On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, and the United States, under United Nations Command, rushed to defend the South Korean peninsula. In November 1950, China sent ground troops in support of North Korea. For three years, American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines served half a world away, fighting alongside soldiers from South Korea and 20 other nations. In 1953, an armistice established a boundary at the 38th parallel, and today South Korea remains an independent, democratic nation.