The start of the war was caused by the North Koreans invading the south. Kim Il Sung and trained guerrillas invaded the South and went Southward toward Pusan. The South Korean army or ROKA and the United States tried to defend the advancing South but failed to do so. The next thing they did was to try to slow the advancing troops and destroy bridges. The North Koreans took the capital known as Seoul and went to take Pusan. The South Koreans and the United States defended Pusan which is known as the Pusan Perimeter.
After an onslaught of North Koreans, ROKA, and U.S. troops, help arrived and ROKA and U.S. troops pushed back the North Koreans and went past the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). After pushing back the North Koreans, China warned the U.S. that if they crossed the 38th parallel, they would get dragged into the war under the support of North Korea. Douglas MacArthur was over confident that he wanted to take the whole peninsula. When China entered the war, the Chinese and the North Koreans had pushed back the U.S. While doing so, the US X Corp which was commanded by Edward M. Almond, was forced to fight their way southward toward friendly lines. Chesty Puller was in charge of the 1st marine division which had helped clear a straight path to friendly lines. As the US X Corp was in a firefight to survive the Chinese onslaught, the US X Corp had crippled seven Chinese divisions through out that firefight. After the fighting, a new DMZ was established and peace talks were carried out for two years. When the new DMZ was established and each nation had an acceptable amount of land(being South Korea and North Korea), the fighting had ceased and technically the Korean War is still a war that is raging on. The remaining POWs (Prisoners of War) got to choose what to do with there lives, by either staying in North Korea or Going to the South vice versa. During the retake of the Korean peninsula, South Korean Police and U.S. troops cleared any communists sympathizers, communists, and guerrillas during the retake of the Korean peninsula. So with the wiping of many guerrillas and communists, many civilians died in the mass executions and mass napalm bombings through North Korean villages, cities, and towns. The Korean War to me had a heavy civilian casualties then any other war in history. This war decided if half the world was going to be under a communists regime and could've played a huge turn if the Korean Peninsula had been a communists country. |
War Vet Recalls Video: http://www.history.com/topics/korean-war/videos/sherman-pratt-survives-the-korean-war
Time Stamp: 0:00-1:10 |