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The Korean War and Its Impact on Rural Life

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In 1950, the North Koreans attacked with over 90,000 troops and 150 tanks. President Truman immediately ordered Gen. Douglas MacArthur to send U.S. troops from Japan to protect Americans in Seoul, but just as quickly decided to approach the United Nations for a response. The U.S.

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How the Korean War impacted the United States

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How the Korean War impacted the United States

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Impact of the Korean War on the economy of the United States - Wikipedia

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The impact of the Korean War on the Economy of the United States refers to the ways in which the American economy was affected by the Korean experience from 1950 to 1953. While the cost of the Korean War was less significant than that of World War II, it still changed the structure of the American growth as a result of its financing.

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still split and still with a communist government to deal with even through today. The Korean War also legitimized the United Nations as well as brought more military power throughout the world. The effects of the Korean War can without a doubt still be seen throughout the world today.

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1) division of Korea 2)causes of korean war 3) the truce 4) effects of korean war

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How to use and carry properly

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Infantry Weapons and Effects 1953 US Army M1911A1 M3A1 M1 Carbine 8min

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video for embedding at http://quickfound.net/links/military_news_and_links.html U.S. pistol caliber .45 M1911A1, submachine gun caliber .45 M3A1, u.s. carbine, caliber .30 M1. mechanical characteristics, operation, and use in combat. A bit fuzzy, but very interesting film, demonstrates, for example, the different results from the impact of the Colt .45 caliber automatic bullet and the .30 caliber M1 carbine bullet.

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American troops defeated North Korean and Chinese troops in the Chosin Reservoir campaign.

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Principal Infantry Weapons of the Korean War

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Korean war UN and Communist Infantry Weapons; described and linked to annotated photos with specifications

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T HOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUN, .45 CALIBER. IT ORIGINALLY CAME WITH A 50 ROUND DRUM BUT MOST MILITARY ISSUE THOMPSON'S USED EITHER A 20 OR 30 ROUND STICK MAGAZINE BECAUSE OF THE DIFFICULTY IN RELOADING THE DRUM MAGAZINE. THE MILITARY ISSUE THOMPSON'S WERE NOT ISSUED WITH A CUTTS COMPENSATOR, WHICH WAS USED TO PREVENT THE BARREL FROM RISING WHEN FIRED THUS TAKING IT OFF OF THE TARGET UNLESS THE USER MADE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO HOLD IT DOWN ON THE TARGET. A FELLOW CAVALRYMEN TOLD OF USING IT IN THE JUNGLES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC WHEN FACING BANZAI CHARGES BY JAPANESE SOLDIERS. HE TURNED THE THOMPSON FLAT ON ITS SIDESO THAT THE MAGAZINE WAS TO THE RIGHT, HOLDING THE THOMPSON FLAT INSTEAD OF UPRIGHT. HE AIMED IT TO HIS RIGHT AND PULLED THE TRIGGER AND THE THOMPSON TRAVERSED FROM RIGHT TO LEFT, LITERALLY MOWING DOWN THE ENEMY TROOPS CHARGING HIS POSITION.

MACHINE GUN, .30 CALIBER, BIPOD MOUNTED. IT USES 250 ROUND BELTED AMMUNITION. B ECAUSE OF ITS WEIGHT, IT CAN BE OPERATED BY A CREW OF TWO, ONE TO CARRY AND OPERATE THE WEAPON, AND ONE TO CARRY EXTRA AMMUNITION.

A bazooka team consisted of a gunner and an assistant/loader. While the 3.5 inch bazooka became the standard for the Army in 1948, the only bazookas in the Far East when the war started was the old WW II 2.36 inch bazooka and the ammunition for it was all left over from the war. On July 12th, instructors and 40 3.5 inch bazookas with 5 founds each arrived at the 24th Infantry Division. Operators were trained and by July 15, the operators had been trained and 200 more 3.5 bazookas had arrived and were issued to units of the 24th Division.
The 4.2 inch mortar used in WW II and in Korea had a total weight of 333 pounds: 175 for the base plate, 105 for the barrel and 53 pounds for the supports. It was transported, along with its ammunition, in a trailer towed by a jeep. As with all equipment and ammunition initially available in Korea, the mortar and ammunition were at least six years old. Russian made T-34 tank. It had a top speed of about 34 MPH. It was comparable to the heaviest tank that the U.S. had in use at that time. Unfortunately none of those tanks were in the Far East, they were all in the U.S. and Europe. The only tanks available in the Far East were the "Chaffee" tanks shown at the beginning of this section. They were the lightest and smallest in service at that time and were also left over from WW II. Picture of a knocked out T-34 appears below.

