1. Did you know… ► The "S" in Harry S Truman is not an abbreviation--it is Truman's complete middle name! ► His parents could not agree on whether to honor his father's father, Anderson Shippe Truman, or his mother's father, Solomon Young, and so the noncommittal initial was accepted as a compromise. The charming Mrs. Truman

2. The Korean War

4. Violent History ► Korea's location plays a major role in its history.  The Korean peninsula is strategically located on the northeastern coast of Asia.  It lies south of Russia, east of China and northwest of Japan. ► “A Shrimp Crushed Between Whales”  This refers to Korea and the fact that the relatively small country was often a casualty in battles between its more powerful neighbors.

5. ► Korea had been occupied by Japan from 1910-1945. ► Anti-Japanese protest in Seoul, Korea in 1919.

6. ► After being liberated from Japan after WWII, Korea was divided  North Korea ► Socialist dictatorship under Soviet influence  South Korea ► Right-wing dictatorship under American influence

7. Label your map: -North Korea -South Korea-38th Parallel -Korea Strait -Sea of Japan -Seoul-Pyongyang

8. War Breaks Out ► June 25, 1950  North Korean troops cross south across the 38 th parallel in an invasion of South Korea.  The South Koreans are ill- equipped and lose their capitol of Seoul within 3 days. Draw arrows representing the invasion on your map.

9. Response ► Troops from the United Nations (led by America) are sent to “repel the armed attack.” ► Truman reasoned  “A return to the rule of force in international affairs would have far- reaching effects. The United States will continue to uphold the rule of law.”  He later reflected that his decision to enter the Korean War was the toughest decision he had to make as president.

10. Another war already? ► In a speech several months before the invasion Secretary of State Dean Acheson did not even include Korea in the U.S. defense perimeter in East Asia. ► In June 1950 most Americans had never heard of Korea and could not find it on a map. ► Prior to the end of World War II the only American’s that had contact with Korea were missionaries and a few merchants. ► Now American troops were packing their gear and heading for an unknown country.

11. ► The Americans and troops from other countries entered into a limited war - a war that was not "officially" declared - but rather a police action. ► Truman did not use the term war in reference to Korea. ► When asked by a reporter if our intervention in Korea was a "police action under the U.N." the president responded "yes, that is exactly what it amounts to."

12. Military Integration ► President Truman and others were particularly disturbed by reports of mistreatment of black veterans who had served ably during the Second World War. ► Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948 declared that "there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.“ Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948 Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948 ► There was much objection within the military, but by 1953 90% of the units were desegregated.

13. ► It soon became apparent that the North Koreans had Chinese and Russian backing. ► While the American forces were operating at a fraction of their World War II strength, the North Koreans were at full strength and backed-up by Chinese and Soviet troops.  For example - at the end of World War II the U.S. Army had approximately 5.7 million troops and at the beginning of the Korean War there were 593,000 troops

14. Counteroffensive Part I ► September-October 1950 ► U.N. forces, under the command of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, landed at the port of Inchon near Seoul on September 15, 1950. ► U.N. forces, breaking out from Pusan and coming south from Inchon, were able to overwhelm the Northern troops in South Korea. ► Seoul was taken by U.N. forces on September 26.

15. Counteroffensive Part II ► U.N. forces moved north of the 38th parallel, capturing the Northern capital Pyongyang on October 19. ► Despite warnings from China that it would not accept the presence of U.N. troops in North Korea, MacArthur continued to move his forces northward  with the announced intention of unifying the Korean peninsula.  Some U.N. forces reached the Yalu River -- the border between North Korea and China -- on October 25.

16. ► Label your map  Pusan  Yalu River

17. China Enters the War ► The next day, a Chinese force estimated at between 130,000 and 300,000 attacked the U.N. forces -- quickly pushing them southward in a disorderly retreat. ► The U.N. abandoned Pyongyang on December 4.

18. ► The U.S. Navy evacuated tens of thousands of refugees and U.N. personnel from the ports of Hungnam and Wonsan.

19. Armistice ► U.N. forces reoccupied Seoul in March 1951. ► From there they were able to advance slightly north of the 38th parallel. ► This line eventually became the border.

20. Bye-bye Mac! ► In April 1951, MacArthur -- who had openly disagreed with President Truman over how to conduct the war -- was relieved of his command. ► MacArthur conceived of the Korean war as a holy war; he kept talking about launching atomic strikes, all of which made Truman and other leaders very nervous!

21. Truman’s Press Statement ► I have thought long and hard about this question of extending the war in Asia. I have discussed it many times with the ablest military advisers in the country. I believe with all my heart that the course we are following is the best course. ► I believe that we must try to limit war to Korea for these vital reasons: to make sure that the precious lives of our fighting men are not wasted; to see that the security of our country and the free world is not needlessly jeopardized; and to prevent a third world war. ► A number of events have made it evident that General MacArthur did not agree with that policy. I have therefore considered it essential to relieve General MacArthur so that there would be no doubt or confusion as to the real purpose and aim of our policy. ► It was with the deepest personal regret that I found myself compelled to take this action. General MacArthur is one of our greatest military commanders. But the cause of world peace is more important than any individual.

22. ► I have just left your fighting sons in Korea. They have met all tests there, and I can report to you without reservation that they are splendid in every way. ► It was my constant effort to preserve them and end this savage conflict honorably and with the least loss of time and a minimum sacrifice of life. Its growing bloodshed has caused me the deepest anguish and anxiety. Those gallant men will remain often in my thoughts and in my prayers always. ► I am closing my fifty-two years of military service. When I joined the army, even before the turn of the century, it was the fulfillment of all my boyish hopes and dreams. ► The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barracks ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that old soldiers never die; they just fade away. ► And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Good-bye.

23. Armistice ► Truce talks began on July 10, 1951. ► By that time, the war had become static -- with neither side making any real advances. ► Disagreement over several issues, including the exchange of prisoners, delayed the signing of an armistice for another two years.

24. Armistice ► Many South Koreans had hoped for re-unification and protested the armistice. ► Since the Armistice of 1953, about 1,000 North Koreans fled to South Korea and perhaps 100 or so South Koreans fled to Pyongyang in North Korea.

25. Cost of War ► North and South Koreans had endured three years of bombing and shelling. ► U.N. and South Korean casualties were estimated at more than 550,000. ► While North Korean and Chinese casualties were believed to be around 1.5 million.

26. Cost of War The widespread use of Napalm by UN forces had devastating consequences. ► “In front of us a curious figure was standing, a little crouched, legs straddled, arms held out from his sides. He had no eyes, and the whole of his body, nearly all of which was visible through tatters of burnt rags, was covered with a hard black crust speckled with yellow puss…He had to stand because he was no longer covered with skin, but with a crust-like crackling which broke easily…I thought of the hundreds of villages reduced to ash which I had personally seen and realized the sort of casulaty list which must be mounting up along the Korean front.” -BBC Journalist

27. Demilitarized Zone ► As part of the cease-fire, both sides agreed to withdraw 2 kilometers along the final battleground and establish a demilitarized zone along the armistice line -- a zone that still exists today. Observation post at Demilitarized Zone, looking from North Korea to South Korea

28. DMZ

29. Significance of the Korean War ► Extension of containment policy ► Conflict still arises today between North and South Korea