Battles-p7


 * Korean War Battles**-Kendall

There were a number of Korean War battles. The Korean War began on June 15,1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. The Korean War ended on July 27, 1953 when the United Nations and North Korea signed an armistice agreement. After the war, North Korea and South Korea were split once again along the 38th parallel.

After the United States involvement in the past two World Wars, the Americans thought that they were finished when Japan surrendered. But they were wrong. On June 25, 1950, North Korean troops crossed through the 38th parallel into South Korea. President Truman said that the United States would oppose the Communist ranks and ordered the United States air and naval forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur to aid in the defense of South Korea two days later.

China enters the war. They were experts at moving large armies in great security. They traveled on foot which meant they didn't have to stick to roads and only moved at night looking for refugees. The Chinese were under the command of P'eng Teh-huai. The Allies were first confronted on October 25 approximately 50 miles south of the Chinese border. On November 1, the Chinese attacked in force near Unsan, unleashing massive numbers of soldiers at MacArthur's troops. Suddenly they disappeared. MacArthur mistakenly concluded that they had retreated and sprung a new offensive attack. He ran into 300,000 Chinese soldiers and was driven back. The Allies killed/wounded more than 40,00 troops while suffering only 7,500 casualties themselves mostly from frostbite. The following countries were involved in the war: North Korea, South Korea, United States, and China. The war occurred in North and South Korea from 1950 – 1953.

__Air War:__ Allied bombers and fighter planes were based in Japan, Okinawa, and South Korea. They supported Allied troops, killed enemies, and damaged Communist bases. The Soviet Union supplied North Korea with MiG-15 jets, and dogfights (air fights) were the most important part of the war. About 100-150 United States F-86 Sabre jets and Soviet built MiG-15’s took part in some air battles. The dogfights took place over North Korea because Allied planes were not permitted to cross the Yalu River and MiG-15’s never flew over the 38th parallel. Most of the dogfights took place in “MiG Alley” which is between Yalu and Pyongang. Later in the war, the Allies equipped bombers with shoran, //(shor//t //ra//nge //n//avigation) new navigational technology. This enabled aircraft to make successful bomb raids at night.

__“Battle of the Hills”__: The Allies began to move North on January 16, 1951. In fifteen days they were in position to fight Seoul. General Ridgway used new tactics which called for slower advances to wipe out all enemy forces instead of bypassing groups. Allies occupied Seoul on March 14. They advanced into North Korea by June. The Allies fought along the 38th parallel and neither side made any important advances, but they fought for strategic positions. This time was called “Battle of the Hills.” Battlefields include Bloody Ridge, Finger Ridge, Heartbreak Ridge, Old Baldy, and Pork Chop Hill.

The importance of Korean War battles is without the battles, there wouldn’t have been a war. Also if North Korea hadn’t invaded South Korea then there wouldn’t have been any battles. The importance of the battles is that many people died to protect their country. It’s bad that so many people had to die, but North Korea shouldn’t have invaded South Korea.

Sources Cited: Gardner, Lloyd C. "Korean War." World Book Online Reference Center. 2007. [Highland Middle School. Feb. 5, 2007.] <[|http://www.worldbookonline.com.ezproxy.cooklib.org:2048/wb/Article?id=ar304360>.]

Schwiekart, Larry, and Dennis Lynch. "Cold War: The Korean Conflict (1950s)." American Decades. Ed. McConnell, Tandy. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Thomson Gale. Cook Memorial Public Library. 9 Feb. 2007 <[|http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=SRC-1&docId=EJ2113101896&source=gale&srcprod=SRCG&userGroupName=ccscm&version=1.0>.]

Gardner, Lloyd C. "Korean War." World Book Online Reference Center. 2007. [Highland Middle School. Feb. 5, 2007.] <[|http://www.worldbookonline.com.ezproxy.cooklib.org:2048/wb/Article?id=ar304360>.]

"Battles of the Korean War." WikiPedia.31Dec.2006.3, Feb. 2007 