105mm howitzer. During the first encounter with the T-34 tanks at Osan, there were only eleven anti-tank rounds available. Because the the fourth shell was defective, the crew was only able to fire three rounds.

THE C-46 Curtiss Commando has more powerful engines, has a large cargo door capable of accepting a jeep and it can fly farther and at higher altitudes than its better known counterpart the C-47 (military version of theDC-3) "Gooney Bird".

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heavy water cooled thirty caliber machine gun

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T HOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUN, .45 CALIBER. IT ORIGINALLY CAME WITH A 50 ROUND DRUM BUT MOST MILITARY ISSUE THOMPSON'S USED EITHER A 20 OR 30 ROUND STICK MAGAZINE BECAUSE OF THE DIFFICULTY IN RELOADING THE DRUM MAGAZINE.

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The United States in Korea: A Strategy of Inertia

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The question of why the United States maintains significant forces in South Korea is a difficult one to answer.

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Over six decades later, we are no closer to a peaceful ending of the conflict.

1. The North Koreans captured an American general.

A month after the Korean War broke out, Major General William F. Dean, commander of 24th Infantry Division, was separated from his forces in Taejon while trying to help wounded soldiers. While out seeking water for a particularly injured G.I., he fell down a cliff and was knocked unconscious. He would be isolated in the mountains for the next 36 days, losing 80 pounds in addition to the broken shoulder and head wound he had sustained. When two South Koreans found him, they pretended to lead him to safety, but in fact brought him to a North Korean ambush site. Though Dean tried to fight his captors, he was down to 130 pounds and too weak to resist for long. He was taken prisoner on August 25, 1950, and remained prisoner until the end of the war. (This would have been like the Iraqi insurgency capturing David Petraeus when he was commanding the 101st Airborne in Mosul.)

2. The Army built an impromptu special operations unit.

The United States lacked a guerrilla warfare capability at the start of the Korean War, and had to put one together, and fast. The result was the 8240th Army Unit, comprised of Rangers and other soldiers with unconventional warfare experience from World War II. They advised indigenous "partisan forces" in Korea on how to fight behind enemy lines to undermine the North Korean Army. In 1952, soldiers with the new designation of "Special Forces" graduated from the U.S. Army Psychological Warfare Center and School, and supplemented the 8240th. At its height, the unit advised 38,000 partisan fighters.

3. The Korean War combined old tactics and new ones on land, sea, and air.

The paratroopers of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team (known as the "Rakkasans") conducted all of the airborne operations of the Korean War. They jumped into Sunch'ŏn, North Korea in 1950, and Munsan-ni, South Korea in 1952. The Rakkasans fought in a total of six campaigns in Korea. Today, the unit's heirs are part of 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

The Battle of Inchon (1950) was an amphibious invasion of Incheon from the Yellow Sea. It was a major victory for United Nations forces, and turned around what was then a losing war. The U.S. Marine-led force was commanded by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.

Meanwhile, the Korean War is the first war fought with jet airplanes. Propeller-driven aircraft gave way to P-80 Shooting Stars and Soviet MiG-15s.

4. The 38th parallel is a recurring theme before, during, and after the war.

In 1896, the Japanese government proposed to the Russian government that Korea should be split in half along the 38th parallel, with Russia taking control of the north. This probably would have saved everyone a lot of trouble down the line, but the Russians balked and Japan consolidated its hold of Korea in 1910. After World War II, Japan relinquished control, and the U.S. State Department again looked to the 38th parallel to establish two separate countries. In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, launching the Korean War. Today, the demilitarized zone dividing the two countries intersects-you guessed it-the 38th parallel.

