Few battles have affected the course of battle the way the amphibious attack at Inchon affected the Korean War. The United Nations were on the cusp of losing the war to the North Koreans. General MacArthur knew that in order to turn the tides of war, he had to take the initiative from the enemy using an unpredictable maneuver. High reward, however, also meant high risk. Many senior leaders worried that the battle was too risky. The terrain was near impossible to overcome and the United Nations forces couldn’t afford to move large amounts of troops from the Pusan perimeter. North Korea felt the same way; the United Nations would be foolish to attempt an attack at Inchon. General MacArthur was counting on this. General MacArthur knew North …show more content…
The loss would have been a catastrophic demoralizing failure for the United Nations.
Following World War II, the Korean Peninsula was dived into two parts, North Korea and South Korea. With permission from Russia and verbal support from China, North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950 (Appleman, 1961). With more numbers and better equipment, North Korea quickly took the South Korean capital, Seoul, and pushed the South Korean forces down to Pusan, the last major city on the south coast. The situation was desperate for the United Nations forces that had been sent to support the South Koreans. General MacArthur, commander of the United Nations forces, recognized that a surprising and decisive amphibious assault would be crucial to retaking the capital city and turning the war around. He did not initially receive much support for his plans due to the risk involved. The concern was that the forces would be spread too thin, the amphibious attack would fail, and there would not be enough forces left at Pusan to maintain the perimeter. MacArthur initially had to postpone his plans because he realized the validity of this assessment. However, he was readying an additional force in Japan and asked his staff to begin planning for an amphibious assault. MacArthur’s staff drew up plans with three possible locations: Inchon, Kunsan, and Chumunjin. MacArthur favored Inchon over the other locations due to its proximity to
He planned to attack from behind the enemy and destroy their supply line, crushing the North between his troops and the troops in Pusan. The attack took place at Incheon’s harbor where the tides went up to 30ft high so the North would think that it is unlikely to get attacked their. It took place September 15, 1950, starting with bombing the shore and landing at just the right time at high tide caught the North by surprise and they managed to capture Incheon and Seoul. The troops at Pusan pushed, and chased the North back across the 38th parallel, taking over 100,000 soldiers prisoner (Perritano 15).
A Japanese invasion that same year caused his forces to leave that country. a year after that he made many successful offensive operations against the Japanese military in that region.in 1945 president Harry S. Truman appointed MacArthur supreme allied commander. For the next six years he stayed in japan to command the occupation forces. When North Korean army invaded South Korea in 1950, he started to command the newly united nation’s forces. On April 11, 1951, Truman removed MacArthur from his command for insubordination. This made people in America very mad, but Truman stayed focused on keeping the conflict with North Korea a limited war. Americans started to understand that MacArthur’s recommendations might have led to a massively expanded war in
North Korea pushed the South Korean army to the Korean peninsula. The US intervened to defend South Korea from communist aggression. Like shown in document C, General MacArthur pushed the North Korean army all the way back into the border with China. The U.S. had to turn back. Once that happened, MacArthur got fired for going too far into North Korea.
According to Document C, on June 25, 1950, North Korea suddenly invaded South Korea. North Korea was supported by the Soviet Union, while South Korea was being supported by the U.S. president, Harry Truman, and the United Nations promised to defend South Korea. After World War 2, on September 14, 1950, the U.S. and the U.N. were officially sent to protect South Korea, but the U.S. and the United Nation’s forces were almost pushed off the Korean peninsula. The leader of the Americans, was General Douglass MacArthur. On November 25, 1950, General MacArthur organized a dangerous, yet victorious retaliation at the port of Inchon. The Americans pushed the North Korean forces all the way back to the border of North Korea and communist China, but this battle got difficult again because China got involved and pushed the Americans back to South Korea. Over two million people died in this war as well as more than fifty thousand American soldiers. This act of containment in a way made the U.S. look kind of weak, because there were a lot of deaths and suffering before it ended therefore making their system look
On June 25, 1950, communist North Korea invaded the United States ally South Korea. The United States and the United Nation forces headed to South Korea to help defend but are pushed back and practically pushed off the peninsula. General Douglas MacArthur stages a risky but successful counterattack at the port of Inchon. This counterattack helps South Korea push back North Korean forces back to the Yalu River. This causes communist China to enter the war. The war dragged on for many years and finally ended in 1953 with the help of the United States and the United
General MacArthur was the leader of the allied forces in the pacific southwest during the duration of WWII. When the Korean War broke out and North Korea invaded South Korea he was assigned commander of the United States Forces. While he was in charge during the war some say he was a genius for his defeats. “As U.S. and United Nations forces turned the tide of battle in Korea, MacArthur argued for a policy of pushing into North Korea to completely defeat the communist forces. Truman went along with this plan, but worried that the communist government of the People’s Republic of China might take the invasion as a hostile act and intervene in the conflict ("Truman Relieves MacArthur,")”. However, his victories were short lived once China entered the war, causing him to withdraw his troops from North Korea. By April 1951 the military was stable but General MacArthur could not keep his opinions to
As the Cold War continued on, communist North Korea unexpectedly invaded its Southern counterpart on June 25, 1950, which was encouraged by the Soviet Union. By September 14, 1950, the United States, alongside the United Nations, helped defend South Korea from further attacks (Document C). Consequently, this led to the U.S. and the United Nations forces nearly being pushed off of the Korean peninsula. However, soon after this the U.S. decide to take more immediate action with General MacArthur on July 25. General MacArthur devised a plan to counterattack North Korea at port Inchon, though it was risky it was successful in the end, due to it pushing North Korea back towards the Yalu River near China. Finally, on July 27, 1953, the ongoing war was over (Document C). The Korean War is a good example of containment because NOT
The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest, most significant battle of the Civil War. The battle and the strategy behind it impacted the Confederates and the Union, paved the way for the Emancipation Proclamation, and sparked controversy over Lincoln’s legacy as “The Great Emancipator.” Overall, the battle changed the course of the war, and the course of our nation’s history.
