"THE KOREAN CONFLICT BEGINS"

NORTH KOREAN PEOPLE'S ARMY CROSSES 38TH PARALLEL

Seoul, South Korea (JFK+50) On June 25, 1950, the North Korean People's Army crossed the 38th parallel marking the beginning of the Korean Conflict*.

Two days later the United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the invasion and President Harry S Truman ordered air and naval forces of the United States to support South Korea.

The Korean peninsula had been divided in December 1945 by an agreement between the United States and Soviet Union.  North Korea would be supported by the Russians, while Americans would support South Korea. 

*The Korean War (1950-1953) ended with the Korean Armistice Agreement which created a DMZ or demilitarized zone separating North & South Korea.  40,000 Americans died in the conflict with 100,000 more wounded. 

   

 

Korean War Memorial

Washington, D.C.

Photo by John White (2003)

"THE ATTACK UPON KOREA MAKES IT PLAIN COMMUNISM WILL USE ARMED INVASION & WAR"

PRESIDENT TRUMAN SENDS U.S. MILITARY FORCES TO KOREA

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On June 27, 1950, President Harry S Truman signed an order directing American naval and air forces to  be sent to South Korea.  The President's order came two days after North Korean troops invaded South Korea.   President Truman said this action was necessary to enforce the resolution of the United Nations Security Council calling for an end to the hostilities in Korea.

President Truman said...

"The attack upon Korea makes it plain...that Communism will use armed invasion & war."

According to the New York Times, the President also increased the number of American forces in the Philippines and increased military assistance to French and Vietnam forces fighting against the communists in Southeast Asia.

Ambassador Alan G. Kirk was also dispatched to Moscow to ask the Soviets to help bring an end to the hostilities in Korea.  The Times reported that the Pentagon was instructed by President Truman "to fight only below the 38th Parallel.".

The action by President Truman met with universal support from the Congress and the American people.

SOURCE

"Truman Orders U.S. Air, Navy Units to Fight In Aid of Korea; U.N. Council Supports Him; Our Fliers in Action, Fleet Guards Formosa," by Anthony Leviero, The New York Times, June 28, 1950, On This Day, The New York Times Company, www.nytimes.com/

Korean War Memorial

Washington, D.C.

July 19, 2003

Photo by John White

YOU'RE FIRED GENERAL!

JFK+50:  Volume 5, No. 1916

MACARTHUR RELIEVED OF COMMAND 65 YEARS AGO TODAY

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President Harry S Truman fired General Douglas MacArthur from his command of United Nations forces in Korea sixty-five years ago today, April 11, 1951.

The decision came after a long dispute between the Commander-in-Chief and the General.  MacArthur personally told the President in a meeting in October 1950 that the probability of the Communist Chinese entering the war was "slim".  Then, later in the year, after Chinese troops crossed the Yalu River into Korea, MacArthur asked Truman for permission to bomb China.

General Omar Bradley disagreed with MacArthur's advice by saying:
"This is the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy".

President Truman said:

"I believe we must try to limit the war in Korea....so there will be no doubt or confusion as to the real purpose and aim of our policy."

In his "Reminiscences," General MacArthur wrote...

"At one o'clock in the morning of April 11th, President Truman...announced my relief from command.  His action was fraught with politics, as he was...of the belief that I was conspiring...with Republican leaders.  This is completely erroneous."

The General went on to criticize the United Nations for "yielding to counsels of fear," and added regarding the argument that the fear that Russia would enter the war if the U.S. pressed for victory, "the entry of Soviet Russia...was a risk inherent in the original decision to intervene in Korea."

And despite Truman's dismissal of General MacArthur from command, the President wrote...

"General MacArthur's place in history as one of our greatest commanders is fully established."

For MacArthur's part, the General wrote that in his view "the supremacy of the civil over the military is fundamental to the American system of government."


JFK+50 NOTE

Truman's firing of MacArthur was widely criticized at the time.  The General was welcomed home with a ticker-tape parade and spoke before a joint session of Congress.  As the years have passed, however, there is a consensus among historians that Truman's action was warranted.  

SOURCE

"Reminiscences:  General of the Army Douglas MacArthur,"  McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1964.

MacArthur and Truman

TROOPS ORDERED TO KOREA

TRUMAN ORDERED US FORCES TO SOUTH KOREA 65 YEARS AGO 

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Sixty-five years ago today, June 27, 1950, President Harry S Truman signed an order directing American naval and air forces to  be sent to South Korea.

The President's order came two days after North Korean troops invaded South Korea.   President Truman said this action was necessary to enforce the resolution of the United Nations Security Council calling for an end to the hostilities in Korea.

President Truman said...

"The attack upon Korea makes it plain...that Communism will use armed invasion & war."

According to the New York Times, the President also increased the number of American forces in the Philippines and increased military assistance to French and Vietnam forces fighting against the communists in Southeast Asia.

