The Foundation of Freedom is the Courage of Ordinary People

History    On Line

	Roy E. Appleman CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES WASHINGTON, D. C., 1992 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 60-60043 First Printed 1961-CMH Pub 20-2-1
...to Those Who Served

Foreword

At the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, the U.S. Army combat units nearest the scene were the four infantry divisions performing occupation duties in Japan. When the Army of the Republic of Korea, supported only by U.S. air and naval forces, was unable to halt the North Korean aggressors, these divisions, seriously understrength and only partially trained and equipped for fighting, provided the troops that were committed initially to action in response to the call of the United Nations Security Council.

Colonel Appleman's narrative portrays vividly the grimness of "limited war" against a fanatical enemy, and the tragic consequences of unpreparedness. His writing recaptures the dismay that most Americans experienced in the realization that a small, little-known country could achieve military success against a coalition that included this, the world's most powerful nation.

Here is the story of how U.S. Army combat units, thrown piecemeal into the battle to slow Communist advances, fought a desperate and heroic delaying action, buying time until the United Nations forces could attain the military strength necessary to take the offensive. When that offensive was launched, it quickly crushed the North Korean forces, only to be met with the massive intervention of a more formidable adversary, Communist China.

This volume covers U.S. Army action in Korea from the outbreak of war to the full-scale intervention of the Chinese Communists. It is the first of five volumes now planned for inclusion in UNITED STATES ARMY IN THE KOREAN WAR, a series patterned on the much more voluminous UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II. Subsequent volumes will complete the Korean combat narrative as well as deal with related problems of command, strategy, logistics, handling of prisoners of war, and the armistice negotiations.

 

Washington, D. C.             JAMES A. NORELL

15 March 1960                 Brigadier General, U.S.A.  

                              Chief of Military History 

Page vii

The Author

Roy E. Appleman, a graduate of Ohio State University, magna cum laude, continued his education at Yale Law School and Columbia University, receiving from the latter the M.A. degree in History and completing all requirements for the Ph.D. degree except the publication of a dissertation.

He entered the United States Army as a private in the infantry in 1942 during World War II and after completing Officer Candidate School the following year was commissioned a 2d lieutenant. After a number of assignments, he was sent overseas to the Pacific theater in 1944, assigned as a combat historian with the United States Tenth Army and subsequently attached to the XXIV Corps. Coauthor of Okinawa: The Last Battle, first combat volume to be published in the series UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II, he received the Army Commendation Ribbon in 1945 for performance of duties as combat historian in the Okinawa campaign and his subsequent contribution to the Okinawa volume.

Early in 1951 Colonel Appleman (then a major) was ordered from reserve status to active duty with the Army and sent to Korea as a combat historian for the purpose of studying the action there and preparing the Army's history of the Korean War. A lieutenant colonel, he returned to civilian life in the autumn of 1954. Upon completion of the manuscript for the present work, he received the Secretary of the Army's Certificate of Appreciation for Patriotic Civilian Service.

Author of Abraham Lincoln: From His Own Words and Contemporary Accounts, published by the Government Printing Office; coauthor of Great Western Indian Fights, being published by Doubleday & Company, Inc.; and coauthor of History of the United States Flag and Symbols of Sovereignty, being published by Harper & Brothers, Mr. Appleman is presently Staff Historian in the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, and holds a commission as lieutenant colonel in the U. S. Army Reserve.

Preface

William Napier, upon finishing after seventeen years of painful toil the six volumes of his Peninsular War, wrote in a parody of Chaucer:

"Easy ys myne bake to rede and telleth of moche fyte,
But then your easy rede is damned hard to wryte...."

True it is that a historian's first business is grinding toil and drudgery. All of this it has been to the writer of this book. Nevertheless it was a labor willingly undertaken, but accompanied throughout by the apprehension that he might fail in doing justice to the story of his countrymen who fought in Korea.

