| BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MARINE CORPS DURING THE KOREAN WAR Korean War Highlights | |
| On 25 June 1950, eight divisions of the NorthKorean People's Army, equipped with Soviet tanks, mobile artillery, and supporting aircraft, crossed the 38thParallel and invaded the Republic of Korea. On 27 June, the United Nations Security Council proclaimed the NorthKorean attack a breach of world peace, and requested member nations to assist the Republic ofKorea. On 29 June, President Harry S. Truman ordered a naval blockade of the Korean coast, andauthorized the Commander in Chief Far East, General Douglas A. MacArthur, to send U.S. ground troops intoKorea. On 2 July, General MacArthur formally requested of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that a Marine regimentalcombat team be deployed to the Far East. His request was approved by the Joint Chiefs on the followingday. On 7 July, the lst Provisional Marine Brigade was activated at Marine Corps Base CampPendleton, California. The primary core of the ground element was the 5th Marines, while Marine Aircraft Group 33constituted the air element of the brigade. Just five days after its activation, the lst Provisional Marine Brigade, witha strength of 6,500, sailed on 12 July from San Diego, California, enroute to Pusan, Korea. The first elements of the brigade came ashore at Pusan on 2 August. The next day, the firstMarine aviation mission against North Korea was flown from the USS During the grim opening weeks of the Korean War, while American forces foughtdesperately in defense of the Pusan Perimeter, General MacArthur was already conceiving a bold stroke that wouldcrush the North Korean People's Army. He planned an amphibious assault behind North Korean lines at Inchon, theport for the city of Seoul and close to both the 38th Parallel and North Korean Army supply lines. The lst MarineDivision would spearhead the assault. The attacking force would have to navigate a narrow channel with swiftcurrents, while dodging islands and potential coast defense battery sites. Final approval for the operation,code-named "Chromite," was not given until 8 September. On 15 September, the lst Marine Division, under the command of Major General Oliver P.Smith led the first major United Nations strike in North Korean territory, with an amphibious assault at Inchon thatcompletely caught the enemy by surprise. In five days of textbook campaigning, the division closed on theapproaches of Seoul, the South Korean capital, and in house-to-house fighting, wrested the city from its Communistcaptors on 27 September. On 7 October 1950, with North Korean forces in full retreat, the Inchon-Seoul campaignwas formally declared closed. In late October, the lst Marine Division made an unopposed landing at Wonsan, on the eastcoast, which initiated U.N. operations in northeast Korea, and established security for the port of Wonsan. Thedivision was then ordered to advance northwest of Hungnam along a mountain road to the Chosin Reservoir, the siteof an important hydroelectric plant; the Marines would then advance to the Yalu River and the border between NorthKorea and the People's Republic of China. Despite intelligence in early November that Chinese Communists forces were massing inforce across the Yalu River, the lst Marine Division was ordered to continue its progress northwest from Hungnamto the Chosin Reservoir. Elements of the division reached Hagaru-ri, at the southern tip of the Reservoir, on 15November. The brief autumn weather was almost over, and the temperatures were turning bitterly cold. On 27November, elements of the Chinese Communist People's Liberation Army struck Marine positions in force. In acarefully planned counterstroke, eight Chinese divisions charged down from surrounding mountains with the expressmission of destroying the lst Marine Division. Over the next four weeks, the Chinese and Marine forces engaged in some of the fiercestfighting of the Korean War. In an epic movement, the 1st Marine Division completed a successful fighting withdrawalthrough 78 miles of mountain roads in northeast Korea, that ended in mid-December with the amphibious evacuationof the Marines from the port of Hungnam, Korea. Although suffering over 4,000 battle casualties, and uncountednumbers of frostbite, Marine air and ground units had inflicted nearly 25,000 casualties on Chinese Communistforces. |  15 September 1950 INCHON, KOREA - Leathernecks use scaling ladders to storm ashore in anamphibious invasion. It is one of the fastest operations on record, perfectly timed, with waves of Marines almoststumbling over the preceding ones. The attack is being carried out so swiftly that casualties are surprisinglylow. Department of Defense Photo (U.S. Marine Corps)#A3190  1st Marine Division - Koto-ri 8 December 1950 First Marine Division takes to the road on withdrawal from Koto-ri. Department of Defense Photo (U.S. Marine Corps)#A5358  1st Marine Division- Hagaru-ri Leathernecks of the Seventh Marines catch a few minutes rest during their heroicbreakout from Chosin. #A5428  North Korea - 15 January 1952 Copter is hovered over drop zone, new style metal pallet is dropped ten feet with acargo of 800 pounds during test on new piece of equipment. In background is the shore-party supply dump and thehelicopter forward base in North Korea. Department of Defense Photo (U.S. MarineCorps)#A133987 |
