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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- EVENTS -- The Korean War, 1950-1953 --

Land Operations & The Pusan Perimeter, July - September 1950

The first U.S. troops to enter combat came from the Army's 24th Infantry Division, part of the garrison occupying Japan. A two-company advance force with a few field guns was flown to Korea. South of Seoul on 5 July, this small unit met an entire North Korean division and was simply overwhelmed by tanks and vastly superior numbers. This uneven fight, representing what later would be called military "speed bumps" in the path of an enemy advance, marked the start of a long ordeal for the U.S. soldier, a fight not just with armed enemies, but against the Korean environment. For three years, he contended with rugged terrain, hot summers, brutally cold winters, particularly aromatic growing seasons, and abundant mud, dust, rain and snow.

Though more U.S. Army divisions came into action during July, the North Koreans pushed steadily south. They had not achieved Kim Il-Sung's promised quick victory, but they were still winning. U.S. and South Korean casualties were severe. The defenders retreated into a line about eighty miles by fifty, anchored on the vital seaport at Pusan. In early August the situation along this Pusan Perimeter was critical, and remained so for more than a month, as the North Koreans tried relentlessly to shatter the defenses.

However, also in early August, the First Provisional Marine Brigade arrived, three weeks after sailing from California. The tough Marines, though few in numbers, bested the enemy every time they met, taking back his hard-won advances and generally serving as the Pusan Perimeter's fire brigade. The Marines were assisted by an invaluable asset, one not then generally available to the U.S. and South Korean soldiers, close air support that was really close, and fully integrated with the ground effort. The Korean War would decisively prove the tactical superiority of this ground-air teamwork over the competing concept that all air power should be centrally directed from afar.


This page features images related to military operations ashore from July into September 1950.

For views of the First Provisional Marine Brigade's deployment from the United States to Korea, see:

  • Trans-Pacific Logistics, July -- September 1950.

    For links to more pictures of the first months of the Korean War, see:

  • The North Korean Offensive, 25 June -- 15 September 1950.

    For a precis of our Korean War images, and links to more comprehensive pictorial coverage of later periods and other aspects of that conflict, see:

  • The Korean War, June 1950 - July 1953 -- Introductory Overview and Special Image Selection.

    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions.

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 96991

    Defense of the Pusan Perimeter, 1950


    PFC Harold R. Bates and PFC Richard N. Martin rest atop the third objective that U.S. Marines seized overlooking the Naktong River, South Korea, 19 August 1950.
    Photographed by Sgt. Frank C. Kerr, USMC.
    Note: Canteen in use, M1 Rifle carried by one Marine and M1 carbine with fixed bayonet carried by the other, who has a bayonet scabbard attached to his leg.

    Official U.S. Marine Corps Photograph, from the "All Hands" collection at the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 146KB; 605 x 765 pixels

     
    Photo #: SC 347107

    Defense of the Pusan Perimeter, Summer 1950


    Gun crew of the 64th Field Artillery Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, fire a 105mm howitzer on North Korean positions near Uirson, South Korea, 27 August 1950.
    Photographed by PFC Wayne H. Weidner.

    Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 133KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: NH 96987

    Marine Stretcher Bearers


    Carry a wounded Marine from the front lines to a forward aid station, in Korea, circa August 1950.

    Official U.S. Marine Corps Photograph, from the "All Hands" collection at the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 156KB; 740 x 620 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97142

    U.S. Marine Aid Station


    A casualty receives plasma from a U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman at a medical aid station somewhere near the Naktong River Front, during the defense of the Pusan Perimeter, 17 August 1950.
    Note First Class rating badge stencilled on the Corpsman's jacket.

    Official U.S. Marine Corps Photograph, from the "All Hands" collection at the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 122KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97006

    Marines in Korea, circa August 1950


    Marines sharing candy with South Korean children at a small village, while en route to the front by rail.
    Photographed in the Pusan Perimeter area.

    Official U.S. Marine Corps Photograph, from the "All Hands" collection at the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 146KB; 740 x 615 pixels

    Note:
    This image is slightly disfigured by small chemical spots in its center area.

     
    Photo #: SC 472164

    "Saddle Ridge", South Korea


    Photographed on 2 April 1953.
    "Saddle Ridge" was part of the Taegu battleground during the Summer 1950 defense of the Pusan Perimeter.

    Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 620 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-479409

    Pusan, South Korea


    Aerial view of part of the city's waterfront, taken on 4 April 1953.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 165KB; 645 x 675 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     

    For links to more pictures of the first months of the Korean War, see:

  • The North Korean Offensive, 25 June -- 15 September 1950.

    For a precis of our Korean War images, and links to more comprehensive pictorial coverage of later periods and other aspects of that conflict, see:

  • The Korean War, June 1950 - July 1953 -- Introductory Overview and Special Image Selection.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions.


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    New image added 18 January 2000