First and always, within the limits of his knowledge and ability, the author has neglected no effort nor passed over any evidence that seemed likely to further his purpose of writing a true history of the Korean War. He accepted Parkman's dictum that faithfulness to the truth of history involves far more than research, that one who is to write it "must study events in their bearings near and remote; in the character, habits, and manners of those who took part in them . . . and must himself be, as it were, a sharer or a spectator of the action he describes."

During the first four of the nine years he devoted to writing this book, from 1951 to 1954, the writer was on active duty in the United States Army and completed a first draft of the manuscript. In the following five years, as a civilian in Army reserve status, he devoted the time he could salvage from earning a living to several revisions and final completion of the work.

The writer was not entirely a stranger to Korea when he arrived there early in July 1951. Six years earlier, as a staff officer, he had accompanied Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge's U. S. XXIV Army Corps from Okinawa to Korea in early September 1945. This was at the beginning of United States commitment in Korea, when General Hodge accepted the surrender of the Japanese there at the end of World War II and began the occupation of that country below the 38th Parallel. But it was in 1951 that the writer saw Korea's hills at close quarter and felt his knees tremble and buckle as he climbed the steeply pitched ridges.

Korea was at the same time both beautiful and sordid. The green hills and patchwork-patterned rice paddies have an enchanting beauty when seen from a distance or the relative comfort of a vehicle on the roads. Slogging over this same ground carrying a load of weapons and pack in scorching heat or pelting rain, or in the numbing cold of a Siberian-type winter, with the enemy waiting around the next bend or over the next rise of ground, is another matter. Then the landscape loses its charm and becomes harsh and deadly to the spirit and exhausting to mind and body.

From Pusan in the south to the United Nations line north of the 38th Parallel, from the Imjin River in the west to the Iron Triangle, to. the mountain line above the Hwach'on Reservoir, to Heartbreak Ridge and the Punchbowl, and on to the high Taebaek Mountains near the east coast in the ROK sector, the writer traveled from command post to command post and often up to battalions and rifle companies on the line. His companion during these travels in Korea was Capt. (now Major) Russell A. Gugeler, an experienced soldier who subsequently wrote Combat Actions in Korea. Whenever possible the earlier, 1950 battlefields were visited. Where lack of time or other circumstances did not permit this, critical terrain was studied from liaison planes that could dip low and circle at leisure around points of interest.

The writer came to know the stifling dust, the heat, the soaking rains, the aching legs, the exhausted body that was the common experience of the men who fought in Korea, although he seldom had to run any risk of known personal danger as did they, and he could always look forward to food at night and a safe place to sleep at some command post, which most of them could not. It is easy for him now to close his eyes and see the rushing torrents in the mountain gorges and everywhere the hills, scantily covered, if at all, in the south, and green with pine in the higher mountains of the north. In the lower ground were the rice paddies, small vegetable patches, the mud-walled and thatched-roof huts. How could one forget this Asiatic land where so many of his countrymen died or were maimed, where they enacted their roles of bravery and fortitude. In a sense, the Korean War experience became a part of him.

Official records are indispensable for fixing dates and time of major events and troop movements. But anyone familiar with the way the records of combat units during battle are made up will know that they seldom tell the essential facts of what happened, and how, and why. They are often the products of indifferent clerks transcribing, at places remote from the scene of action, a minimum of messages for something-anything-that will satisfy the official requirement for a report. Those who know the most about an action or an event seldom take the time to tell, or write, about it. They are too tired, or too nearly dead, or they are dead.

In the early months of the Korean War there was little time for the military organizations committed there to keep adequate records of what they did, even had there been the desire to do so. Always they were stopping only briefly, fighting hazardous rear-guard actions, and then on the run again. No one had time to write down what had happened and why, even if he knew. And no one in the various headquarters had the time or the energy or the will to search out those who survived each action and from them learn firsthand of the event. Everyone was too much concerned with survival or of getting a moment of respite from exhaustion. A record for posterity, for history, weighed the least of many things on their minds. Even when reports of military organizations are models of official records, the author agrees wholly with Marshal Erich von Manstein, who believes that a historian of military matters and campaigns "cannot get the truth from files and documents alone . . . the answer . . . will seldom be found-certainly not in a complete form-in files or war diaries."

