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The Foundation of Freedom is the Courage of Ordinary PeopleHistory |
| Lieutenant Colonel Leon B. Humphrey, CO 213th Field Artillery Battalion, U.S. Eighth Army (right foreground), pulls the lanyard on "north east gun" of Battery A, 213th Field Artillery Battalion, to send the 100,000th round of ammunition fired by the 213th at Chinese Communist positions. L-r: Sgt. D.L. Christensen of Richfield, Utah; M/Sgt. A.E. Crawford of Tyler, Tex.; Colonel Humphrey, Capt. Charles H. Yarber of Louisville, Ky., CO, Battery A; Major Gerald C. Morgan of Sioux City, Iowa, Executive Officer, 213th Field Artillery Battalion; and Capt. John P. Lamb of St. George, Utah, Assistant S-3 Officer. |
Unlike nearly all of the previous wars waged by the United States, the conflict in Korea brought no military victory; in fact, during the last two years of the struggle neither side sought to settle the issue decisively on the battlefield. More important fighting, in both cases, went on at the peace table than on the field of combat.
The Chinese enemy was well and courageously led at the small unit level, was thoroughly disciplined and industrious. He fought effectively in spite of UN superiority in air, and in communications. amd with a hodge-podge of equipment. American troops were also brave, but during the first 10 months or so of the war we were not well organized, or well disciplined.We were not well led at the company and field grade levels, or above. But, we learned. We re-defined and re-established the leadership requirements of our officer corps. Our combat units again developed into teams, as we had in WWII. We fought the Chinese to a standstill, and then drove them back to about the original national boundaries.The limited operations the UN allowed immediately following the start of the Truce Talks without question showed the overall superiority of our forces.
For example, in October 1951 the Eighth Army had inflicted upon the enemy the highest monthly total of casualties for the negotiations period and had won valuable defensive terrain as well. Still, political considerations welcomed the inconclusive final result.
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- A VETERAN's Blog - |
