Military Operations During the Korean War, Essay Example

Discuss the major military operations – land, sea, and air – of the Korean War from January 1951 until the conclusion of the conflict in July 1953. Also provide a discussion of the major leaders involved in U.S. military operations during this time period.

From 1950 to 1953, Communist North Korea invaded the non-Communist South Korea. Dean Acheson, the United States Secretary of State immediately made a public statement that Korea was beyond the U.S. Defense perimeter. But President Truman acted against this statement, sending a mixed message as he sent troops to South Korea to fight back the Northern Aggressors (Woods, 192). This move was made without the consent of Congress as Truman denied he needed the approval and called his action a ‘police action’, supported by the United Nations. This rendered Congressional approval superfluous.

Lieutenant Colonel George Russell was a battalion commander in Korea. There was such a terrible terrain on which the tanks had to move. Russell often complained that the terrain was the worst part of the entire war (Halberstam, p3). The rough and unstable landscape made the use of tanks nearly infeasible due to the mountainous region.

American commander, Douglas MacArthur was supposed to have ignored a warning shot that would ignite the war into an enormous military conflict (Woods, 193). The Korean War moved onward and Congress never gave its approval, setting a precedent that has been detrimental even in the recent past. The war left terrible and deep scars on the lands of North Korea and South Korea that are indelibly pressed in history.

References

“The Korean War was a Strategy of Tension Justifying the Cold War Slaughter of Millions”. (2009). Retrieved on November 13, 2010 from IED.info: http://www.ied.info/articles/fabricating-incidents-to-start-wars/the-korean-war-was-a-strategy-of-tension

Halberstam, D. The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War. New York: The Amateurs, 2007

“Korean War – 1950-1953”. (2010). Retrieved on November 13, 2010 from globalsecurity.org: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/korea.htm