How easy it would have been to write a story of the war based on the records alone, never stopping to get beneath that gloss! Such a book might have read smoothly and had a tone of plausibility to all except those whose personal knowledge would have branded it as inadequate at best and as almost wholly false at worst. Rather than produce such a book, the author chose the nine years of work that resulted in this one.

Since it was only from survivors of the early battles in Korea that one could hope to reconstruct the narrative of the first months of the conflict, the writer undertook to get their story. When he arrived in Korea in early July 1951, on active duty with the Army, he had orders from Maj. Gen. Orlando Ward, then Chief of Military History, to study the terrain of the action and to interview as many participants, of all ranks, as he could find. He began then a process continued almost to the hour that this manuscript went to press. He talked with hundreds of soldiers, from privates to three- and four-star generals, about particular actions and decisions affecting the action of which each had personal knowledge in some degree. One interview would result in leads to others. Thus the snowball grew. Many officers and soldiers who had information were now in distant lands on reassignment, or otherwise out of reach for personal discussion. To them went letters. Over the years, information came back from many corners of the globe. The response was remarkable. The author had only to ask and he received. The men were eager to tell their story-from the private in the ranks to General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. Without this willing help of those who toiled, suffered, bled, and lost their comrades the story of the Korean War in 1950 could never have been told satisfactorily. If this narrative carries the mark of truth, it is to these men largely that it is due. My debt to them is great.

Some major events almost defied comprehension. Such was the battle of Taejon. The author spent seven years in attempting to solve that puzzling and bizarre action. The first draft of the Taejon chapter, based on the official records, was nothing. Knowing this, the author sought out survivors and throughout the years searched for, and gradually accumulated, more information. Missing pieces of the puzzle came to light that made it possible to fit others into place. The author rewrote this Chaptereight times. Finally he obtained from Maj. Gen. William F. Dean his comments on the manuscript and a statement of his contemporary thoughts and actions bearing on the events described. Some of them were not calculated to raise him to the level of an all-seeing military commander, but they marked Dean as a man of truth and honor. Then, with General Dean's contributions, the author felt at last that he had salvaged about all that ever would be learned concerning Taejon from American sources. Many other chapters reached their final form in much the same manner as this one.

The scope and scale of treatment change as the narrative proceeds. At first only two reinforced rifle companies were committed to battle, then a battalion, then a regiment, then a division, finally the Eighth Army and the reconstituted ROK Army. Against them was the might of the initially victorious North Korean Army, and later the light infantry masses of the Chinese Communist Forces. Gradually, United Nations troops from many parts of the world entered the lists, usually in small numbers to be sure, but in the case of Great Britain the force rose from two battalions to a Commonwealth division. As the larger forces came into action against each other the focus of action necessarily broadened and detail diminished. Task Force Smith, for example, in the first week of July 1950, received a detail of treatment that could not possibly be continued for all of the Eighth Army late in the year, nor even in August and September at the Naktong Perimeter. The use of detail necessarily had to be more selective. The ROK Army is treated in less detail than the American organizations, but enough is told to relate its part in the over-all operations. Reliable information on ROK action was nearly always very difficult to obtain, and sometimes impossible.

Throughout, the writer's sympathies have been with the troops who fought the battles at close range-the men who handled the rifles, who threw the grenades, who caught the enemy's bullets, who fought their own fears in the face of the unknown, who tried to do their duty as United States soldiers even though they were fighting for a cause they did not understand, and in a country to whose culture and interests they were strangers. He tried to be there with them.

