Korean War

Often called the Forgotten War in the U.S. because it drew less public attention after World War II, the Korean War grew out of rising Cold War tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union and their failure to unify postwar Korea, leaving the country divided along the 38th parallel into communist North Korea and U.S.-supported South Korea. On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea to force unification, and on June 27, 1950, the United Nations Security Council condemned the invasion and authorized member nations to support South Korea's defense in a U.N. police action led by the U.S. North Korea was supported by the Soviet Union and Communist China, and the war involved air, ground, and naval forces. North Korea initially drove South Korean and U.N. forces south to Pusan, but U.N. forces resupplied, landed at Inchon, broke out of Pusan, and pushed north nearly to the North Korean-China border. China then entered the war in support of North Korea and drove U.N. forces south, though U.S. forces showed fierce resistance and bravery at places such as the Chosin Reservoir, where outnumbered and surrounded U.S. Marines broke out. The Soviet Union increased its support to include air cover. From 1951 to 1953 the war settled into stalemate, and negotiations produced an armistice in July 1953 that ended military activities while keeping Korea divided along the 38th parallel, with a Korean Demilitarized Zone established and both sides continuing to closely monitor each other. During the war, 1,789,000 American soldiers served, 36,574 were killed, 103,284 were wounded, 7,245 were captured, only 4,418 returned because of an almost 39 percent prisoner-of-war death rate, and 931 U.S. service members remain missing in action.

East Glenville, New York · United States