MASH
The Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) was a fully functional hospital unit maintained by the U.S. Army Medical Corps in a combat zone. MASH units, established in August 1945, were deployed during the Korean War and later...
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Korea Blues – Fats Domino
Uncle Sam ain't no woman but he sure can take your manUncle Sam ain't no woman but he sure can take your manHe's taking them in the daylight to go to Korea and fightThe people over there are messed up, they are many very roughThe people over there are messed up, they...
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Seoul Recaptured
In late September 1950, after the Inchon landing, United Nations forces advanced slowly on Seoul against heavy, North Korean resistance. The North Korean Peoples Army, attempting to stall the UN offensive long enough to reinforce Seoul and withdraw troops from the...
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Early Korean Air War
At the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States Air Force (USAF) had >1000 aircraft in the Pacific region. Immediately mustered against the North Korean invasion were F-80 Shooting Stars, F-82 Twin Mustangs, B-26 Invaders and B-29...
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Hill 303 massacre
Wikimedia
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Aegukka ~ Korean Anthem
https://youtu.be/DvRe2g-_n_A Aegukka (lit. "Patriotism Song") is the national anthem of Korea. Originally adopted by the Korean exile government (1919–1945) in Shanghai, China as their national anthem Aegukkga was sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne. The...
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Inchon Landing
On September 15, 1950 U.S. Marines made a surprise amphibious landing at the strategic port of Incheon (formerly romanized as Inchŏn) on the west coast of Korea, about 100 miles south of the 38th parallel and 25 miles from Seoul. Although many among the U.S....
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Pusan Perimeter
Timetoast.com By September 1950 the North Korean Peoples Army (KPA) reached their farthest point of advance in South Korea. Although the KPA strength had been nearly cut in half and it lacked sufficient armor and supplies, the North Koreans reduced the area under...
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Korean War ~ Summer 1950
Well-trained and equipped, the North Korean People's Army swept rapidly south in the first phase of the Korean war. In contrast, the South's Republic of Korea forces were often disorganized and inclined to flee the battle field. http://www.emersonkent.com/ July 5,...
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Task Force Smith
https://youtu.be/Qk4lKp1C3ls On July 5, 1950 the first engagement between United States forces and the North Korean People's Army (KPA) occurred near the city of Osan south of Seoul Korea.400 infantry men of Task Force Smith, supported by an artillery battery, were...
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Seoul Falls
On June 25, 1950 the Korean People's Army (KPA) equipped with T-34 tanks and artillery support, advanced rapidly on the South Korea capital of Seoul. http://www.famousdaily.com/history/battle-of-seoul-north-korea-captures-seoul.html Sutori The Republic of Korea (ROK)...
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Truman Report: Korean War
President Truman's June 1950 report to the nation, although laced with Cold War assumptions and righteous/patriotic jargon, seemed forthright and accurate regarding the status of the war in Korea.
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INVASION OF SOUTH KOREA
On June 25, 1950 ~ 90,000 soldiers of the Korean People's Army (KPA), well-trained and equipped with modern tanks, trucks, artillery and small arms by the USSR, crossed the 38th parallel in eight divisions and an armored brigade to invade South Korea....
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Eve of Korean War
researchgate.net The breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s opened previously-closed archives that contained information on Soviet-North Korean-Chineserelations during the Cold War—of particular interest, correspondence between Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong and Kim...
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Dean Acheson ~ Pacific Defense
https://youtu.be/i9c4c6J9GfM In January 1950 U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson gave a speech to the National Press Club intended to outline the Pacific defense posture of the United States. He named Japan and the Philippines in the U.S. defense plan,...
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Kim Il-sung pre-Korean War
Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung's life Before the Korean War Kim Il-sung’s life has been greatly mythologized by North Korean historians. After reviewing the literature (including Kim’s autobiography Reminiscences: With the Century) and interviewing Korean historians on my...
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Arirang
This lovely, traditional Korean song is >600 years old. The refrain Ariyang... is apparently nonsensical. There are many versions of the lyrics reflecting love, loss, resistance and patriotism. Arirang, Arirang, Arariyo...Crossing over Arirang Pass.The one who...
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Understanding Post-WWII East Asia
East Asia ~ Wikimedia I am currently on a trip to Seoul, Vladivostok and Tokyo to research locations for my upcoming historical-fiction novel covering the years 1940-1950. My protagonists are: a young Korean physician, trained in the Imperial Japanese medical system...
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Korean War Vets Memorial
I just visited the American war memorials in Washington D.C. All evoke powerful emotions. The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located near the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It was dedicated on July 27, 1995. The Memorial was designed and...
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First North Korean Movie
https://youtu.be/Y-UPCSf6WkQ In 1949, with Soviet financial and technical assistance, Kang Hong-sik directed My Home Village, the first film made in the new Democratic People’s People’s Republic of Korea. Gwan Pil, a poor farmer is deprived of his land by an...
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Kim Il Sung and Joseph Stalin
Did Joseph Stalin approve Kim Il Sung's plan to attack South Korea in June 1950 because he wanted the US to become entangled in a limited conflict in Asia -- or was he reassured by Kim that the South would be rapidly overrun before the US could intervene?...
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General Elections in Korea
In May 1948 the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) arrived in Seoul to set up supervised Korean elections, after which the country would become independent of U.S. and Soviet control. Rejecting U.N. supervision of elections, Northern Korea blocked...
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Jeju Uprising
Jeju Island is a 40km x 90km island province of South Korea 120 km south of the Korean Peninsula The Jeju uprising, which began on April 3, 1948, resulted in extreme suppression by the South Korean Army, police and right-wing paramilitary groups. The...
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North Korean People’s Army
The Korean People’s Revolutionary Army was established in 1932 as a guerrilla force fighting against Imperial Japanese rule that had colonized the country since the turn-of-the-century. In 1939, the Korean Volunteer Army (KVA), was formed in China to fight alongside...
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Korean Turmoil
In 1945 the unconditional surrender of Japan led to the division of Korea into two occupation zones. The 1945 division of Korea was meant to be temporary. The stated Allied intention was to reunify the country once a single government could be...
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