The Marines were escorted the
entire route of their Fight-Out by close-support aircraft from their
magnificent 1st Marine Air Wing. That's the
way Marines were trained. An F4U Corsair can just
be seen in the middle of the column of smoke,
checking the effectiveness of his attack.
Following WWII, Generals Marshall
and Bradley, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
wanted to unify our armed forces. Basically, that
would have eliminated the
role of the USMC, and disbanded the Marine Air
Squadrons. Had they had their way, without
even the First Marine Brigade, many
believe Pusan would have been lost, and South
Korea would have been crushed.
In fact, the Truman
administration almost accomplished that, reducing
the Corps to 6 fighting battalions armed with
worn-out WWII equipment. But, as the Chinese foot
infantry were proving to Eighth Army, battles are
not won by opinions. In the final analysis, they
are won by fighting men and China's Armies
were fighting men. The Marine Infantry were
fighting men as well, and they had brought
their fighting F4-U Squadrons with them.
