The United Nations Defensive

The United Nations Defensive. 27 June - 15 September 1950.

"We were alerted for Korea and I remember it very clearly. We would be gone a couple of weeks at the most to make a show of force, a parade in Korea, then back to Japan." , U.S. Soldier of the 34th Infantry Regiment

, June 1950. The great victory of World War II was still a vivid memory. The demobilization of America's strength had been swift. A growing fear was reflected in the new terms "Iron Curtain" and "Cold War," but much energy and hope was focused on such developments as the United Nations, the Marshall Plan, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization., Korea, divided at the 38th Parallel after the war into the Communist North and the U.S.-supported South, was a source of tension, but not an immediate concern. The United States was content largely to leave to a UN commission the problem of North Korea's threatening stance toward South Korea. The Soviet Union had withdrawn its troops from the North in 1948 and at the UNs suggestion, America recalled its troops from South Korea in June 1949, though leaving behind much military material and 500 advisors., At 4:00 AM on Sunday, 25 June 1950, North Korea launched a full-scale invasion across the 38th Parallel into South Korea. The UN Security Council passed a second resolution on the North Koreans to cease hostilities and withdraw. When they refused, the Security Council passed a second resolution calling on the North Koreans to cease hostilities and withdraw. When they refused, the Security Council passed a second resolution on 27 June recommending that UN members "furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack and restore the international peace and security in the area.", The North Korean forces were advancing rapidly. Seoul, the South Korean capital, would fall by 28 June. If the invasion was not checked, a precedent would be et that could undermine the confidence of countries that relied on the United States for protection. The strength and availability of America's armed forces had been eroded by such factors as the massive postwar demobilization, uneven and neglected training, antiquated equipment, and , despite improvement, some residual racial segregation., President Harry Truman immediately instructed General of the Army Douglas MacArthur at his Far East Command headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to supply South Korean forces with ammunition and equipment. On 26 June, Truman authorized MacArthur to use U.S. air and naval unit against North Korean targets below the 38th Parallel. The next day, seizing on the new Security Council resolution, he extended the range of targets to include those in North Korea. On 30 June, after MacArthur's arrival in Korea, Truman authorized him to use all available forces to repel the invasion and blockade the Korean coast., When the Security Council on 7 July recommended the establishment of a unified command in Korea, Truman appointed MacArthur as Commander in Chief, United Nations Command. Lt. Gen. Walton Walker, Commander, U.S. Eighth Army, assumed command of all UN ground forces, including those of the Republic of Korea. U.S. ground forces included the 1st Cavalry Division, the 7th, 24th, and 25th Infantry Divisions in Japan, and the 29th Regiment on Okinawa. The divisions available to MacArthur lacked a third of their infantry and artillery units, and existing units were understrength. Ammunition reserves were low and combat training had been sacrificed for occupation duties., Given the momentum of the North Korean advance and the general unpreparedness of the U.S. forces when they arrived, General Walker's strategy was to gain time through extended defensive delaying actions. The price of engaging the enemy with an inadequate force had been clearly demonstrated in early July when Task Force Smith, flown in from Japan as an advance element of the 24th Division, was attacked and had to retreat with heavy losses of men and equipment. General Walker's combined UN forces gradually fell back to the south under constant North Korean pressure. But in early August General walker changed the strategy, ordering a final stand along a 140-mile perimeter around the now-well stocked port of Pusan., General Walker's combined troops held the perimeter into September. The Eighth Army's strength was augmented by mid-August by the arrival of the U.S. 2d Division, the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, four battalions of medium tanks from the United States, and the 5th Regimental Combat Team from Hawaii. By the end of August, a number of South Korean divisions had regrouped, and Great Britain committed its 27th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade from Hong Kong., The stage was set. Under U.S.. Army leadership the UN force had checked a much larger but now somewhat weakened enemy. By mid-September, with reinforcements in place, General MacArthur was ready to go on the offensive.