MacArthur led the invasion of Inchon which he planned to land troops behind the enemy lines at Inchon and attack the North Koreans from both directions. He advocated this plan and wanted permission from Washington to approve of the invasion. He argued that it would catch the NKPA off guard placing them in a position to cut the North Korean supply lines, MacArthur won approval from Washington, and selected the US Marines to lead the attack. The invasion was called, Operation Chromite which entailed an amphibious landing at any one of three possible sites. MacArthur’s plan had involved an attack at Inch'on and a simultaneous attack by the Eighth Army from Pusan Perimeter. The invasion started on September 15, 1950 where there was an assault
One of the positive effect of sending United nation troops to fight in Korea would mostly be the prevention of World War 3. Even though United State senators publicly demanded that Truman should use atomic bombs on Korea and on Red China , General MacArthur denied to do so ; who was later on dismissed by President Truman on April 11th of 1951 and was replaced by Matthew Ridgway. The united states still provided the majority of the military forces which helped drive the North out of South Korea and still stand guard along the border to this day, if it were not for the United States a world war 3 would have followed very shortly making South Korea a communist country.
The city of Pusan was one of the last remaining places that the ROK still had control of, and the outcome of this battle would decide the fate of the entire Korean peninsula. This battle began shortly after UN forces had landed in South Korea in mid-July 1950 all the way until MacArthur's plan to retake Inchon started. As soon as American military had landed at Pusan, they established a defensive line that completely surrounded the city of Pusan; this line was later called the “Pusan Perimeter”. However, this perimeter was not an easy feat to create. As Lieutenant General Walton H. Walker, the man in charge of creating this perimeter, famously stated, “There will be no Dunkirk, there will be no Bataan. A retreat to Pusan would be one of the greatest butcheries in history. We must fight until the end.” Prior to the start of this war, Walker’s unit, the Eighth Army, subordinate corps headquarters and corps artillery units were eliminated due to budget concerns, essentially crippling the support of the army. As American forces slowly trickled into Korea, the vast army of the DPR swiftly pushed them back down the peninsula. As more American forces came to protect cities like Chonan and Chongju, they were also quickly crushed under the massive army of North Korea. On July 29, one of the greatest examples of standing for freedom was told by
The battles on the Korean Peninsula were a constant back and forth (Document C). South Korea could not handle the power of the North Korean army and almost lost the whole peninsula. If it wasn’t for General Douglass MacArthur planning a risky counter attack that eventually paid off South Korea’s future would have been as risk. This attack pushed North Korea all the way to China which caused communist China to join in on the mix. The U.S. had no interest in taking any of North Korea's land, for themselves or South Korea. They just did not want the spread of communism any farther. Once China pushed the U.S. and U.N. forces back into South Korea the U.S. the war pretty much stood at a stand still until the war ended. These battles accumulated more than two million deaths and 50,000
During the Pacific campaign it was very important for the United States to establish airfields in Marianas, Tinian, and Saipan to provide bomber missions against Tokyo and establish U.S bases close to Japan. This helped the U.S a lot but their were still several problems with how far the airfields were and if there were any mechanical problems with the plans, or high heads winds it could impede the safe return of the aircraft. There were Japanese fighters based on Iwo Jima that were based half way from Marianas and Tokyo that exposed U.S bombers. The United States knew they had to come up with a plan to shorten the route for the bomber to safely be able to complete their missions. Shortly after analyzing where to place an airfield, they came up with Iwo Jima. The Commander for the U.S. knew this was not going to be an easy mission and identified establishing airfields on the island would make future missions successful.
On 25 June 1950, North Korea forces launched a surprise invasion on South Korea under the command of Kim Il-sung and the North Korean People’s Army. During this time, the North Korean People’s Army forced through the 38th parallel and pushed through the unprepared Republic of Korea forces to the Southeast Pusan peninsula. The approximately 125 mile defensive perimeter was where United Nation forces withdrew to by August, 1950 and held that Southeast position of the peninsula. While UN forces were outnumbered, commanders were in search for a new course of action that would help skew the war in favor of them. It was then General of the Army Douglas MacArthur first envisioned his plan for what would become the Battle of Inchon.
He also disagreed with some governors claiming to bomb North Korea. The US rejected the request of the Nationalist Chinese for the battle because they did not want to trigger communist Chinese aggressiveness. (Rees) However, the first important battle of the Korean War, The Battle of Osan, involved 540 soldier Task Force Smith. This was a small forward element of the 24th Infantry Division, but it was unsuccessful. (Stokesbury) North Korean Army continued the winning streak and pushed back the South Korean Army and the Eight United States Army to Busan where it was southeast of Korea. (Stokesbury) United States base in Japan kept detaching materiel and soldiers to defend Pusan. (Stokesbury) There were also tank battalions directly sent from San Francisco. South Korea could get about 500 medium tanks for the battle by August. (Stokesbury) South Korean Army and United Nation Command forces could exceed 180,000 to 100,000 soldiers by September 1950. They were all prepared by that time and could push up.