Battles of Bloody Ridge and Heartbreak Ridge
By the summer of 1951, the Korean War had reached a stalemate a few miles north of the 38th parallel where UN and Communist forces clashed in several relatively small but bloody battles. The Battle of Bloody Ridge from mid-August to early September 1951 was an attempt...
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United Nations Forces in the Korean War
https://youtu.be/YBSAsvbTT3g Sixteen UN nations supplied fighting units and five sent military hospitals and field ambulances. Australia was one of the very first to contribute military personnel from all three services. The single largest UN contributor was the...
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Did The U.S. Deploy Bioweapons During the Korean War?
https://youtu.be/Y4ALYK8c5Yg A 1950s report published in Peking by an international commission concluded that the U.S. used bioweapons on North Korea. The report raised doubts about claims that captured Americans were brainwashed into confessing the use of such...
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The Caine Mutiny Wins The Pulitzer Prize
The Caine Mutiny, a novel by Herman Wouk, won the 1951 Pulitzer Prize. Derived from Wouk's personal experiences aboard destroyer-minesweepers in the Pacific during WWII, the novel deals with the moral and ethical decisions made at sea by a...
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First H-Bomb Test on Eniwetok Atoll
https://youtu.be/oR3_7A_rQD0 In January 1950, President Harry Truman, despite strong reservations of the Atomic Energy Commission, made the controversial decision to intensify research and production of thermonuclear weapons. On May 12th, 1951, the United States,...
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Korean War Draft Age Lowered From 21 to 18 Years
https://youtu.be/vEji28QamlM With WWII already begun in Europe and Asia, Congress narrowly passed the first peacetime draft in U.S. history. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act into law in September 1940. All males of ages...
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Chinese PLA and UN Forces Ping-Pong Back & Forth
https://youtu.be/ygEm0sIZF8M May 16, 1951 - Chinese Communist Forces launch a second offensive in Korea and gain up to 20 miles of territory. May 21, 1951 - The U.S. Eighth Army counterattacks to drive the Communist Chinese and North Koreans out of South Korea....
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President Truman Relieves Gen MacArthur of Command
https://youtu.be/U7Siq4eFS-8 With the UN military situation in Korea improving in early 1951, President Harry S. Truman was contemplating offering a peace negotiation to Communist China. However, in late March 1951 General Douglas MacArthur independently challenged...
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Commonwealth Forces in Battle of Kapyong
In April 1951 UN forces fought the Chinese Peoples Volunteer Army at the Battle of Kapyong in one of the most famous actions fought by the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian armies in the Korean War. In the battle, occurring during...
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Chinese Ground Offensive Spring 1951
https://youtu.be/zswdDufm8b0 Excellent summary of Combat Activities In Korea, 20 April Through 20 May 1951 In April 1951 the Chinese Peoples Volunteer Army (PVA) launched the first phase of its Spring Offensive with three field armies totaling 700,000 men against the...
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Chinese Spring Offensive Air War
https://youtu.be/HNgrTVzYDHA The Air Plan After their New Years' offensive, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army high command decided to use the People's Air Force in support of future ground operations. In preparation for this move, an air-ground training...
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Operation Ripper – Fourth Battle of Seoul
https://youtu.be/FV-uy5rXDCk With the UN Operation Ripper in March 1951, Seoul changed hands for the 4th time. Following the 8-day, late February offensive of Operation Killer that pushed PVA/KPA forces north of the Han River, Operation Ripper was intended...
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UN Forces Launch Major Counter-Offensive
https://youtu.be/hnlFxo3vUGA On January 25, 1950, after a series of cautious reconnaissance advances, the U.S. 8th Army, under the command of Gen Matthew Ridgway, initiated Operation Thunderbolt, a major attack against Chinese and North Korean forces near the Han...
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General Mathew Ridgway assumes command of 8th Army
https://youtu.be/wJG4fI6e7bE After General Walton "Johnnie" Walker, the commander of the US 8th Army in Korea, died in a jeep accident in December 1950, he was replaced by General Matthew Ridgway. General Ridgway was a seasoned veteran of WWII where he commanded the...
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U.S. Bombing of Pyongyang
https://youtu.be/5v4_kNVCgXc The first intentional U.S. air raid on civilian populations in North Korea occurred with the bombing of the capital city Pyongyang in January 1951. (YouTube video is from 1952). Throughout the remainder of the war, a sustained U.S. air...
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U.S. , Chinese and North Korean Winter Uniforms
This Chinese soldier fighting in Korea 1950/53 is equipped with a Chinese Type 88 Hangyang rifle and wears a fur cap, the rice bag on his right side and bandoliers over his shoulders. Note also the cheap footwear and old-style leg wrappings. North Korean infantryman...
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1950 ~ Cold War Turns Hot in Korea
https://youtu.be/JWe1c58cR94 In the summer of 1950 the Soviet-equipped North Korean People's army (NKPA) steamrollered over the 38th parallel into South Korea. Overwhelming South Korean and American forces the NKPA advanced rapidly south to the Busan perimeter where...
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Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River
https://youtu.be/F8UGXcSItC0 Along the Ch'ongch'on River On November 25, 1950, the Chinese 13th Army launched a series of surprise attacks along the Ch’ongch’on River Valley, decimating the U.S. 8th Army’s right flank while allowing Chinese forces to move rapidly...
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Fire Bombing North Korean Cities
https://youtu.be/5v4_kNVCgXc 1952 Attack on Pyongyang From June to October 1950 US Far East Air Force (FEAF) B-29 bombers limited their targets to transport centers and industrial hubs in North Korea. Nevertheless, these "precision bombing" attacks...
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Marijuana Scare Films
In the 1950s increased access to automobiles gave American teenagers a variety of freedoms and temptations that were unimaginable to previous generations. As many American parents became worried, marijuana became a major source of concern. The Complicated History...
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U.N. Forces Evacuate from Hungnam North Korea
https://youtu.be/VPUVcOiYodM Despite the rousing background music of the Battle Hymn of the Republic on this video, the harrowing retreat from the Chosin Reservoir debacle to the coast at Hungnam was desperate and dispiriting for US Marines and Infantry. Encyclopædia...
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Truman Hints A-Bomb
https://youtu.be/WQ5X_N4CzUA On November 30, 1950, after the Chinese Communist army entered the Korean conflict, President Harry Truman announced that he was prepared to authorize use of atomic weapons in order to achieve peace in Korea. Additionally, Truman accused...
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Tootsie Rolls Saved US Marines
https://youtu.be/8emP0_xDP2Q As the temperature reached -38°C during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in late November 1950, weapons began to malfunction. Tank fuel pipes froze and cracked. Running out of mortar rounds, the US Marines requested more mortar shells...
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The Fallen
Fallen Soldier Memorial Laurence Binyon
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Chosin Reservoir
https://youtu.be/JOxvHkBpYX8 For Americans, the tragic battle at the Chosin (Changjin) Reservoir in late November 1950 might be compared to Custer's last stand. For the victorious Chinese Communists it was a Pyrrhic victory with heavy losses. In the initial phases of...
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