5. The Korean War goes by many names.

In the United States, we call it the Korean War (and sometimes the Forgotten War). North Korea calls it the Fatherland Liberation War. In South Korea, it's called Six-Two-Five, after the day it started. China's subtle name for the conflict is the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.

6. CIA on NKA: Nothing to see here!

Months before the North Korean Army crossed the 38th parallel, the CIA noted the southward movement of NKA forces, but called it a defensive measure, and called the possibility of an invasion "unlikely." On June 24, 1950, Dean Acheson, the Secretary of State, had to telephone President Truman. "Mr. President," he said, "I have very serious news. The North Koreans have invaded South Korea."

7. The American occupying force in Japan provided manpower for the Korean War.

At the war's start, it was pretty clear that Republic of Korean forces were outmatched by the North Korean Army. General MacArthur personally went to the front lines to get a look at the situation. He quickly requested ground troops to help save the situation. President Truman eventually authorized the movement of two full divisions from Japan to Korea. The divisions, coming from the relatively peaceful job of occupying Japan following World War II, were something less than battle-ready-especially when compared with the North Korean veterans. It was during the successful two-month defense of Busan, South Korea, that American forces were finally hardened for war.

8. The Korean War provided an early victory for a secret American signals intelligence agency.

As I describe in my book, the American intelligence community faced its worst fears on Friday, October 29, 1948, when the Soviet Union disappeared. While post-war America dismantled its signals intelligence and cryptanalysis capabilities, the Russians were doubling down. On "Black Friday," as it was called, the Soviets activated a new communications grid and encryption methodology. Signals began transmitting by cable, cutting off most radio interceptions; what little remained was indecipherable. In response, the Secretary of Defense ordered the creation of a Top Secret organization known as the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA).

Though AFSA suffered from institutional dysfunction and wasn't particularly effective against the Soviets, it had good fortune during the Korean War, intercepting high-level North Korean broadcasts. To the astonishment of the agency's signals-intelligence specialists, North Korea was broadcasting the details of its most sensitive military operations in plaintext, with no encryption at all. When the North Koreans finally got wise to America's interception prowess, AFSA made short work of the new ciphers. AFSA would eventually be reorganized as the National Security Agency.

9. The United States had dropped the Bomb only five years earlier, and was ready to do it again.

In 1950, the Bomb was only five years old and the wonder of the atomic age promised a bright nuclear future. It was just assumed that atomic weapons would be part of any future conflict-like the Korean War, for example. The Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered the employment of the atomic bomb against China if it sent troops or bombers into Korea. China ignored the threat. Likewise, there were plans to drop the Bomb on the Soviet Union if it got involved, but European leaders objected to such an escalation, fearing the Soviets would us it as a justification for the conquest of Europe. Accordingly, the United States promised to use atomic weapons in Korea only to prevent a "major military disaster."

10. The Korean War never ended.

On July 27, 1953, American Lieutenant General William Harrison, Jr. and North Korean General Nam Il signed the Korean Armistice Agreement, ending "all acts of armed force" in Korea, until both sides were able to find a "final peaceful settlement." The agreement was notably not a peace treaty, but rather, a ceasefire. Over 60 years later, it seems we are no closer to a peaceful ending of the conflict.
This article originally appeared in 2013.

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Over six decades later, we are no closer to a peaceful ending of the conflict. 1. The North Koreans captured an American general. A month after the Korean War broke out, Major General William F. Dean, commander of 24th Infantry Division, was separated from his forces in Taejon while trying to help wounded soldiers.

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When you get to the website click "read more" for more information

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Overview

The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when forces of the communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) invaded the Republic of Korea (South Korea). The North Koreans, with training and support from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), quickly captured Seoul, the South Korean capital. U.S. President Harry Truman, acting under the authority of the United Nations, sent supply, air and naval support to South Korea. Soon thereafter, more U.N. countries joined to support South Korea. Once momentum turned in the favor of South Korea and its allies, China joined the war on the side of North Korea. After a lengthy stalemate and a series of negotiations, the war came to an end after U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower threatened to use the atomic bomb to end the conflict. The cease fire came into effect in 1953.

