Eventually, even that revised goal proved elusive. We were likewise unwilling to pull out of Korea.īy January 1951, the objective changed again. We were unwilling to risk a wider war by striking back at the Chinese in their sanctuary in Manchuria. Armed with Russian equipment-and with Russians flying some of the MiG-15s–they pushed the UN forces into retreat across the 38th parallel. In November, the Red Chinese entered the war, crossing the Yalu with 260,000 combat troops. The objective was changed to defeating North Korea and unifying the peninsula.
In September, though, a successful counteroffensive carried the war into the north. Originally, the objective was to eject the invaders from South Korea. Without FEAF, which harried the invasion force and took a terrific toll on it, the war would have been lost in a month. The South Koreans had no armor or combat aircraft.
Except for a small advisory group, US forces had been withdrawn from Korea. The first line of support for South Korea was Far East Air Forces, operating mostly from bases in Japan. Believing it to be the start of a worldwide Communist offensive led by the Russians, Truman decided to make a stand. When news of the invasion came, the Truman Administration reversed its Korea policy overnight. Five months earlier, Secretary of State Dean Acheson had publicly defined the US “defensive perimeter” in Asia.
Up to the moment North Korean tanks rolled across the border, we did not regard Korea as particularly important. To make matters worse, foreign policy in Asia was not the long suit of the Truman Administration. We were not ready for a pop-up war in Korea. Military resources were strained to cover our obligations in Europe and the strategic threat from Russia. In retrospect, it set a pattern for other limited conflicts–notably Vietnam–that would come later, characterized by uncertain commitment and shifting purpose.Īfter World War II, US forces and defense budgets were drawn down to dangerous levels. In the 1950s, Korea was seen as a one-time deviation from the way wars were supposed to be fought. The fighting ended in an armistice, which continues today. Unlike World War II, the objective in Korea was not victory.
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