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Books > Humanities > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > From 1900 > Postwar, from 1945 > General
"Train Wreckers and Ghost Killers" discusses the contributions the
British Marines and the Korean Marines made to the Allied Forces in
the Korean War. In praise of the British Royal Marines that had
been attached to his command since mid-November 1950, Major General
Oliver P. Smith, Commanding General, 1st Marine Division, wrote
that their services in the recently concluded Chosin Reservoir
campaign made "a significant contribution to the holding of Hagaru,
which was vital to the 1st Marine] Division." General Smith's
comments reflected the view held by many Marines, both officers and
enlisted, of the fighting abilities of both their British cousins
and their Republic of Korea Marine Corps allies. During the three
years they fought together on the Korean peninsula, the British,
Korean, and U.S. Marines forged bonds that still exist today.
In 1917, deep in the snowy mountains of occupied Korea, an
impoverished local hunter on the brink of starvation saves a young
Japanese officer from an attacking tiger. In an instant, their
fates are connected, a chance encounter that will shape both of
their lives for over half a century. Meanwhile, in the north of
Korea, a young girl named Jade is sold by her family to Miss
Silver's courtesan school in the glamorous city of Pyongyang. When
she befriends an orphan boy named JungHo, they form a deep
friendship. But before long, JungHo will be swept up in the
revolutionary fight for independence, while Jade becomes a
celebrated performer pursued by a wealthy romantic prospect. From
the perfumed chambers of a courtesan school in Pyongyang to the
glamorous cafes of a modernizing Seoul and the boreal forests of
Manchuria, Juhea Kim's unforgettable characters forge their own
destinies as they shape the future of their nation. Immersive and
elegant, Beasts of a Little Land unveils a world where friends
become enemies, enemies become saviours, and beasts take many
shapes.
The Battle of Inchon was an amphibious invasion and battle of the
Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic
reversal in favor of the United Nations. The operation involved
some 75,000 troops and 261 naval vessels, and led to the recapture
of the South Korea capital Seoul two weeks later. The code name for
the operation was Operation Chromite. The battle began on 15
September 1950 and ended on 19 September. Through a surprise
amphibious assault far from the Pusan Perimeter that UN and South
Korean forces were desperately defending, the largely undefended
city of Incheon was secured after being bombed by UN forces. The
battle ended a string of victories by the invading North Korean
People's Army (NKPA). The subsequent UN recapture of Seoul
partially severed NKPA's supply lines in South Korea. The majority
of United Nations ground forces involved were U.S. Marines,
commanded by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of the United
States Army. MacArthur was the driving force behind the operation,
overcoming the strong misgivings of more cautious generals to a
risky assault over extremely unfavorable terrain.
Mention the Korean War and almost immediately it evokes the memory
of Marines at Pusan, Inchon, Chasin Reservoir, or the Punchbowl.
Americans everywhere remember the Marine Corps' combat readiness,
courage, and military skills that were largely responsible for the
success of these early operations in 1950-1951. Not as dramatic or
well-known are the important accomplishments of the Marines during
the latter part of the Korean War. In March 1952 the 1st Marine
Division redeployed from the East Central front to West Korea. This
new sector, nearly 35 miles in length, anchored the far western end
of I Corps and was one of the most critical of the entire Eighth
Army line. Here the Marines blocked the enemy's goal of penetrating
to Seoul; the South Korean capital. Northwest of the Marine Main
Line of Resistance, less than five miles distant, lay Panmunjom,
site of the sporadic truce negotiations. Defense of their strategic
area exposed the Marines to continuous and deadly Communist probes
and limited objective attacks. These bitter and costly contests for
key outposts bore such names as Bunker Hill, the Hook, the Nevadas
(Carson-Reno-Vegas), and Boulder City. For the ground Marines,
supported by 1st Marine Aircraft Wing squadrons, the fighting
continued until the last day of the war, 27 July 1953. The Korean
War marked the first real test of Free World solidarity in the face
of Communist force. In repulsing this attempted Communist
aggression, the United Nations, led by the United States, served
notice that it would not hesitate to aid those nations whose
freedom and independence were under attack. As events have
subsequently proven, holding the line against Communist
encroachment is a battle whose end is not yet in sight. Enemy
aggression may explode brazenly upon the world scene, with an overt
act of invasion, as it did in Korea in June 1950, or it may take
the form of a murderous guerrilla war as it has more recently, for
over a decade, in Vietnam. Whatever guise the enemy of the United
States chooses or wherever he draws his battleline, he will find
the Marines with their age old answer. Today, as in the Korean era,
Marine Corps readiness and professionalism are prepared to apply
the cutting edge against any threat to American security. This is
the concluding volume of a five-part series dealing with operations
of United States Marines in Korea between 2 August 1950 and 27 July
1953. Volume V provides a definitive account of operations of the
1st Marine Division and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing during
1952-1953, the final phase of the Korean War. At this time the
division operated under Eighth U.S. Army in Korea {EUSAK) control
in the far western sector of I Corps, while Marine aviators and
squadrons functioned as a component of the Fifth Air Force (FAF).