Strategy

When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, it did so with the knowledge of its superior force. North Korea had 135,000 troops to South Korea's 95,000. It also had superior artillery and 120 tanks, while South Korea had none. Within three days of the invasion, North Korea held Seoul. North Korea's strategy to use its overwhelming force to overtake South Korea was working well, but North Korea and the U.S.S.R. had miscalculated that the Americans and their U.N. allies would not intervene in the conflict. Immediately, the Americans committed troops and equipment to the South Korean effort. American numbers, supplies and support in the region were not sufficient for battle, so the U.S. commander, General Douglas MacArthur, used delaying tactics and gave up ground in order to gain time to increase battle readiness. He used units of the 24th Army Division to defend the main road the North Koreans were using for their advance to the south. The North Koreans defeated the Americans in that battle and three other battles meant to delay them.

After the United States and other U.N. member countries brought air forces and other armaments and supplies to the region, the tide began to change. American jets demolished the North Korean air force. Air attacks against North Korean strongholds and supply lines, as well as air support of ground operations, turned the tide of battle. South Korea and its allies were able to retake South Korea and invade North Korea. At this point, China entered the fray, bringing MIG-15 jet fighters and large numbers of ground troops.

In previous conflicts, American aerial strategy had been mainly to use aircraft to attack the enemy's vital industrial centers. In the Korean War, this strategy was not appropriate. First, there were few industries in North Korea to attack and second, China and Russia were supplying North Korea forces, so the loss of North Korean industry did not have a great effect on the supply chain. So in the Korean War, the Americans instead used their air forces quite successfully to destroy the North Korean and Chinese air efforts, to provide close support to ground forces, and to interrupt the North Korean supply chain. U.N. forces also destroyed irrigation dams in North Korea in 1952, which led to flooding within the country.

A new tactic the Americans used in the Korean War was to deliver personnel, supplies and bombs by parachute. Helicopter use also expanded in the Korean War. Helicopters were used for personnel transport, tactical reconnaissance, medical evacuation, and search and rescue.

The U.S. Navy, working with allied navies, defeated the North Korean navy, which had only 45 small craft, at the beginning of the war. This left the U.S. Navy free to use carrier-based aircraft and ships to bomb enemy forces and supply lines.

One of the turning points of the war came in September 1950 with the Inchon Landing. General MacArthur masterminded a U.S. Marine and Army amphibious assault on the North Korean forces holding Inchon, which was South Korea's main port on the west coast. The attack was meant to divide the North Korean army in two and cut their lines of communication and supply. It succeeded and two weeks later Seoul was back in the hands of South Korea. Soon the allied forces were marching to invade North Korea.

When the Chinese intervened and the Americans were forced to retreat, the U.S. Navy evacuated 100,000 Marine and Army soldiers from the northeast.

Threat of Atomic Warfare

The final strategy employed in the Korean War was the threat of nuclear warfare. In January 1953, when President Eisenhower took office, talks with the North Koreans, underway since 1951, had stalled and the war was at a stalemate. President Eisenhower had promised a quick end to the war in his campaign. He made it clear that if an armistice was not quickly reached, he would consider using atomic bombs and expanding the conflict beyond the Korean peninsula. July 27, 1953, the cease fire was signed in P'anmunjom.

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The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when forces of the communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) invaded the Republic of Korea (South Korea). The North Koreans, with training and support from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), quickly captured Seoul, the South Korean capital. U.S.

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Information about the important people

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Names and Pictures

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In 1948 as part of the boundary adjustments following World War II (19391945), Korea was supposedly temporarily divided for occupation by the Soviet Union and the United States as victorious former allies against Japan. The Korean peninsula, whose reclusive history in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries led it to be called the "Hermit Kingdom," had been under Japanese control since the end of the Russo-Japanese War (19041905). The division following World War II was at the 38th parallel, a temporary line of demarcation with no other cultural or geographic significance. Like the artificial divisions of Germany and of Berlin in 1945, as well as the supposedly temporary division of North and South Vietnam in 1954, this bifurcation of the Korean nation was a result of the Cold War rather than internal developments.