| During the first three months of 1951, the lst Marine Division participated in several UnitedNations offensive operations, first against North Korean guerrillas, and later in an advance through the mountains ofeast-central Korea. From late April to early July, the division took part in the United Nations defense against aChinese Communist spring offensive, in which the enemy committed almost 500,000 men against U.N. forces. TheChinese offensive ended in mid-May with heavy enemy losses. The lst Marine Division then participated in the Eighth Army drive northward past theeastern tip of the Hwachon Reservoir. By 20 June 1951, the division had taken its portion of the X Corps objective,a ridgeline overlooking a deep circular valley in the Korean mountains nicknamed the "Punchbowl."Truce negotiations now began, and the UN forces settled down into a defensive line. In early September, the division was directed.to take the remainder of the Punchbowl. Hampered by rains, poor roads, and a well entrenched enemy, the Marines nevertheless gained their initialobjectives in hard fighting, when X Corps suspended offensive operations. The first Marine mass helicopter resupply mission took place during operations at thePunchbowl on 13 September 1951, when Marine Helicopter Transport Squadron 161 successfully executed OperationWindmill I. Eight days later, thesame squadron landed 224 Marines of the division reconnaissance company and 17,772 pounds of cargo on anisolated hilltop at the Punchbowl. In November, the squadron would conduct the first frontline relief of a Marinebattalion in Operation Switch. The winter of 1951 found the lst Marine Division deployed along eleven miles of front justnorth of the Punchbowl. In mid-March, the division was reassigned from the X Corps' eastern position in Korea, tothe I Corps area at the far western end of the Eighth Army line. On 24 March, the division assumed responsibilityfor approximately 35 miles of frontline, which overlooked Panmunjom and included the defense of the PyongyangSeoul corridor. The pace of the war now slowed, with small, localized actions, replacing the earlier large-scaleoffensives. In mid-August 1952, in the first major Marine ground action in western Korea, the 1stMarine Division began its successful defense of Outpost Bunker Hill. Two months later, during the Battle for the"Hook," the division again defended a segment of the United Nations Main Line of Resistance (MLR). A winter lull during January-February 1953 brought some relief to Marines at the front, while cease-fire talks atPanmunjom remained suspended. The relative quiet on the front was rudely shattered in late March 1953, when Chineseforces mounted a massive offensive across the United Nations front line that hit 1st Marine Division outposts in theirright sector. On 26 March, enemy forces attacked outposts "Reno," "Vegas," and"Carson" (the so-called Nevada Cities campaign), all manned by the 5th Marines. In particularly bitterfighting, Outpost Reno fell to the enemy, but the stubborn 5th Marines maintained control of Outposts Vegas andCarson. Marine casualties totaled over 1,000, with Communist losses at least twice as high. In late April, truce talks resumed at Panmunjom, which again did not prevent a renewedoutbreak of savage fighting in western Korea. While truce details were worked out by negotiators, Communistforces launched a regimental-strength attack against the I Corps sector. Heavy fighting took place in the NevadaCities and Hook area outposts. During the first week of July, the command outposts Berlin and East Berlin in the 7thMarines right regimental sector came under attack during the Marines' relief of the US 25th Infantry Division. TheMarines did not concede any key terrain, and at 2200 on 27 July, the truce argued out at Panmunjom finally wentinto effect, ending three years of fighting in Korea. During the Korean War, units of the lst Marine Aircraft Wing flew more than 125,000sorties in support of United Nations forces. Almost 40,000 of these sorties were close air support missions. Marinehelicopter squadrons evacuated more than 10,000 wounded personnel, and greatly increased the survival rate forwounded Marines. The price of liberty in human costs is always high, and the Korean War was no exception; Marine casualties totaled over 30,000; just over 4,500 Marines gave their lives in Korea. Forty-two Marines wereawarded the Medal of Honor for heroism above and beyond the call of duty in Korea; twenty-seven of these awardswere posthumous. Though sometimes viewed as an "indecisive" conflict, the Marine Corps can truly beproud of its role in stemming the tide of Communist aggression during the Korean War. | |
| Reference Section History and Museums Division, USMC High resolution images of above gifs | |