The writer is indebted to many officers who, while serving in the Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, have read the manuscript in its various stages and offered comments and criticisms. They include Maj. Gen. Richard W. Stephens, a leading participant in the action; Col. George G. O'Connor; Col. S. W. Foote; Col. Carl D. McFerren; Col. Joseph Rockis; Col. Warren H. Hoover; and Lt. Col. Eugene J. White.

The sympathetic and generous viewpoint of Dr. Kent Roberts Greenfield, who gave valuable help in directing the critical panel review of the manuscript and evaluating needed final revisions, is gratefully acknowledged. Dr. Louis Morton gave detailed and critical review to the manuscript. Dr. Stetson Conn, who succeeded Dr. Greenfield as Chief Historian, and his Deputy, Dr. John Miller, jr., have been most helpful in reviewing the final draft of the manuscript.

To Miss Ruth Stout, the editor, and Mr. Thomas J. Seess, the copy editor, the writer especially wants to express his appreciation for their friendly, necessary, and painstaking editing of the manuscript and guiding it through the printer. Mr. Joseph R. Friedman, as Editor in Chief, has contributed from his wide editorial experience and wisdom. Mrs. Norma Heacock Sherris assisted in finding suitable illustrations for the volume.

Mr. Billy-Mossman, assisted by Mr. Elliot Dunay and the draftsmen who worked under his supervision, produced the maps in this volume. The author turned over to Mr. Mossman a large number of sketch maps and overlays which he had prepared while writing the text. Mr. Mossman, a former infantry officer with World War II experience in the Pacific Theater, and later on active duty in Korea during the Korean War, has a wide knowledge of military matters and of Korea itself. This background combined with his training in military cartography made him an ideal choice for the layout and supervision of the map work on this volume.

Mr. Israel Wice and his staff in the General Reference Section, Office of the Chief of Military History, cheerfully and efficiently gave their services in obtaining official records and other materials requested by the writer for his use. Mr. Stanley Falk prepared a useful digest of the Far East Command Daily Intelligence Summary, July through November 1950, relative to the Korean War. In an early stage of the work, Mrs. Gwendolyn Taylor as typist and general assistant gave valuable help.

The writer is much indebted to Mrs. Joy B. Kaiser. Many a complicated troop movement she has reconstructed on an overlay from coordinate readings given in S-3 and G-3 journals and periodic reports. The author never tried to write up the story of an action until after it had been plotted on a terrain map. Thus, Mrs. Kaiser in a two-year period saved him much labor, doubling as typist for an early draft of the manuscript, preparing overlays from journal co-ordinates, and otherwise contributing to the work.

Another whose dedication benefited the writer is Mrs. Edna W. Salsbury. She assumed the task of typing what turned out to be the last two revisions of the manuscript, and she performed that task ably. Throughout the tedious work of typing a heavily footnoted manuscript she made many suggestions that resulted in improving readability and her careful attention to detail contributed much in maintaining accuracy.

Notwithstanding the considerable assistance given the author by so many individuals and organizations, he alone is responsible for interpretations made and conclusions drawn in this volume as well as for any errors of omission or commission.

The person to whom the author owes most is Maj. Gen. Orlando Ward. As Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, in 1951, he ordered him to Korea to start this work. He opened the door for him to all commanders in Korea and the Far East Command. His experience as Secretary of the General Staff from 1938 to 1941, and subsequently as commander of the 1st Armored Division in North Africa, had given him broad knowledge of military matters and firsthand experience of battle and how it affects men.

General Ward's constant injunction to the author was to seek the truth of the Korean War and to tell it, no matter whom it might touch unfavorably. He wanted the facts made known, because only from them, he thought, could the United States build a better army for its defense. How well the writer remembers his statement one day in casual conversation, "Truth is the first casualty in battle." He has tried not to have it the first casualty in this account of the Korean War.