Ambassador Alan G. Kirk was also dispatched to Moscow to ask the Soviets to help bring an end to the hostilities in Korea.  The Times reported that the Pentagon was instructed by President Truman "to fight only below the 38th Parallel.".

The action by President Truman met with universal support from the Congress and the American people.

SOURCE

"Truman Orders U.S. Air, Navy Units to Fight In Aid of Korea; U.N. Council Supports Him; Our Fliers in Action, Fleet Guards Formosa," by Anthony Leviero, The New York Times, June 28, 1950, On This Day, The New York Times Company, www.nytimes.com/

Korean War Memorial

Washington, D.C.

July 19, 2003

Photo by John White

JFK APPOINTS HENRY CABOT LODGE, JR. AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH VIETNAM

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-two years ago today, June 27, 1963, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. was appointed United States ambassador to South Vietnam by President John F. Kennedy.

Lodge, who replaced Frederick E. Nolting, also defeated by John F. Kennedy in his bid to be re-elected to the United States Senate from Massachusetts in 1952.

Lodge would serve as ambassador until June 1964 when he resigned to make a bid for the Republican Presidential nomination. HCL later returned to South Vietnam for a 2 year term as ambassador.

Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.

SUPREME COURT SAYS NO TO SCHOOL PRAYER

June 25, 1962


SUPREME COURT SAYS NO TO SCHOOL PRAYER


The United States Supreme Court handed down its ruling today in the case of Engel v. Vitale.


The high court ruled by a vote of 6 to 1 that a prayer recommended for classroom reading by the New York Board of Regents is a violation of the 1st Amendment.


The prayer in question is:


"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee & we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers & our country. Amen."


The American Jewish Commission, the Synagogue Council of America & the Ethical Union opposed the prayer.


The court says because the prayer was created by government officials to promote a religious belief it violates 1st Amendment rights.

Sculpture of Chief Justice Earl Warren
United States Supreme Court Building
       Photo by John White (2003)


June 25, 1963


JFK QUOTES LINCOLN IN FRANKFURT


President John F. Kennedy spoke to West Germans in Frankfurt today.  He said:


"Abraham Lincoln said 'I know there is a God.  I see a storm coming.  If he has a place for me, then I am ready'.  No one can tell....whether there is a storm coming for all of us, but what we can be sure of is that no matter what happens, we believe in God & we are ready."

                      Lincoln Memorial
                      Washington, D.C.
               Photo by John White (2003)


JFK also said Americans are committed to the defense of Europe to the extent we "will risk (our) cities to defend yours."


June 25, 1952


CONGRESSMAN KENNEDY SPEAKS ON HOUSE FLOOR


Congressman John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts gave a speech today on the floor of the House of Representatives warning that because of large imports of fish fillets, New England's fishing industry has been crippled.


The Congressman asked the House of Representatives to study this problem.

                US Capitol Building
                  Washington, D.C.
         Photo by John White (2003)


June 25, 1950


NORTH KOREAN ARMY INVADES SOUTH KOREA


The North Korean People's Army, supported by the Soviet Union, crossed the 38th parallel today & invaded South Korea.


The United Nations Security Council, meeting in New York City, unanimously condemned the invasion.


Korea was divided at the Potsdam Conference at the end of World War II.


In December 1945, a US-USSR Joint Commission agreed in Moscow to allow a trusteeship for North Korea by the Soviet Union & a trusteeship for South Korea by the USA.


The trusteeships were to be in place for a 5 year period.*


*On June 27, 1950, President Truman ordered US air & naval forces to support South Korea.  


The Korean Conflict ended with an armistice signed on July 27, 1953.  North & South Korea remain divided to this day.

           Korean War Memorial
              Washington, D.C.
      Photo by John White (2003)


June 25, 1942


EISENHOWER NAMED COMMANDER IN EUROPE


General Dwight D. Eisenhower was named Commander of all United States forces in the European war theater today.


Eisenhower, a graduate of West Point, served as an assistant to General Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines.


As European commander, General Eisenhower will be directly involved in the planning & execution of US military strategy to liberate the continent from Axis control.

     General Dwight D. Eisenhower
         U.S. Signal Corps Photo


June 25, 1876


CUSTER'S 7TH CAVALRY DEFEATED AT LITTLE BIG HORN


Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, a young hero for the Union Army in the Civil War, met defeat today on the banks of the Little Big Horn River in Montana.


Custer & 215 soldiers of the 7th U.S. Cavalry were part of an army sent out to force all "hostile" Plains Indians back onto their reservations.


Lt. Col. Custer apparently misjudged the size of the Indian village he found at the Little Big Horn & ordered a division of his forces.


Custer's division of 215 men attacked the center of a Sioux & Cheyenne village estimated to hold more than 10,000 Indians including 3000 armed warriors under Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse.


There were reportedly no survivors from Custer's division.

              US Seventh Cavalry Insignia