Word: taejon
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Dates: during 1950-1950
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Even if the thin line of U.S. youngsters on the south bank of the Kum had miraculously prevented a single Communist from crossing, they would have had to pull out of the salient around Taejon anyway. The Communist drive on their right flank (see below) threatened to cut the rail line, perhaps encircle and destroy the forces on the U.S.'s first line of defense. After delaying the enemy as much as they could, their main business was to get out alive and intact...
...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...