History
On Line
This volume was written primarily from records kept by the
Department of the Army and subordinate commands during the Korean War,
interpreted with the help of a number of other sources, principally armed
forces' histories, reports, and monographs. Unless otherwise specified, the
primary materials discussed below may be found in the collections in the custody
of the National Archives and Records Service of the General Services
Administration, Washington, D.C.
For the Washington side of the narrative, the Assistant Chief
of Staff, G-3, Operations, official central correspondence file, arranged
according to the Army decimal system, forms the most complete and useful Army
collection of high-level policy and planning papers. Since G-3 acted as the
executive agent for the Chief of Staff, most of the important letters,
memorandums, reports, and studies pertinent to the direction of the war in Korea
passed through this office.
G-3 also maintained a special collection of the official
transcripts, letters, and other documents pertaining to the truce conference.
The minutes of meetings of the plenary, subdelegate, liaison, and staff officers
sessions and the correspondence between the delegations will be found in this
collection.
The bulk of the correspondence between the JCS/Department of
the Army and the Far East Command United Nations Command was carried on by radio
communication. A complete file on the messages sent and received by the
JCS/Department of the Army to the UNC/FEC is kept in the Staff Communications
Center, Office of the Chief of Staff, DA.
Messages exchanged between UNC/ FEC and subordinate commands in
the field are available in The Adjutant General's files, FEC, at the Federal
Records Center, GSA, Kansas City, Missouri, and in the files cited in the
footnotes of the text.
For the theater story the most valuable sources are the command
reports submitted on a monthly basis by each major command. The narrative
sections of the reports provide an excellent guide to the major activities of
the month; the accompanying staff section reports, annexes, appendices and
inclosures amplify the narrative sections and include copies of many of the
basic documents discussed. The UNC/ FEC and the Eighth Army Command reports were
especially helpful in the preparation of this volume.
Theater files on plans, operations, command, administration,
and the armistice are in several collections. Far East Command files covering
1951 and 1953 activities in these departments and a small group of numbered
binders originating in the ,Joint Strategic Plans and Operations Group are in
the custody of the National Archives and Records Service. But the FEC G-3 and
General Administrative files for 1952 are at the Kansas City Records
Center, as are the Eighth Army Operational Planning and General Administrative
files.
The combat story is based principally upon battalion,
regimental, and divisional journals and reports. These contain both narrative
accounts of the action and much of the raw materials that provided the basis for
the narrative. The journal entries and transcripts of exchanges were especially
helpful.
During and shortly after the war, members of the Historical
Detachments attached to the Far East Command and to the Eighth Army produced a
number of monographs, studies, and after action reports on different phases of
the conflict. Covering the armistice, small unit actions, logistics, and a
myriad of other subjects, these manuscripts are invaluable, especially the
comprehensive fourvolume study on the armistice negotiations. Copies of the FEC
and Eighth Army monographs are in the Office of the Chief of Military History
files.
The records of the interviews conducted by the author and the
correspondence between the author and various participants in the events covered
in the volume will also be found in OCMH files.
Admiral Arleigh A. Burke graciously turned over to the author a
number of personal letters written during his tour as a member of the armistice
delegation. These letters are in OCMH files.
Secondary Sources
The following list is by no means complete but notes the works
the author found most useful.
Books
Appleman, Roy E. South to the Naktong: North to the Yalu.
UNITED STATES ARMY IN THE KOREAN WAR. Washington, 1961.
Barclay, Brigadier C. N. The First Commonwealth Division:
The Story of British Commonwealth Land Forces in Korea, 1950-1953. London:
Aldershot, Gale and Polden, Ltd., 1954.
Berger, Carl. The Korean Knot: A MilitaryPolitical History.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1957.
Biderman, Albert D. March to Calumny. New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1963.
Cagle, Malcolm W., and Frank A. Manson. The Sea War in
Korea. Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 1957.
Chung Kyung Cho. Korea Tomorrow: Land of the Morning Calm.
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1959.
Clark, Mark W. From the Danube to the Yalu. New York:
Harper and Brothers, 1954.
Clews, John. The Communists' New Weapon- Germ Warfare.
London: Lincoln Pragers, 1953.
Department of State. The Conflict in Korea. Washington,
1951.