The period covered by this history begins in March 1952, when the
Marine division moved west to occupy positions defending the
approaches to Seoul, the South Korean capital, As it had for most
of the war the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, operating under FAF, flew
close support missions not only for the Marines but for as many as
19 other Allied frontline divisions. Included in the narrative is a
detailed account of Marine POWs, a discussion of the new defense
mission of Marine units in the immediate postwar period, and an
evaluation of Marine Corps contributions to the Korean War.
Marines, both ground and aviation, comprised an integral part of
the United Nations Command in Korea. Since this is primarily a
Marine Corps history, actions of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force
are presented only in sufficient detail to place Marine operations
in their proper perspective. The original text and artwork have
been used in this publication; occasionally there may be instances
of imperfections with these old texts (i.e., blurred or missing
pages, poor image quality)."
This monograph studies the racial integration of Army ground combat
units in Eighth (US) Army during the Korean War. The purpose of the
monograph is to determine how this change in the utilization of
African-American combat soldiers impacted the effectiveness of a US
Army organization engaged in fighting a war. This monograph
utilizes several methods to accomplish this purpose: study of
pertinent records and Army doctrine, primary and secondary source
historical analysis, and an inter-disciplinary study of military
effectiveness. To answer the primary research question, this
monograph also explores in broad terms the origins of the Cold War
and US national policy after World War II, the use of Korean
soldiers in US Army units during the Korean War, and the Army's
segregation policies. This monograph comes to two major findings.
First, the integration of African-Americans in Army combat units
during the Korean War resulted in improvements in cohesion,
leadership and command, fighting spirit, personnel resources and
sustainment that increased the combat effectiveness of Eighth (US)
Army. Second, contrary to the prevailing Army view, leaders in the
Eighth (US) Army held a positive opinion of the ability of
African-American soldiers to fight in combat. Both of these
findings are evidence of Eighth (US) Army's adaptability.
The city of an-Najaf, Iraq, is a provincial and market center
located on the western branch of the Euphrates River approximately
100 miles south of Baghdad. Its population (prewar) of 563,000
expands at times with pilgrims to this important center of Islamic
scholarship and theology. It is the location of several significant
shrines for Shi'a Muslims and boasts one of the largest cemeteries
in the world. Its more recent history has been marked by conflict
of a political nature as the place of exile for Ayatollah Khomeini
and site of the assassination of Ayatollah Mohammad Sadiq. It
served as the location of Shi'a resistance to perceived political
oppression and was a place of battle once more in 2004. This is a
"battle study" written purposely from the perspective of the
Marines, soldiers, and sailors who fought at an-Najaf in August
2004. Some context is needed to fit these events within the
evolution of the campaigning in Iraq in 2004. The Americans
deployed to al-Anbar and an-Najaf Provinces, faced a variety of
threats as Iraq attempted to again govern itself. Threats were from
disparate sources, including Sunni fighters in Fallujah and Shi'a
fighters in Najaf. Behind each was the possibility of al-Qaeda in
Iraq or criminal exploitation of any disruption of Coalition
efforts to establish responsible Iraqi Government. This complexity
of threats did not lend itself to easy solutions. In March 2004,
Lieutenant General James T. Conway's I Marine Expeditionary Force
was faced with an outbreak of Sunni insurgency in Fallujah. At the
same time, a Shi'a uprising took place across Iraq, including
Baghdad, Najaf, an-Nasiriyah, al-Kut, al-Amarah, and Kirkuk. The
fighting spread to Karbala, Hillah, and Basrah with attacks on
Iraqi and Coalition outposts. This fighting dropped off in June
with the establishment of the Iraqi Interim Government of Prime
Minister Ayad Allawi, but the menace of further violence remained.
The Multi-National Force-Iraq, under General George W. Casey Jr.,
USA, felt that before the Iraqis could be responsible for security
in each province, the centers of violence had to be dealt with by a
"clear-hold-build" approach. Baghdad, Fallujah, and Najaf were thus
targeted. When Muqtada al-Sadr fomented another uprising in August,
the recently arrived 11thMarine Expeditionary Unit found itself
assigned to quell the uprising in Najaf. It would be reinforced for
this effort by two U.S. Army and four Iraqi Army battalions. The
narrative that follows documents this effort from the small unit
level. The importance of the close relationship between political
and military force is emphasized. The intent is to provide a view
of combat for the education and training of Marines who might face
similar circumstances.
