Korean War 61 Years Ago Today

Today is the 61st Anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War, a conflict that lingers in the background even today.  Here is the view of one person who was in uniform at the time:

61 years ago this evening on 24 June 1950, the ROK Army Officers Club held its grand opening in Seoul with most of the ROK senior military personnel attending, including commanders from the frontline units.  All seemed well with the threat to the north. The north had ceased propaganda some weeks before and had called for talks at Kaesong to discuss reducing tensions.  Of course we know what happened at 4 am on 25 June 1950.  We should not forget that all warfare is based on deception.

The Korean War was not a nice clean operation.  The US Army's first unit shipped over, Task Force Smith, did very poorly, and has been a lesson in preparedness ever since.  Although TF Smith performed poorly, did buy the time needed to establish a new defensive position further south.

At one point Five Star General Douglas MacArthur was relieved of duty.  This flap led to a larger discussions of if we should attack targets in China.  This problem lingered on into the Viet-nam War and will pop up again if there is war in the South China Sea over the Spratley Islands.  And, it include the famous MacArthur shibboleth, "There is no substitute for victory."

Finally, President Eisenhower threatened to use nuclear weapons and an armistice was agreed, with a prisoner exchange.

Regards  —  Cliff