from Chuncheon on Highway 46. The highway travels up and twists around the side of some high mountains before traveling adjacent to the Soyangho Lake.

The mountains here are round, steep, and high; many reaching over 1,000 meters. They are not stunning rock monoliths like Bukhansan or Soraksan but more like mountains you would see in West Virgina. Never the less it is extremely beautiful up there especially along the lake. The best part about exploring this area is the fact very few people venture up there. No traffic jams, no cars parked all over the side of the roads, and no trails jam packed with hikers like a city side walk. You can pretty much pick a spot and enjoy it for yourself the whole day.

The lake itself was just beautiful. I just wish I had time and access to a boat. This would be a great place to water ski. The water was so calm and there was only one boater on the lake the whole day. I didn’t see any boat or water ski rental businesses or anybody water skiing the whole day; so I wonder if you can do water sports on the lake? Probably I don’t see why not.

The city of Yanggu just North of Soyangho Lake is located adjacent to another lake Paroho Lake. Supposedly this lake is famous for great fishing. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to find out but I am actually thinking of planning a fishing trip there in the future. The Marmot had sent me a message saying the city was a really nice place and he was right. The city has lots of flowers planted everywhere and was really clean and orderly. The school there was brand new with a huge gym and also a new soccer stadium with two practice fields. This city was impressive for being located so close to the DMZ. Border cities are usually run down and shabby, not this one. This picture is from a ridge on the Punchbowl looking South towards Yanggu.

Looking around this area I can’t help but think this would be a great place to turn into an adventure sports city. There are plenty of remote and steep mountains for climbing, hiking, and mountain biking, access to the lake for water sports, and down the road in Inje there is white water rafting and kayaking. It just needs to be developed to conduct these activities. Personally I would love to go mountain biking up there sometime.

The next stop was the Punchbowl to the north. Highway 31 travels north of Yanggu along a pretty valley filled with sporadic farms and military bases. Eventually you will reach an exit to the Punchbowl. The road to the Punchbowl travels up an extremely steep road that reaches over 1000 meters in elevation. From the top of the road you get a great view of the area and something that really sticks out is the deforestation that occurred here in the past due to the war. Many small trees have been planted to heal the scars here just like in other areas in Korea.

Once inside the Punchbowl you can really understand why they called it such. The valley is exactly the shape of a round bowl. This shape is due to the valley actually being the caldera of a long extinct and badly eroded volcano. Kind of like a really, really, old Paekdusan, the famous North Korean volcano.

In this picture you can see that the Punchbowl is actually visible from outer space.

Inside of the valley there are many farms and located in the middle of the valley is the village of Haean. Haean is a very small village with few accomodations and a heavy military presence. The village does have a small museum and you can book a tour to see the 4th Infiltration Tunnel and the Ulji Observation Post.

The Punchbowl is the site of the infamous Bloody Ridge and Heartbreak Ridge battles. On these slopes during the Korean War 183 ROK Marines and 245 American Marines lost their lives to take these mountains from the defending North Korean soldiers. The combined ROK and American Marines inflicted 2,799 KIAs on the enemy and captured 557 POWs during the fighting.  The memories of these casualties are enshrined at a memorial in the middle of Haean:

Securing these two mountains allowed the coalition forces to consolidate their hold on the Haean basin and to gain strategic ground over looking the North Korean territory to defend against any future North Korean offensives. This strategic ground remains valuable today in protecting the nation from future North Korean aggression.

The below pictures show the Heartbreak and Bloody Ridge battle sites.

Today the battle sites make up part of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and is defended by the ROK Army. Looking at the Punchbowl today it is hard to imagine that such a tranquil valley as this was once the scene of the most ferocious fighting of the Korean War. Besides the DMZ the only reminder that this battle occured here, is the billboard in the city proclaiming this basin as the site of the final battle featured in the hit Korean movie, Taeguki.