In their zone lying north of the 38th parallel, the Soviets organized a socialist regime under the Communist Party. Established in 1948 as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the regime was headed by Kim Il Sung, a long-time leader of the Communist Party. In the South, various factions vied for power, until the party of the "father of Korean nationalism," Syngman Rhee, won a United Nationssponsored election. On August 15, 1948, Rhee became President of the Republic of Korea. His regime was about as dictatorial as that in North Korea, and was implicated in corruption and in the repression of internal political opposition.

Both Korean governments were determined to achieve unification on their own terms. Shortly after partition, North Korea supported large-scale guerrilla incursions into the south, and retaliatory raids by South Korean forces kept the divided country in a state of crisis. Despite this situation, American troops were withdrawn in June 1949, leaving behind only a small group of technical advisers. South Korea, whose army was small, poorly trained, and poorly equipped, faced an adversary with an army of 135,000 men, equipped with modern Russian weapons, and between 150 and 200 combat airplanes. Although South Korean leaders and some Americans feared that North Korea might attack across the 38th parallel at any time, Secretary of State Dean Acheson, declared that Korea was not within the "defensive perimeter" of America's vital interests in the Far East.

The attack came on June 25, 1950. North Korean armed forcesarmored units and mechanized divisions supported by massive artillerystruck without warning across the demarcation line. Meeting little resistance, within thirty-six hours North Korean tanks were approaching the outer suburbs of Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

Contrary to Korean and Soviet expectations, the United States reacted swiftly and with great determination. Immediately after the attack the United States requested that the UN Security Council hold a special session which passed a unanimous resolution calling for the end of hostilities and the withdrawal of North Korean forces to their former positions north of the 38th parallel. The Soviet Union would probably have vetoed such a resolution but the Soviets were boycotting the Security Council to protest the failure of the UN to include Communist China in its deliberations. In any case, the resolution was ignored by the North Koreans and the Security Council met again on June 27 and passed another resolution recommending that "the members of the United Nations furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack." On June 27, U.S. President Harry S Truman committed U.S. Air and Naval forces to the "police action" (a war was never formally declared) as well as ground forces stationed in Japan.

The North Koreans, however, continued their advance. By the end of June, more than half of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army had been destroyed, and American units were forced to fight countless rear-guard actions in the retreat southward. In early August, a defense perimeter was created around the important port of Pusan at the extreme southeastern corner of the peninsula. After violent fighting, a stable defense line was established. As American forces and contingents from fifteen other nations poured in, General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief of U.S. forces in the Far East and Supreme Commander of the UN forces, decided on a daring amphibious landing at Inchon, a west coast port just a few miles from Seoul. The brilliantly conceived operation, launched on September 15, 1950, proved successful, and the North Korean Army, was forced to retreat back across the 38th parallel. Pressed by public demands for a complete victory, the Truman Administration gave General MacArthur the go-ahead to pursue the enemy across the demarcation line, justifying the decision with the UN Security Council's authorization. The first crossings took place on October 1. United Nations and ROK forces moved north, and by late November they were nearing the Yalu river boundary between North Korea and Communist China.

The seesaw struggle was reversed once again by the entry of Chinese "volunteers" into the war. Chinese leaders had warned that they would not allow North Korea to be invaded and would come to the aid of the North Koreans. By late October, thousands of Chinese soldiers had crossed the Yalu. One month later, they struck at the exposed flank and rear of MacArthur's overextended armies. By early December, UN troops were again in headlong retreat, a withdrawal marked by great heroism but resulting in near disaster.

This created a crisis of the first order for President Truman. Truman wanted to stabilize the battle lines and negotiate an end to the war. General MacArthur wanted to attack China, possibly using tactical nuclear weapons. He said as much in a letter to House Republican leader Joseph W. Martins. Truman could not brook this challenge to his authority and, on April 11, 1951, he relieved MacArthur of command. Although the public clearly sided with MacArthur, Truman's strong stand settled the question of civilian control over the military.

