KOREAN WAR JANUARY 1951
KOREAN WAR JANUARY 1951
The war in Korea took place between 1950 and 1953. American forces joined the war along with other soldiers from other nations as U.N forces. Their objective was to liberate South Korea from the communist forces of North Korea. There were several sea, land and air attacks as the forces conducted their operations.
In January 1951, American forces took part in the CCF intervention. This was an attack to stop Chinese Communist Forces from advancing into Korea. Led by Gen. Ridgway, the American forces the forces retreated from Seoul and Inch ‘on due to heavy attacks from the Chinese. Ridgway commanded the marine forces to prevent enemy forces from attacking from Andong-Yongdok.
The American and UN forces launched a counterattack operation between January and April 1951. They managed to make the communist forces retreat. They managed to capture some of the lost territories such as Wonju city. Several operations were conducted such as the Thunderbolt operation, Roundup operation, killer operation, ripper operation and the rugged operation. This counterattack operation ended with the American and UN forces capturing most of South Korea. However, they could not advance into North Korea.
President Truman disagreed with Gen. MacArthur on issues of military strategy and relieved him of his duties. He was replaced by Ridgway then James Fleet took up the role occupied by Ridgway earlier. The advance of American troops to the north was halted by the CCF spring offensive between April and July 1951. This was later followed by the Summer-fall offensive which drove the communist forces back.
The South Korean Winter took place between November 1951 and April 1952. The operation was followed by the Korea Summer-fall in 1952. There was a third Korean Winter then finally the Korean Summer of 1953. This marked the end of the operations carried out by American forces. The war had continued despite the on-going armistice talks between the communist forces and the American and UN forces. The war ended when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed and agreed on 27th July 1953. General MacArthur, Gen. Ridgway, and Gen. Fleet were the most significant U.S military individuals who had led the troops in the war. President Truman had ordered Ridgway to organize for the armistice agreement talks in 1951.
Bibliography
Edwards, P. M. (2010). Combat Operations of the Korean War: Ground, Air, Sea, Special and Covert (illustrated ed.). New York: McFarland.
Schnabel, J. F. (1998). United States Army in the Korean War: Policy and Direction, the First Year. Washington: Government Printing Office.
