Word: taejon
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...claim to understand the grand strategy of this thing, but I will never again lead men into a situation like that one. We were ordered to hold at all cost. We did, but the cost was awful . . ." The Americans were driven back to the Kum River above Taejon. Most of them dug in south of the river, where they had the advantage of a flood-control dike 20 to 30 feet high...
...hold. The first three or four Red patrols which tried to cross in broad daylight were wiped out or beaten back, but large numbers of Reds apparently waded the river at night. Some of them disguised in U.S. green fatigue uniforms, attacked U.S. units from the rear. West of Taejon bend, under heavy U.S. fire, the invaders established footholds on the south bank, one at Samgyo, another at nearby Kongju...
...North Koreans suffered heavy losses in men and armor, but they pushed on doggedly. The invaders widened the Samgyo beachhead to take Nonsan (see , about 15 miles to the south, then swung northwest to attack Taejon. The town and its airfield, from which U.S. fighter craft and hospital planes had operated, were under Communist artillery fire; the airfield was evacuated...
Early this week, the U.S. troops, making a brave and skillful stand around doomed Taejon, were spilling the blood of attackers who kept coming on in waves. The Reds had surprised everyone with their fighting ability and determination, but on closer acquaintance they had shown certain weaknesses, such as attacking in vulnerable masses. They also had a tendency to barrel straight ahead with their armor, using it as a sledge hammer instead of as a meat chopper. This kind of tactics permitted U.S. withdrawals when things got too hot; it also meant that the Reds were not causing as much...
...Communist shelling of the U.S. airfield at Taejon (see above) was forcing increasing reliance on bases in Japan, but the U.S. was also beginning to build emergency airstrips in South Korea. One such airstrip, already in operation last week, consisted of a tiny cluster of rundown concrete buildings, hastily made over into an operations office and control tower, two rickety hangars and a long, grassy runway...