A new battle line was organized south of the 38th parallel, and through the remaining winter and early spring months the lines fluctuated from south of Seoul to north of the parallel. Stalemate finally was achieved in July 1951. The conflict settled down to trench warfare, at which the Chinese were particularly adept, and was marked by indecisive but bloody fighting. This conflict lasted for two cruel years, during which time, more than a million Americans served in Korea.

For much of this period, talks proceeded at P'anmunjom, Korea near the 38th parallel. These talks opened on July 10, 1951 at the suggestion of the Communists. Welcomed by the most Americans, these negotiations were designed to achieve a cease-fire and an armistice. They were broken off repeatedly as germ warfare charges and difficulties over prisoner-of-war exchanges clouded the atmosphere.

The stalemate in Korea was a source of mounting frustration in the U.S., where it heightened the "red scare" and furnished ammunition to Senator Joseph McCarthy in his quest to purge leftists from the government and from influence in the society at large. The Korean War also helped elect Dwight D. Eisenhower to the Presidency. The Republican nominee won support by promising to go to Korea if elected. Eisenhower kept his pledge, but the visit had no noticeable effect on the peace talks.

The Communists finally modified their position on forcible repatriation of prisoners, and a final armistice agreement was signed at P'anmunjom on July 27, 1953. It resulted in a cease-fire and the withdrawal of both armies two kilometers from the battle line, which ran from coast to coast from just below the 38th parallel in the west to thirty miles north of it in the east. The agreement also provided for the creation of a Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission to carry out the terms of armistice. The armistice called for a political conference to settle all remaining questions, including the future of Korea and the fate of prisoners who refused to return to their homelands. In succeeding months, the United Nations repatriated more than 70,000 North Korean and Communist prisoners but received in return only 3,597 Americans, 7,848 South Koreans, and 1,315 prisoners of other nationalities. The political conference was never held, and relations between North and South Korea remained hostile.

The Korean War cost the United States approximately 140,000 casualties including some 22,500 dead, and $22 billion. The results were somewhat inconclusive, but the war did prevent the Communist conquest of South Korea, and it demonstrated that the United States would fight to prevent the further spread of Communism. The war did change U.S. foreign policy. It marked a shift in military strategy from aiming for total victory to one of fighting limited wars.

The Korean police action also brought about a quick reversal of the policy of down-sizing the military. Major national security expenditures rapidly increased as a result of the war; national defense expenditures rose from four percent to 13 percent of gross national product in 1953. Defense spending revived inflationary impulses in the economy until the imposition of direct controls in January 1951 stabilized prices. In general, the Korean conflict changed the policy of containment from a selective European policy into a general global policy, and it contributed to the development of the military-industrial complex in America.

FURTHER READING

Berger, Carl. The Korea Knot: A Military-Political History., revised ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965.

Oliver, Robert T. Syngman Rhee: The Man Behind the Myth. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1954.

Leckie, Robert. Conflict: The History of the Korean War. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1962.

Paige, Glenn D. The Korean Decision, June 24-30, 1950. New York: The Free Press, 1968.

Rees, David. Korea: The Limited War. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1964.

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In 1948 as part of the boundary adjustments following World War II (19391945), Korea was supposedly temporarily divided for occupation by the Soviet Union and the United States as victorious former allies against Japan.

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Stratfor discusses how North Korea's primary geographic challenge of border security has shaped the imperatives of the country's current and previous regimes. For more analysis, visit: http://www.Stratfor.com

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Climate, Physical Geography, Biology, and Geology

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Climate, Physical Geography, Biology, and Geology

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Korean Peninsula - New World Encyclopedia

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The Korea Peninsula or Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia that extends southwards for about 684 miles or 1,100 kilometers from the continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean. The East Sea/Sea of Japan surrounds the peninsula on the east, the East China Sea to the south, the Yellow Sea to the west while the Korea Strait connects the first two bodies of water.

