How many are surprised to know that this summer marked the 75th anniversary of the start of a war that claimed the lives of more than 36,000 Americans?
If this had been a major anniversary of the American Civil War or World War II, there would be ceremonies and parades, yet with the Korean War, relatively nothing.
Appropriately called “the forgotten war,” Korea technically was a United Nations conflict and not an American war; although, American troops made the largest contingent in combat and the combined forces were led by American five-star General Douglas MacArthur.
On June 25, 1950, only five years after the end of WWII, the Northern Korea People’s Army invaded South Korea. U.S. President Harry S. Truman’s foreign policy of containment meant he must do everything in his power to stop North Korea and South Korea from uniting under communist control.
Glazing over a forgotten war
Because it has everything history buffs love to study, it’s hard to understand why the Korean War is nearly forgotten. There is a reason WWII is so much more popular than World War I. Wars like WWII and the Civil War are “sexy” — a word I hate but have learned to accept. When students were asked to name battles and generals from WWII, they can name at least a dozen. When asked the same for WWI: silence
WWII and the Civil War era books are the most read in American history. Why? Both had larger-than-life generals, heroic battles and campaigns that spanned across the continents. In WWI, soldiers spent most of their time in trenches. Yet Korea has everything those wars have, just on a smaller scale.
Few generals are larger than MacArthur. Fewer battles more harrowing than Heartbreak Ridge, Pork Chop Hill or the Chosin Reservoir, and MacArthur’s plan to get behind the North Korean forces was nothing short of epic. Not to mention, arguably the greatest sitcom of all time was set during the Korean War. Yet Korea is still forgotten.
The Korean battlefield
North Korea had the early advantage in the war as they attacked first across the 38th parallel and pushed UN forces all the way down to the southeastern corner of the peninsula. UN forces dug in at Pusan and were able to stop the advance. Ever the risktaker, MacArthur made a bold move to counterattack while at the same time sent troops on an amphibious assault behind enemy lines at Inchon near the 38th parallel. The plan worked and North Korean troops were forced to retreat north to protect their own nation.
With UN forces now in control, Truman and MacArthur abandoned containment, and instead went with a rollback plan, deciding to cross the 38th parallel and try to unify Korea under the Democratic South Korean government.
UN forces advanced all the way up to the Chinese border at Chosin and Chongjin. However, once in place, Chinese forces fiercely attacked across the border, where Americans saw some of the worst fighting in the war. Not only did UN troops fight the Chinese and North Koreans, but also the weather. In late November to mid-December, it turned brutally cold. Behind the Chinese strength, UN troops were once again pushed down the peninsula past the 38th parallel. By the end of 1950, they had lost the South Korean capital of Seoul.
Reinforced by the Eighth Army in the early months of 1951, UN troops stopped the bleeding, retook Seoul, and pushed communist troops back to the original 38th parallel, where the war turned into a stalemate.
When Eisenhower became commander in chief, he determined it was not worth losing American lives over small battles that did not seem to make a difference because communism had been contained at its original position. On July 27, 1953, an armistice was signed, one that is still in place today.
With such epic battles, it is hard to understand why this conflict is forgotten. Many think it is because the Korean War was sandwiched between WWII and Vietnam, it only lasted three year,s and the loss of life was much smaller than the other two wars. It was also the first war America did not win. Yes, we did not lose, but we did not win either.
I myself had fallen into this trap. Early in my career, I did not know much about this conflict, and when I taught it to my classes, it was a simple overview. The book that changed my perspective was “On Desperate Ground: The Marines at the Reservoir, the Korean War’s Greatest Battle” by Hampton Sides. Its description of the fighting around Chosin showed me just how difficult this war was. I highly recommend it.
Mixed responses of a forgotten war
Not everything about the conflict has been forgotten. In 1970, Robert Altman released his dark comedy, M.A.S.H., which, in 1972, turned into possibly the greatest sitcom of all time. Both the movie and the M.A.S.H. series that ran on CBS from 1972 to 1983 follow the antics of doctors and nurses of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War.
The problem with M.A.S.H. today is that many people think it is about Vietnam. A quick online poll showed that younger people said Vietnam, people in their 40s were mixed, and everyone 50 or older said Korea. An 18-year-old asked his friends when M.A.S.H. happened and the majority replied, “What is M.A.S.H.?” Sad.
While the Vietnam War Monument in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 1982, Korean War veterans and their families would wait more than a decade longer to see the 1995 dedication of the Korean War Monument.
Although it is one of the least-known or visited monuments in D.C., Korean War veterans are gaining well-deserved recognition in what I believe to be one of the best monuments in our capitol. Its depiction of soldiers crossing a rice paddy is a haunting must-see on any D.C. trip.
Hopefully, over the next couple of years, we can do more to remember the men and women who served, fought, and died in this forgotten war, and hopefully these soldiers of the Silent Generation can stand next to those of the Greatest Generation. Though their fight is not as well-known, their sacrifices were just as great.
James Finck is a professor of American history at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. He may be reached at HistoricallySpeaking1776@ gmail.com.
