Korea - 50 years ago this week, Oct. 18-24

[Mike Davino <mdavino@yahoo.com>]

Korea - 50 years ago this week, Oct. 18-24 
Peace talks move forward, troops rest 

by Jim Caldwell 


WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 16, 2001) -- As
the peace talks moved forward, a battle lull between
ground forces ensued, 50 years ago this week in Korea.


Despite the lack of action on the ground, the Air
Force continued its bombing attacks deep behind the
North Korean lines and experienced one of the fiercest
air battles of the war. 


Oct. 18-24, 1951 -- Peace talks continue at the
liaison level. Gen. Matthew Ridgway, commander of the
U.N. Command, is insisting on rules that will prevent
or minimize infractions of the neutral area at
Panmunjom. One way is to have a much smaller neutral
zone rather than the five-mile radius at Kaesong. 

The communists will accept nothing less than a
five-mile perimeter. The United Nations finally
concedes, but also insists that the U.N. camp at
Munsan-ni have a similar circle of protection. 

The communists then relent on a point and agree that
aircraft merely flying through the airspace directly
above Panmunjom do not constitute a violation of the
neutral zone. The communists do not have aircraft so
far south so the only violators would be U.N.
aviators. The United Nations agrees to tether barrage
balloons over Panmunjom to warn aircraft away. 

The United Nations is exempted from responsibility for
violations of the neutral zone by partisans, which has
happened before. While negotiations are underway, each
side can station two military police officers and 15
men armed only with side arms. At all other times each
side will have one officer and five men to protect the
meeting site. 

The communists donate the tent where talks can be held
while the United Nations agrees to provide flooring,
heating and lights. 

Air Force Col. Andrew Kinney informs Col. Chang, the
Korean LO, that U.N. troops were taking over the hill
east of Panmunjom to prevent an unwanted clash at this
stage. 

Adm. Turner Joy, lead negotiator, suspects the
communists will want to rehash all these details again
when the senior negotiators meet. He sends a letter to
Gen. Nam, the North Korean who leads the communist
team, telling Nam that he has signed the LO agreement,
and that negotiations would begin just as soon as he
receives Nam's ratification. 

Nam signs the document Oct. 24 and the first meeting
at Panmunjom is scheduled for the next day. As the
U.N. officials assess their situation, they understand
that the communists may be ahead of them on propaganda
points, but they have hung in with patience and
determination and won some major points. In addition,
while the talks were in recess, U.N. forces stepped up
pressure on the battlefield and the U.S. leaders had
more time to think over future options in the Far
East. 

With resumption of peace talks, a lull settles over
the combat front. Gen. James Van Fleet, Eighth Army
commander, uses this time to put a couple of fresh
divisions on the front line. He moves the 2nd Infantry
Division and the attached French Battalion from X
Corps to IX Corps where they serve as the corps
reserve. He replaces 2nd ID with IX Corps' 7th
Infantry Division and an attached Ethiopian Battalion.
He swaps the Republic of Korea 5th Division from X
Corps to the ROK I Corps reserve for the ROK 3rd
Division. 

The Far East Air Force finds three 7,000-foot paved
runways in a 20-mile radius near the towns of Namsi,
Taechon and Saamchon. in northwest Korea, close to MiG
Alley. 

Until July, FEAF had conducted continuous raids on
railroads and bridges in North Korea, trying to knock
out the enemy's capability to move troops and weapons
to the front. The effort was called Operation
Strangle. 

When a road or bridge was damaged, large labor gangs
of North Koreans were rushed in and repaired the
damage in a short time. Spare bridge parts stored near
the damaged portions made for quick repairs. The
communists also ringed frequent targets with
concentrations of antiaircraft batteries, which makes
it extremely dangerous for American flight crews. 

On Oct.18 a flight of nine B-29s from the 19th Bomb
Group attack the airfield near Saamchon and drop more
then 19 tons of bombs on target. Nine more B-29s from
the 98th Bomb Wing assigned to hit Taechon miss the
rendezvous with their fighter escort and fly on to a
secondary target. 

So far in the Korean War fighter escorts have not
really been needed for the big bombers. That's going
to change. 

On Oct. 22, 24 F-84s escort eight 19th BG B-29s to the
Taechon airfield. After the big planes drop their
bombs they're hit by 40 MiG-15s. As a result of the
shootout, one bomber crashes into the sea. The entire
crew is later rescued. 

Again on Oct. 23, eight bombers from the 307th Bomb
Wing head for Namsi, escorted by 55 /F-84a. They drop
their load on the Namsi airfield and are swarmed by 50
MiGs. At the same time, 100 MiGs attack a group of 34
F-86s loitering several miles away, keeping them out
of the fight around the bombers. 

In the 20-minute battle, three B-29s are shot down. Of
the five other bombers, only one escapes major damage.
B-29 gunners shoot down three MiGs and the flight
escorts get another. An F-84 also shoots down a MiG. 

Air Force leaders say it is "one of the most savage
and bloody air battles of the Korean War." 

Eight B-29s from the 98th Bomb Wing strike railroad
bridges near Sunchon on Oct. 24. Again 70 MiGs
overwhelm 16 Australian Air Force Meteors and 10
F-84s. Another bomber is lost and all the others are
heavily damaged. 


Oct. 18 -- President Harry S. Truman replies to Gen.
Douglas MacArthur's claim that the general's action
kept the Truman Administration from returning Formosa
to Red China in exchange for a settlement in Korea. He
says the general is wrong and MacArthur knows it. 


Oct. 20 -- Soviet Premier Josef Stalin answers North
Korean dictator Kim Il Sung's letter of thanks. He
wishes the country "success in its heroic struggle for
the freedom and independence of its homeland." 


Oct. 22 -- Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Air Force chief of
staff, says in Washington that radio transmissions
among MiGs in Korea are in Russian. "There sure as
hell are no Chinese or Red Koreans flying those MiGs,"
he says. 

Also in Washington, Gen. Omar N. Bradley, chairman,
Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the reds are losing about
7,000 trucks a month. 

Oct. 23 

A report from Eighth Army headquarters says that from
Oct. 13-19 its soldiers inflicted 29,275 among
communist Koreans and Chinese. 


Oct. 24 -- The U.S. casualty count as of Oct. 19 is
92,997, with 15,688 dead. 

Speaking at a cornerstone-laying ceremony for the D.C.
Red Cross building, the president says he hopes the
Soviet Union leaders and its satellites "come to see
that it is utterly foolish to oppose the united will
of all the other peoples of the world for peace and
justice. 


(Editor's note: Jim Caldwell is a journalist with the
Training and Doctrine Command Public Affairs Office,
Fort Monroe, Va.) 

http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/Oct2001/a20011016koreaoct18-24.html



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