Korea -- 50 years ago this week, May 31-June6

[Mike Davino <mdavino@yahoo.com>]

The quote at the end of this story by the SECDEF,
George C. Marshall, speaking about China, still is
applicable today.

Mike Davino

Korea -- 50 years ago this week, May 31-June6 
Chinese pushed back from 'Iron Triangle' 

by Jim Caldwell 


WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 29, 2001) -
'Operation Piledriver' kicked off in earnest, driving
the Chinese and North Koreans north, 50 years ago this
week in Korea. 

Air cover helped the ground forces advance once the
weather cleared. 



May 31, 1951 -- The Defense Department reports the
number of American casualties in Korea through May 25
is 67,427 with 11,413 dead. 


May 31-June 1 -- Lt. Gen. Matthew Ridgway is chafing
under the same Joint Chiefs of Staff restrictions that
tried to limit Gen. Douglas MacArthur's conduct of the
war. He has talked with the JCS and sent
representatives to Washington, D.C., to make his
arguments for more latitude in military operations. 

On June 1, the JCS sends new directives to Ridgway. He
is to "inflict maximum personnel and materiel losses
on the forces of North Korea and Communist China
within the geographic boundaries of Korea and adjacent
waters in order to create conditions favorable to
settlement of the Korean conflict ... under
appropriate armistice arrangements." 

The instructions also say Ridgway must get JCS
approval for advancing "beyond some line passing
through the Hwachon Reservoir area." 

Aware that the directives are coming and the nature of
the content, Ridgway has already told the JCS that
conditions favored "at least on a short-term basis" an
attempt to arrange negotiations. He said, even
considering that a new Chinese army was in Korea, that
the Eighth Army could defeat communist forces as
strong as those that attacked in April and May. 

For the next 60 days, American leaders can rely on "a
military situation in Korea offering optimum
advantages in support of ... diplomatic negotiations,"
he says. 

He also tells the JCS that barring entry into the war
of larger than expected Chinese forces, Eighth Army
will be in full possession of lines Wyoming and Kansas
in two weeks. 


June 3 -- 'Operation Piledriver' begins in the I Corps
area. The corps has been strengthened with the
addition of the 3rd Infantry Division and the attached
Republic of Korea 9th Division from X Corps. The 187th
Airborne Brigade Combat Team is also taken from X
Corps and used as reserve in Seoul. 

On the west side, 1st Cavalry Division's objectives
are a line beginning west of Chorwon down to the Imjin
River. The 3rd ID attacks toward Chorwon, the western
base of the Iron Triangle. The 25th ID's objective is
Kumhwa, the east base of the triangle. 

The operation kicks off in heavy rain. Low clouds
prevent air support. Chinese forces, which had been
rapidly pulling back into North Korea, put up a strong
fight to protect the Iron Triangle. The rain, which
turns roads into quagmires, helps the Chinese until
June 5. Then, with air cover, ground forces begin to
push the enemy back. 


June 5 -- IX Corps' three divisions attack. The ROK
2nd Division and the 7th ID objective is to take the
Wyoming line running southeast from Kumhwa to the
Hwachon Reservoir. On the right, the ROK 6th Division
is to seize ground above the reservoir and close down
Route 17 leading into Kumhwa. The soldiers also run
into heavy enemy resistance. 

North Koreans in the X Corps zone are fiercer in their
defense than the Chinese. Mop-up operations east of
Inje and Hyon-ni continue into early June, so X Corps
operations can't get underway until June 4. The 1st
Marine Division and ROK 5th Division are to take line
Kansas objectives along ridges above the Punchbowl, a
valley completely surrounded by mountains. 

The ROK I Corps, now assigned to X Corps, has
meanwhile moved its three divisions through sporadic
resistance and holds its objectives on the Kansas line
to the east coast. 

Maj. Gen. James Van Fleet tells his corps commanders
that when they are in position on line Wyoming and
Kansas, they are to dig in and fortify the lines. From
there they can conduct offensive operations only for
limited objectives, do reconnaissance in force and
patrol. 


June 3-6 -- A series of Air Force accidents kills 23
airmen. On June 3 a C-82 Flying Boxcar is hit by
lightning and crashes near New Boston, Texas, killing
10. On June 4 a C-119 cargo plane explodes during a
rainstorm and crashes near Jackson, Tenn., killing 4.
Nine die when a C-97 Stratofreighter crashes near San
Antonio June 6. 


June 6 -- President Harry S Truman greets the new
South Korean ambassador to the United States and tells
him that his country will soon have the "peace and
justice for which we are dedicated and for which we
fight." 

Defense Secretary George C. Marshall speaks in St.
Louis at the Washington University commencement. He
says while no one knows "exactly what the end will be,
we have posed a terrific problem for the hostile
regime in China. Let us hope ... that our opponents
will come to realize war is not a profitable
business." 


(Editor's note: The primary sources for this series
are "United States Army in the Korean War - Ebb and
Flow, November 1950-Junly 1951," Center for Military
History, 1988, and "Facts on File, Weekly World News
Digest, 1951" published by Facts on File, Inc. Jim
Caldwell is a member of the Training and Doctrine
Command Public Affairs team.) 

http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/May2001/a20010529koreamay31.html



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