Department of State. In Quest of Peace and Security:
Selected Documents on American Foreign Policy, 1941-1951. Washington, 1951.
Department of State. Korea, 1945 to 1948. Washington,
1948.
Department of State. Korea's Independence. Washington,
1947.
Dille, John. Substitute for Victory. New York: Doubleday
and Company, Inc., 1954.
Field, James A., Jr. History of U.S. Naval
Operations: Korea. Washington, 1962.
Futrell, R. Frank. The United States Air Force in Korea,
1950-1953. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1961 .
Goodrich, Leland M. Korea: A Study of U.S. Policy in the
United Nations. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1956.
Grajdanzev, Andrew J. Modern Korea. New York: John Day
Company, 1944
Joy, Admiral C. Turner. How Communists Negotiate.
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1955.
Kinkead, Eugene. In Every War But One. New York: W. W.
Norton &. Co., Inc., 1959.
Lyons, Eugene M. Military Policy and Economic Aid: The
Korean Case, 1950-1953. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 1961.
McCune, George M., with Arthur L. Gray, Jr. Korea Today.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1950.
Marshall, S. L. A. Pork Chop Hill. New York: William
Morrow and Company, Inc., 1956.
Montross, Lynn. Cavalry in the Sky: The Story of the U.S.
Marine Combat Helicopters. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1954.
Montross, Lynn, Maj. Hubard D. Kuokka, and Maj. Norman W.
Hicks. "U.S. Marine Operations in Korea, 1950-1953," Vol- IV. The
East-Central Front, Jan 1951-March 1952. Washington, 1963.
Nelson, M. Frederick. Korea and the Old Orders in Eastern
Asia. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1946.
Office of the
Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Korea 1951-1953
Washington, 1956.
Oliver, Robert T. Verdict in Korea. State College,
Pennsylvania: Bald Eagle Press, 1952.
Poats, Rutherford M. Decision in Korea. New York: The
McBride Company, 1954
Sawyer, Maj. Robert K. Military Advisors in Korea: KMAG in
Peace and War. Washington, 1963.
Truman, Harry S. Memoirs: Years of Trial and Hope, vol. II.
New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1956.
United Nations and Far East Command, The Communist War in
POW Camps. Tokyo: United Nations and Far East Command, 1953.
United States Senate, 83d Congress, 1st Session, Hearings
Before the Committee on Armed Services on Ammunition Supplies. Washington,
1953.
Vatcher, William H., Jr. Panmunjom: The Story of the Korean
Military Armistice Negotiations. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1958.
White, William L. The Captives of Korea: An Unofficial White
Paper of the Treatment of War Prisoners. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Whiting, Allen S. China Crosses The Yalu, New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1960.
Articles
Bradley, General of the Army Omar N. "The Question of War or
Peace in Korea," in Department of State Bulletin, vol. XXVIII, No. 716
(March 16, 1953).
DeReus, C. C. "The Perimeter Pays Off," in Combat Forces
Journal, vol. 3, No. 5 (December, 1952).
Holton, Captain James L. "Operation Changey Changey" in
National Defense Transportation Journal, vol. VIII, No. 3
(May-June, 1952) .
Kinney, Col. Andrew J. "Secrets From the Truce Tent," in
This Week Magazine, New York Herald-Tribune (August 31, 1952) .
Lyons, Eugene M. "American Policy and the United Nations
Program for Korean Reconstruction," in International Organization, vol.
XII, No. 2 (1958)
Murray, Col. James C. "The Korea Truce Talks: First Phase," in
U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, vol. 79, No. 9 (September, 1953).
Studies
Henning, Charles N. ORO Study T-211, Economic and Related
Political Factors in Civil Affairs Operations, Republic of Korea. Washington:
Operations Research Office, Johns Hopkins University, 1952.
Operations Research Office, Report ORO-R-11, The Utilization of
Negro Manpower in the Army. Washington: Operations Research Office, Johns
Hopkins University, 1955.
Manuscripts
Mossman, B. C. Ebb and Flow. In preparation for the series
UNITED STATES ARMY IN THE KOREAN WAR.
Schnabel, Lt. Col. James F. Policy and Direction: The First
Year. In preparation for the series UNITED STATES ARMY IN THE KOREAN WAR.
Causes of the Korean Tragedy ... Failure of Leadership, Intelligence and Preparation