 

Washington, D.C.                                         ROY E. APPLEMAN 

15 March 1960                                   Lieutenant Colonel, USAR 

---

Contents

Chapter

I. KOREA AND THE BACKGROUND OF CONFLICT

II. ARMED FORCES OF NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA
    The North Korea People's Army
    The Republic of Korea Armed Forces

III. INVASION ACROSS THE PARALLEL
    Invasion
    The ROK Counterattack at Uijongbu
    The Fall of Seoul

IV. THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED NATIONS REACT
    U.S. and U.N. Action
    Evacuation of U.S. Nationals From Korea
    KMAG Starts To Leave Korea
    ADCOM in Korea
    MacArthur Flies to Korea
    The President Authorizes Use of U.S. Ground Troops in Korea

V. THE NORTH KOREANS CROSS THE HAN RIVER
    Deployment of U.S. Forces in the Far East, June 1950
    The River Crossing
    ADCOM Abandons Suwon

VI. AMERICAN GROUND FORCES ENTER THE BATTLE
    Task Force Smith Goes to Korea
    Task Force Smith at Osan

VII. DELAYING ACTION: P'YONGT'AEK TO CHOCH'IWON
    The Retreat From Pyongtaek
    Night Battle at Chonsan
    The 21st Infantry Moves Up
    The Fight at Chonui
    Choch'iwon

VIII. IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND ON THE EAST COAST

IX. EIGHTH ARMY IN COMMAND
    General Walker Assumes Command in Korea
    Troop Training and Logistics
    The Port of Pusan and Its Communications
    American Command Estimate

X. DISASTER AT THE KUM RIVER LINE
    The N.K. 4th Division Crosses the Kum Below Kongju
    The 63d Field Artillery Battalion Overrun
    The N.K. 3d Division Crosses the Kum Against the 19th Infantry
    Roadblock Behind the 19th Infantry

XI. TAEJON
    Dean's Plan at Taejon
    Taejon - The First Day
    Taejon - The Second Day
    Withdrawal From Taejon - Roadblock
    The 24th Division After Taejon

XII. THE FRONT LINE MOVES SOUTH
    Yongdok and the East Coastal Corridor
    Reorganization of the ROK Army
    The U.S. 25th Division at Sangju
    The 1st Cavalry Division Sails for Korea
    The 1st Cavalry Division Loses Yongdong
    The 27th Infantry's Baptism of Fire
    Retreat
    Stand or Die

XIII. THE ENEMY FLANKS EIGHTH ARMY IN THE WEST
    Walker Acts
    The Trap at Hadong
    The N.K. 4th Divisions Joins the Enveloping Move
    The N.K. 4th Division seizes the Koch'ang Approach to the Naktong
    Chinju Falls to the Enemy - 31 July
    Three Pershing Tanks at Chinju
    Colonel Wilson Escapes With the 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry

XIV. BLOCKING THE ROAD TO MASAN
    The Two Roads to Masan
    The Battle at the Notch
    Colonel Check's Reconnaissance in Force Toward Chinju
    The Affair at Chindong-ni

XV. ESTABLISHING THE PUSAN PERIMETER
    The 25th Division Moves South
    United Nations Forces Withdraw Behind the Naktong
    The Pusan Perimeter
    U.S. Air Action and Build-up in the First Month
    Strength of the Opposing Forces at the Pusan Perimeter

XVI. THE FIRST AMERICAN COUNTERATTACK—TASK FORCE KEAN
    Who Attacks Whom?
    The 5th Marines on the Coastal Road
    Bloody Gulch - Artillery Graveyard
    Task Force Dean Ended

XVII. THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE NAKTONG BULGE
    The Naktong Bulge
    The N.K. 4th Division Attacks into the Naktong Bulge
    The Enemy Gains Cloverleaf-Obong-ni
    Yongsan Under Attack
    Battle at Cloverleaf-Obong-ni
    Marines Attack Obong-ni
    24th Division Attack Gains Cloverleaf
    Obong-ni Falls
    The Enemy Bridgehead Destroyed

