Walton Walker - Korean War

Korean War

Shortly after the North Korean invasion of South Korea, in June 1950, the Eighth Army was ordered to intervene and drive the invaders back across the 38th parallel, the border between the two countries. With only four lightly equipped and poorly trained divisions, Walker began landing troops on the southeast side of the Korean peninsula in July. After his lead units, elements of the 24th Infantry Division (including the ill-fated Task Force Smith), were virtually destroyed in a few days of furious fighting between Osan and Taejon, Walker realized his assigned mission was impossible and went on the defensive. Pushed steadily back towards the southeast by the North Korean advance, Walker's forces suffered heavy losses and for a time were unable to form a defensible front, even after bringing the 1st Cavalry and 25th Infantry Divisions into the fight.

Walker's situation was not helped by unrealistic demands from MacArthur in Tokyo not to retreat an inch. Attempting to obey, Walker gave a bombastic "not a step back" speech to his staff and subordinate commanders which did not go over well. Nor did it stop the North Koreans from pushing back the Americans and the Republic of Korea Army (ROK), which had been badly mauled in the opening days of the invasion, even further.

As American and ROK forces retreated further east and south, they finally arrived at a defensible line on the Nakdong River. They took advantage of shortened supply routes and a relatively good road network to exploit the advantages of "interior lines". Walker was able to quickly shift his units from point to point, stopping North Korean attacks before they could be reinforced. The Americans were greatly aided by decoded radio intercepts of enemy communications, giving them advance knowledge of where North Korean attacks would occur. Walker was also able to employ artillery and airpower to great effect.

American forces gradually solidified this defensive position on the southeast side of the Korean peninsula, dubbed the "Pusan Perimeter". Walker received reinforcements, including the Provisional Marine Brigade, which he used along with the Army's 27th Infantry Regiment as "fire brigades," reliable troops who specialized in counterattacking and wiping out enemy penetrations.

As more reinforcements arrived, the combat advantage shifted toward the American and South Korean forces. North Korean forces had suffered terribly and their supply lines were under constant aerial bombardment. Almost all of their T-34 tanks, which spearheaded the invasion, had been destroyed. Walker ordered local counterattacks while planning for a large scale breakout in conjunction with MacArthur's Inchon landing in September.

With MacArthur's amphibious flanking move, the North Koreans seemed trapped but Walker's rapid advance northwest towards Inchon and Seoul emphasized speed over maneuver and made no attempt to encircle and destroy the North Koreans after punching through their lines. Although thousands of prisoners were taken, many North Korean units successfully disengaged from the fighting, melting away into the interior of South Korea where they would conduct a guerrilla war for two years. Others escaped all the way back to North Korea.

With the war apparently won, Walker's Eighth Army quickly moved north and, with the independent X Corps on its right, crossed the 38th parallel to occupy North Korea. Fighting tapered off to sporadic, sharp clashes with remnants of North Korean forces. By late October 1950 the Eighth Army was nearing the Yalu River, North Korea's border with China. Walker, informed by MacArthur's headquarters that the Chinese would not intervene, did not insure that his troops maintained watchful security. Due to a lack of coordination between Walker, General Edward Almond, Commander of the X Corps, and MacArthur's headquarters in Tokyo, a gap had opened between Eighth Army and X Corps as they moved close to the Chinese border. Eventually, the weather had turned savagely cold, and most American units had no training and inadequate equipment for the bitter temperatures.

Contrary to MacArthur's expectations, the Chinese intervened in force; first in a series of ambushes, then in sporadic night attacks, and finally in an all-out offensive in which large Chinese forces infiltrated the lines, taking advantage of the American failure to take basic security measures, and the large intervals between American and South Korean units and between the Eighth Army and the X Corps. From late October until the beginning of December in 1950, the Chinese killed or captured thousands of American and ROK soldiers, decimating the 2nd Infantry Division and forcing Walker into a desperate retreat.

By early December, using his superior mobility Walker successfully broke contact with the Chinese, withdrawing south to a position around Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Without instructions from MacArthur's headquarters, Walker decided that Eighth Army was too battered to defend Pyongyang and ordered the retreat resumed to below the 38th parallel.