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First Person Accounts of the landscape and battle

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First Person Accounts of the landscape and battle

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Editor's note: On June 25, 1950, communist forces of North Korea attacked South Korea to begin the Korean War.

Early in the fighting, South Korean defenses were pushed back to a small pocket of resistance on the southeast coast of the country until United Nations forces, led by U.S. troops, mounted a successful counterattack at Inchon in September 1950.

The war lasted until July 27, 1953, when both sides agreed to end hostilities. The country remains divided today.

The U.S. Department of Defense estimates that 36,574 Americans were killed during the conflict.

Today, in observance of Memorial Day, we tell the stories of three men who served in Korea.

On Monday, we will tell the stories of two members of the West Virginia Air National Guard's 167th Airlift Wing and Hagerstown attorney Bill Young, who served in Vietnam as a legal officer and periodically returns to Southeast Asia to help the poor of that region.

John Jackson, 82

Hagerstown

John Jackson said he joined the Army in 1949 because he needed a job.

In August 1950, he was sent to Korea.

Although the military was integrated in 1948, Jackson was assigned to an all-black tank unit that mainly supported the 3rd Infantry Division.

He said the tankers acted like band-aids at the beginning of the war, going from hot spot to hot spot until the United Nations could mount a counterattack to beat back the Communist invasion.

"We were in a whole lot of places," he said. "We were wherever they needed us ... Everybody was under strength."

The Americans were armed with obsolete weapons from World War II. When he was sent north to the Chosin Reservoir, a lot of outfits still had only their summer clothes. They were in for the coldest winter in 90 years, with temperatures well below zero.

"We fought on the ground. We slept on the ground. Everything we did was on the ground," he said.

Many of the men suffered from frostbite because of the cold. Jackson said fighting the weather was just as bad as fighting the Chinese, who moved into North Korea to halt the advancing Americans.

"If you got hit, the blood would freeze right away," Jackson said. "A lot of lives were saved that way."

Jackson said he didn't recall his unit getting a Thanksgiving dinner in November 1950, but said it probably would have been too frozen to eat.

Some of the American commanders underestimated the numbers of Chinese troops and their tenacity, he said.

"The commanders said they were nothing but a bunch of Chinese laundry men," Jackson said. But, he said, "They put a hurting on us."

He said the Americans would have suffered more casualties when they retreated from the Chosin Reservoir had it not been for the support of the Navy and Air Force.

In 1951, Jackson was wounded during a mortar attack and received the Purple Heart.

He said Memorial Day is a time to remember everyone who has been touched by war.

"I feel sorry for the ones who lost their loved ones over there," Jackson said. "It's not something you'll ever forget. I feel sorry for the mothers and fathers."

Albert Jacobson, 81

Smithsburg

Albert Jacobson joined the Army on Dec. 7, 1949, and shortly thereafter went to Aberdeen, Md., to learn how to operate military vehicles. Less than a year later, he would see some of the most intense combat of the Korean War.

A tank driver assigned to the 7th Division, Jacobson was part of the invasion force that landed at Inchon on Sept. 15, 1950. He said the tanks were delayed moving inland because their metal tracks had a difficult time getting traction on the cobblestone roads.

The tanks eventually made the uphill climb and were ordered to the edge of Seoul, where Pfc. Jacobson's unit was assigned to take Kimpo Airfield.

He said he continually had to wipe the dust and dirt from his goggles to see the road.

"It was sheer hell without the fighting," Jacobson said. "You had to watch the road because both sides were rice paddies. You would sink" if you slid off the road.

Although the fighting was heavy at Inchon, Jacobson said resistance was light during the northward advance because the North Korean Army had been routed.

The 7th halted near the Chosin Reservoir, where the coldest winter in 90 years was about to hit.

"To me, that was the main thing we had to fight was the cold," Jacobson said. "It was so blistering cold."

The soldiers stood by the exhaust of their vehicles to keep warm. He said food froze almost immediately after it was served, and the soldiers had to chip ice from their Thanksgiving dinners.

Jacobson said things got worse when tens of thousands of Chinese crossed over the frozen Yalu River and took the United Nations forces by surprise.