XVIII. BATTLE FOR THE EASTERN CORRIDOR TO PUSAN
    The Kyongju Corridor to Pusan
    The North Koreans Reach Pohang-dong
    The Air Force Abandons Yonil Airfield
    The ROK 3d Division Evacuated by Sea
    The North Koreans Turned Back From the Kyongju Corridor

XIX. THE TAEGU FRONT
    The North Koreans Cross the Naktong for the Attack on Taegu
    Triangulation Hill
    The Enemy 10th Division's Crossing at Yongpo
    Hill 303 at Waegwan
    Tragedy on Hill 303
    Carpet Bombing Opposite Waegwan
    Bowling Alley - the Sangju-Taegu Corridor

XX. STALEMATE WEST OF MASAN
    The Southern Anchor of the Army Line 1st
    The N.K. 6th Division Regroups West of Masan
    Enemy Attacks at Koman-ni (Saga) 1st
    Battle Mountain

XXI. AUGUST BUILD-UP AND SEPTEMBER PORTENTS
    The Far East Air Forces in August
    Ground Build-up
    Korean Augmentation to the United States Army
    Eighth Army Realignment and Extension Eastward
    The North Korean Plan

XXII. PERIMETER BATTLE
    Action in the East - Task Force Jackson
    Enemy Breakthrough at Yongchon
    Back on Taegu
    Crisis in Eighth Army Command
    The 7th Cavalry's Withdrawal Battle
    Troopers in the Mountains - Walled Ka-san
    Hill 314

XXIII. NORTH KOREAN BREAKTHROUGH IN THE SOUTH
    Midnight Near Masan
    Agok
    Task Force Manchu Misfires
    The North Koreans Split the U.S. 2d Division
    General Walker's Decisions on 1 September

XXIV. THE NORTH KOREAN GREAT NAKTONG OFFENSIVE
    The End of Task Force Manchu
    The Battle of Yongsan
    The 23d Infantry in Front of Changnyong
    A North Korean Puzzle
    The 34th Infantry - The Rock of the Nam
    Counterattack at Haman
    Battle Mountain and Sobuk-san

XXV. THE LANDING AT INCH'ON
    MacArthur's Early Plans
    X Corps Troops Assembled
    The Landing Controversy
    Naval Plans
    Intelligence Estimate
    The Ships Load Out
    Preliminary Bombardment
    Securing the Inchon Beachhead
    Capture of Kimpo Airfield and Advance to the Han River

XXVI. THE CAPTURE OF SEOUL
    The Capture of Yongdungpo
    Securing the Southern Flank
    Seoul's Western Ramparts
    The Infantry Enters Seoul
    Battle of the Barricades
    MacArthur Re-establishes Sygman Rhee in Seoul
    The Blocking Force South of Seoul
    The X Corps Situation

XXVII. BREAKING THE CORDON
    The Eighth Army Plan
    The Enemy Strength
    United Nations' Perimeter Strength
    The 38th Infantry Crosses the Naktong
    The 5th Regimental Combat Team Captures Waegwan
    The 24th Division Deploys West of the Naktong
    The Indianhead Division Attacks West
    Encirclement Above Taegu
    The Right Flank
    The Left Flank - The Enemy Withdraws From Sobuk-san

XXVIII. PURSUIT AND EXPLOITATION
    The 25th Division Crosses Southwest Korea
    The 2d Division Pushes West
    Taejon Regained
    From Tabu-dong to Osan - Eighth Army Link-up With X Corps
    The ROK Army Arrives at the 38th Parallel
    The Invaders Expelled From South Korea

XXIX. THE PLAN FOR COMPLETE VICTORY
    MacArthur's Plan of Operations in North Korea
    Eighth Army Deploys for the Attack
    The ROK I Corps Captures Wonsan and Hungnam
    The X Corps Prepares To Move Amphibiously to North-east Korea