The leader of the Chinese communist revolution, Mao Zedong, was
once asked by a journalist what he thought was the lasting impact
of the French Revolution. He allegedly responded that he did not
know the answer to this question as it was "too early to tell." In
this same vein, field historian Colonel Nicholas E. Reynolds' book
on the beginning of hostilities in Iraq is one of the first
historical works commissioned by the History Division to focus on
the role of the U.S. Marine Corps in the long war against global
terrorism. This particular book is about Marines during the first
stage of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). It spans the period from 11
September 2001 to March and April 2003, when the Coalition removed
Saddam Hussein from power, and concludes in November 2003 when the
Marines left Kuwait to return to their home bases in the United
States. While many then believed that the "kinetic" phase of the
fighting in Iraq was largely over, as we now know, it was only a
prelude to a longer but just as deadly phase of operations where
Marines would be redeployed to Iraq in 2004 to combat insurgents
(both foreign and domestic) who had filtered back into the country.
However, this phase of the fighting would be very different from
the one the Marines and U.S. Army had fought in the spring of 2003
in the march up to take Baghdad. The primary focus of the book is I
Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF)-the run up to the war in 2002
and early 2003, especially the development of "the plan," with its
many changes, the exhaustive rehearsals, and other preparations,
and then the conduct of decisive combat operations and the
immediate postwar period, mostly under the control of the U.S.
Central Command's Coalition Forces Land Component Command. The book
also touches upon other Marine activities in the Military
Coordination and Liaison Command in northern Iraq and with the
British in the south. Nonetheless, the primary focus remains on I
Marine Expeditionary Force and the interactions of its constituent
elements. Other forthcoming History Division publications will soon
offer detailed narratives on Marines in Operation Enduring Freedom
(OEF) in Afghanistan and II MEF operations inside Iraq.
It's 1952. Marines have been fighting in Korea for just over 2
years. The daring execution of the Inchon Landing, if not
forgotten, might as well have been. For instead of conducting
amphibious assaults and moving rapidly though North Korean forces,
the Marines of the Ist Marine Division are fighting along a main
line of resistance (MLR)-outpost warfare-static warfare that
consisted of slugfests between artillery and mortars, but always
the infantryman moving in small groups attacking and reattacking
the same ground.
Since reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan began in 2001, the U.S.
government, the international community, and the Afghan government
have made improving Afghanistan's justice system a priority. Key
documents have noted the importance of the justice sector,
including the U.S. government's Integrated Civilian-Military
Campaign Plan for Support to Afghanistan and the Afghan
Government's National Priority Programs focus on strengthening
Afghan rule of law and Afghan citizens' access to justice. The
Department of State (State) has invested in a variety of rule of
law programs since 2005, including programs managed by its Bureau
of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to
train Afghan justice sector personnel. State also serves as the
lead coordinator for U.S. justice sector development efforts in
Afghanistan, responsible for coordinating the activities of several
U.S. agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) and the Department of Justice. INL has spent
approximately $205.5 million on its Justice Sector Support Program
(JSSP) to provide training to Afghan justice sector officials, to
develop a case management system to track cases throughout
Afghanistan's justice system, and to build the capacity and
administrative skills of officials within Afghan ministries
This is a story about Marines and a tough mission: the Marines of I
and II Marine Expeditionary Forces were deployed to Iraq during
2004-2006 and confronted a violent insurgency and a nation in
chaos. Though the Marines came to fight-they did so admirably in
al-Fallujah, ar-Ramadi, and other hot and dusty locales in al-Anbar
Province-they also laid the foundation for a secure and stable
Iraqi society. Though security and stabilization seemed improbable
if not impossible in al-Anbar Province, the apparent intractable
insurgency was beaten with gritty determination that Marines have
always brought to the fight. Besides using warfighting skills, the
Marines also employed their expertise in civil affairs to help
rebuild a nation in disarray. The military occupation of al-Anbar
Province required patience, perseverance, and fortitude. The cities
and towns were damaged, inhabitants demoralized, and little
remained of civil authority. Hopes remained high that the
occupation would be short-lived and that the Iraqis would pick
themselves up and rebuild. However, those hopes died hard on the
harsh realities of post-invasion Iraq. As the Marines took up new
and unplanned responsibilities, insurgent violence continued and
increased, generated by the national disarray of all social
institutions. For the I and II Marine Expeditionary Forces, nation
building and combat operations would proceed alongside one another
for most of their service in Iraq.
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