Before daylight on Sunday, June 25,
1950, the North Korea People's Army attacked
south across the 38th parallel.
Eight combat-ready North Korean
divisions, led by 120 Soviet T34 medium tanks and
extensive mobile artillery, crushed the four
combat-ready ROK infantry divisions, and butchered
a path down the peninsula until they were stopped
at the Pusan Perimeter.
In the early fighting, ROK wounded
could often be evacuated to military hospitals by
rail, as these soldiers were. Later, when most of the
fighting was in mountains and ridges, whether while
still engaging in battle by maneouver or in the
eventual trench warfare, helicopters were commonly
deployed.
These lightly armed troops, after
the main ROK forces were trapped and destroyed by
the North Korean surprise attack north of the Han,
did the best they could.