XXX. EIGHTH ARMY AND X CORPS ENTER NORTH KOREA
    Eighth Army Crosses the Parallel - The Kumchon Pocket
    The X Corps Moves to Northeast Korea
    Mines at Wonsan Harbor
    The X Corps Ashore

XXXI. THE CAPTURE OF P'YONGYANG
    The Logistical Situation
    Sariwan Scramble
    Into Pyongyang

XXXII. UP TO THE CH'ONGCH'ON
    Airborne Attack: Sukchon and Sunchon
    The Enemy Blocking Force Destroyed
    Death in the Evening
    The Advance Continues

XXXIII. THE CHINESE INTERVENE
    American Optimism at End of October
    Continuation of the Pursuit
    ROK Troops Reach the Yalu
    Chinese Strike the ROK II Corps
    Unsan - Prelude
    On the West Coastal Road
    The X Corps' Changing Mission
    The CCF Block Way to Changjin Reservoir

XXXIV. UNSAN
    North of the Town
    Roadblock South of the Town
    Ordeal Near Camel's Head Bend

XXXV. EIGHTH ARMY HOLDS THE CH'ONGCH'ON BRIDGEHEAD
    Action North of the River
    MiG's and Jets Over the Yalu

XXXVI. THE CHINESE APPRAISE THEIR FIRST PHASE KOREAN ACTION

XXXVII. GUERRILLA WARFARE BEHIND THE FRONT

XXXVIII. THE X CORPS ADVANCES TO THE YALU
    ROK I Corps Attacks up the Coastal Road
    U.S. 7th Infantry Division Reaches Manchurian Border
    3d Infantry Division Joins X Corps
    7th Marines Clear Road to Reservoir
    The Gap Between Eighth Army and X Corps

XXXIX. THE BIG QUESTION
    The Chinese Communist Forces
    Eighth Army Estimate of CCF Intervention
    The X Corps Estimate
    The Far East Command's Estimates
    Actuality
    Conclusion
    The Pregnant Military Situation

SOURCES

GLOSSARY

Basic Military Map Symbols

INDEX

Tables
No.
1. ROK Combat Divisions, 1 June 1950
2. ROK Army, 26 July 1950
3. Estimated U.N. Strength as of 30 September 1950
4. Postwar Tabulation of U.N. Strength in Korea as of 30 September 1950
5. Organization of the XIII Army Group

Maps
No.
1. The North Koreans Cross the Han, 28 June-4 July 1950
2. Task Force Smith at Osan, 5 July 1950
3. Delaying Action, 34th Infantry, 5-8 July 1950
4. Delaying Action, 21st Infantry, 8-12 July 1950
5. The U.S.-ROK Front, 13 July 1950
6. Defense of the Kum River Line, 34th Infantry, 14 July 1950
7. Defense of the Kum River Line, 19th Infantry, 13-16 July 1950
8. Task Force Kean, 7-12 August 1950
9. North Korean Forces Enter the Naktong Bulge, 5-6 August 1950
10. Destroying the Enemy Bridgehead, 17-19 August 1950
11. The Threat to the Eastern Corridor, 10 August 1950
12. Eliminating the Threat, 11-20 August 1950
13. The N.K. Attacks on Taegu, 4-24 August 1950
14. The N.K. Attacks in the East, 27 August-15 September 1950
15. The N.K. Attacks on Taegu, 2-15 September 1950
16. The Inch'on Landing, 15-16 September 1950
17. Breaking the Cordon, 16-22 September 1950
18. The Kumch'on Pocket, 9-14 October 1950
19. The Capture of P'yongyang, 15-19 October 1950
20. Airborne Attack on Sukch'on and Sunch'on, 187th Airborne RCT, 20 October 1950
21. Advance of United Nations Command Forces, 20-24 October 1950
22. The Chinese Intervene in the West, 25 October-1 November 1950
23. The Unsan Engagement, 8th Cavalry Regiment, Night, 1-2 November 1950
24. The Ch'ongch'on Bridgehead, 3-6 November 1950
25. X Corps Advances to the Yalu River, 25 October-26 November

