The Pusan Perimeter Korea 1950

When the North Korean People's Army swept across the 38th parallel, they cut through South Korean and U.S. forces like a hot knife through butter--until they reached the port city of Pusan. There, U.S. forces dug in for a courageous last stand against the enemy--and triumphed in the face of overwhelming odds. Photographs.

This annotated bibliography is the first to cover the early phases of the Korean War, for the period from June 25 to September 22, 1950, in a comprehensive manner. This guide provides a brief history of the critial period around the Pusan perimeter, identifies important archival sources, and then describes 401 studies in English--both offical and unofficial reports, documents, surveys, monographs, and periodical articles. The bibliography is organized both by different genres of work and topically. An appendix points to the United Nations country's forces that served in the war. Indexes by author, subject, and periodical make this short guide easy for researchers in all fields of study.

When the North Korean People's Army swept across the 38th parallel, they cut through South Korean and U.S. forces like a hot knife through butter--until they reached the port city of Pusan. There, U.S. forces dug in for a courageous last stand against the enemy--and triumphed in the face of overwhelming odds. Photographs.

"The 5th RCT in Korea; The Pusan Perimeter Battles, 1950." documents the combat operations of the US Army's 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team from its deployment to the frontlines of the Korean War's Pusan Perimeter Campaign. The 5th RCT reached Korea at the close of July, 1950, just as UN forces were prepared to make their last ditch stand against the Communist invasion of South around the port of Pusan. The 5th was immediately engaged in defensive operations near Masan, engaging in the battle for "Fox Hill" through the first week of August. Thereafter, the RCT participated in the ill-fated "Task Force Kean" counteroffensive, culminating in the disasterous action at "Bloody Gulch" in which the RCT's trains and attached artillery were overrun. The 5th RCT was subsequently reorganized, and with new leadership, conducted a successful defense of positions on Sobuk-San Mountain, the "Battle Mountain," from which they repelled the last efforts of the North Koreans to overwhelm the southern portion of the UN Perimeter. This work is based on the regimental war diary of the 5th RCT, long thought lost by official historians, and contributions by veterans of the actions of this period. The actions of the 5th RCT demonstrate the successful, though difficult and at times bloody, transition of a peacetime military unit into one hardened for combat.

Includes over 50 photos and 23 maps. THIS IS THE first volume of a planned series dealing with United States Marine Operations in Korea during the period 2 August 1950 to 27 July 1953. Volume I is designed to give the military student and the casual reader an accurate and detailed account of the operations in which Marines of the 1st Provisional Brigade and Marine Air Group 33 participated during the fighting in the Pusan Perimeter, from the date of their landing on 2 August until their withdrawal on 13 September 1950, in preparation for the Inchon landing. “AN ABILITY TO furnish skilled forces to meet emergency situations on short notice has long been a hallmark of the Marine Corps. When the call came for such a force to be dispatched to Korea on 2 July 1950, the Corps was handicapped by the strictures of a peacetime economy. Nevertheless, a composite brigade consisting of a regiment and an air group was made available within a week’s time. With a reputation built largely on amphibious warfare, Marines of the 1st Brigade were called upon to prove their versatility in sustained ground action. On three separate occasions within the embattled Perimeter—south toward Sachon and twice along the Naktong River—these Marine units hurled the weight of their assault force at the enemy. All three attacks were successful, and at no point did Marines give ground except as ordered. The quality of their performance in the difficult days of the Pusan Perimeter fighting made them a valuable member of the United Nations team and earned new laurels for their Corps.”- Gen. Lemuel Shepherd.

The Battle of Pusan Perimeter was a large-scale battle between United Nations and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 18, 1950. It was one of the first major engagements of the Korean War. An army of 140,000 UN troops, having been pushed to the brink of defeat, were rallied to make a final stand against the invading North Korean army, 98,000 men strong. UN forces, having been repeatedly defeated by the advancing North Koreans, were forced back to the “Pusan Perimeter”, a 140-mile (230 km) defensive line around an area on the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula that included the port of Pusan. The UN troops, consisting mostly of forces from the Republic of Korea (ROK), United States and United Kingdom, mounted a last stand around the perimeter, fighting off repeated North Korean attacks for six weeks as they were engaged around the cities of Taegu, Masan, and P’ohang, and the Naktong River. The massive North Korean assaults were unsuccessful in forcing the United Nations troops back further from the perimeter, despite two major pushes in August and September. North Korean troops, hampered by supply shortages and massive losses, continually staged attacks on UN forces in an attempt to penetrate the perimeter and collapse the line. However, the UN used the port to amass an overwhelming advantage in troops, equipment, and logistics, and its navy and air forces remained unchallenged by the North Koreans during the fight. After six weeks, the North Korean force collapsed and retreated in defeat after the UN force launched a counterattack at Inchon on September 15. The battle would be the furthest the North Korean troops would advance in the war, as subsequent fighting ground the war into a stalemate.