"They looked like ants," Jacobson said. "We were knocking them off our tanks ... You did your job, but you were so scared."

American doctors told Jacobson's unit that the Chinese were taking morphine to make them oblivious to pain.

He said the American soldiers wished their commanders would have dropped atomic bombs to stop the Chinese onslaught.

Gen. Edward Almond, commander of the American X Corps, landed in a helicopter to tell the surrounded troops that they would have to fight their way out.

"He dropped a box of medals and flew away," said Jacobson, who criticized Almond as a commander. "He could have flown five or six of the wounded out of there."

He said X Corps slugged its way south out of the Chosin Reservoir, loading the wounded on tanks and picking up Korean refugees along the way. It was so cold that truck tires popped like balloons.

Some units suffered 90 percent casualties.

Jacobson said the Americans fought their way to the east coast and were evacuated by sea. He boarded a ship with other evacuees on Christmas Eve of 1950. The putrid smell in the hull, caused by seasick men, prompted him to sleep on the deck.

Jacobson spends Memorial Day thinking about the friends that he lost at the Chosin Reservoir and other battles.

"The real heroes are the ones who didn't make it," he said. "I don't think the public should forget. We gave them what they got today."

Paul Summers, 81

Waynesboro, Pa.

Pfc. Paul Summers was a 20-year-old Marine when he was thrown into the chaotic initial months of the Korean War.

His unit was sent to Pusan, a port city in South Korea where retreating United Nations forces assembled to form a defensive perimeter after the communist invasion.

"They stuck us in there to fill the gap," Summers said. "The first dead I saw over there were four or five Marines. It was friendly fire."

After spending a short time in Pusan, Summers was redeployed to participate in the Battle of Inchon, an amphibious assault that occurred on Sept. 15, 1950. The operation involved landing United Nations troops behind the North Korean army to ease the pressure on Pusan.

Summers said his unit was among the first to land. They were assigned to attack Wolmi-do, a fortified island that the North Koreans used to defend the Inchon coastline.

Summers said the Marines took the island and gathered on high ground to watch the invasion from above.

"It was just like a movie," he said.

On Sept. 17, Summers was wounded during a firefight in a village.

"I saw a North Korean stand straight up in a field," Summers said. "He ducked down and I sprayed the area with my (Browning Automatic Rifle). I was going to throw a grenade and got hit in the shoulder."

Marines dragged Summers to a nearby street and gave him morphine and a small sip of brandy. He was put on a hospital ship and taken to Japan, where he was operated on a month later to remove the bullet.

While in the hospital, Summers ran into a friend who was in the same firefight in the village. He said the friend told him that 25 dead North Koreans were found in the field that he sprayed with his BAR.

"I probably got some of them," Summers said.

Summers received word that he would be transferred to the Philippines. He instead was ordered to draw cold-weather gear and sent to the Chosin Reservoir in late 1950.

"Then, the Chinese got involved," he said. "One night, all hell broke loose. The shooting started at 2 a.m. I heard a Marine running through the snow saying, &#8216;Get up! Get up! They're here!"

The temperatures were well below freezing when the Chinese army attacked.

He said he picked up his friend's rifle by mistake and fired, but there wasn't a round in the chamber.

"There were dead everywhere," he said. "I'll never forget that."

Summers went on to fight in other battles during the war and said he still thinks of all of the dead men that he saw stacked in piles like timber.

When he returned to the United States, he was part of a military contingent of Korean War veterans who were sent to Washington, D.C., to meet then President Harry S Truman and his wife, Bess.

"I got to shake hands with Harry," he said.

Summers said Memorial Day reminds him of the ultimate sacrifice that American men and women have made in Korea and on other battlefields around the world.

"It means there were an awful lot of boys killed," Summers said. "It's something you'll never forget."

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Veterans of Korean War remember fighting cold, Chinese

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Editor's note: On June 25, 1950, communist forces of North Korea attacked South Korea to begin the Korean War. Early in the fighting, South Korean defenses were pushed back to a small pocket of resistance on the southeast coast of the country until United Nations forces, led by U.S.