Color Maps
I. The North Korean Invasion, 25-28 June 1950
II. The Fall of Taejon, 20 July 1950
III. The Front Moves South, 14 July-1 August 1950
IV. The Pusan Perimeter, 4 August 1950 ........................ 236
V. The North Korean Naktong Offensive, U.S. 25th Division
Sector, 31 August-1 September 1950 .................... 438
VI. The North Korean Naktong Offensive, U.S. 2d Division
Sector, 31 August-1 September 1950 .................... 443
VII. The Capture of Seoul, 19-28 September 1950 ................ 511
VIII. The Pursuit, 23-30 September 1950 ......................... 574

Illustrations
South Korean Troops
Uijongbu Corridor
Brig. Gen. John H. Church
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur
Maj. Gen. William F. Dean
American Combat Troops Arriving at Taejon
Road Leading to Suwon
Task Force Smith Position
Traffic Jam
South of Ch'onan
Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker
Defense of Choch'iwon
General Walker and Col. Alfred G. Katzin
Main Rail Line out of Taejon
Moving Across the Kum River Bridge
Kum River Bridge Explosion
Dike Position near Taep'yong-ni
Aerial View of Taejon Airfield
Machine Gun Emplacement
Aerial View of Taejon City
The A-Frame
Strafing Attack
Naktong River at Andong
Cavalrymen Preparing for Action
Hadong
Hadong Pass
Moving Up From Chinju
Pier 2 at Pusan
60-Ton Crane at Pusan
Fox Hill Position
Point of a Combat Column
Marines on Hill 311
Aerial View of P'ohang-dong
Triangulation Hill
Waegwan Bridge
Maj. Gen. Paik Sun Yup
The Bowling Alley
Tank Action in the Bowling Alley
Enemy Side of the Rocky Crags
Rocket and Napalm Attack
Exploding Phosphorus Bombs
South Korean Recruit
Assault Troops of Company K
1st Cavalry Observation Post
General Walker Crossing the Naktong
Ruins of Ancient Fortress on Ka-san
D Company, 8th Engineer Combat Battalion
Mountain Mass West of Haman
Defensive Position in Front of Changnyong
U.N. Troops Cross Rice Paddies
Battle Trophy
2d_Battalion, 27th Infantry
27th Infantry Command Post
Veteran of the 5th Regimental Combat Team
Wolmi-do
Landing Craft and Bulldozers
Marines on Wolmi-do
Destroyed Enemy Tanks
Kimpo Runway
Top-Level Briefing
Marines on Hill 125
American Troops Move on Seoul
Seoul as Seen From the Air
Tanks Entering Seoul
The Battle for Hill 201
Crossing the Kumho River
Ponton Treadway Bridge
Advancing to the Crest of Hill 201
View From the Crest of Hill 201
40-mm. Antiaircraft Battery
Enemy-Held Area
Kumch'on From the Air
On the Outskirts of Kumch'on
Col Lee Hak Ku
Captured Enemy Equipment
Tank Troops of 1st Cavalry Division
3d ROK Division Officers and KMAG Advisers
ROK Troops
Kumch'on, North Korea
Landing Craft Approaching Beach
Tank-Supported Convoy
Burning Enemy Tank
5th Cavalry Troops
Capitol Building in P'yongyang
Kim Il Sung's Desk
Mass Airdrop Near Sunch'on
Artillery Airdrop Near Sukch'on
North Korean Atrocity Site
The Middlesex 1st Battalion
Supply by Air in Unsan Area
The 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry
Generals at the Yalu
On the Banks of the Yalu
Ox-Drawn Sleds
Chinese Communist POW's of 7th Marines
Chinese Communist Flag
Chu Teh
Lin Piao
Chou En-lai
Kim Il Sung
Peng Teh-huai
General MacArthur
Insignia of Major U.S. Ground Force Units

Illustrations are from Department of Defense files.

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