No Gun Ri Refugees Korea 1950
In the first summer of the Korean War, American and South Korean troops retreated steadily down the peninsula toward Pusan. Behind them, and ahead of the pursuing North Koreans, was a constantly growing stream of refugees, desperate to escape the communists. Word spread that some of the refugees were in fact North Korean sympathizers infiltrating the South. As the military situation continued to deteriorate, American commanders issued orders (which were denied for more than three decades) to shoot Korean refugees. General Hobart Gay, First Cavalry Division commander, designated Koreans behind the retreating Americans as “enemy agents.”
Between July 25 -29, more than six hundred refugees were approaching the American lines west of No Gun Ri. During the night of July 25, several refugees strayed from the main group and were shot by American sentries. The following day the main body of the refugees was stopped by American troops, stripped of anything which could be construed to be a weapon and forced off the main road. The Americans had the refugees positioned near some railroad tracks and left them there around noon. They were ordered to remain where they were and the refugees were spread out along the tracks when they were attacked by US airplanes.
The air attack included aerial bombing and repeated strafing attacks. Refugees tried to flee in all directions to find the way often blocked by soldiers shooting at them. Eventually, the ground fire drove the survivors under a railroad bridge, where they attempted to build a barricade using the bodies of the dead. As darkness fell after a day of horror, US troops brought up searchlights to illuminate the areas (there were two) under the bridge and the firing continued. The situation remained static throughout the next few days, with occasional shots being fired by American troops when motion was seen under the bridge.
In the early hours of July 29, the Americans withdrew as the North Korean troops advanced towards them. North Korean troops found the survivors of the refugee group, reportedly less than 25. North Korea immediately reported the massacre and claimed casualties of around 400 dead, their reports were just as quickly dismissed as “communist propaganda.” In the late 1990s and early 2000 evidence emerged in the form of declassified documents that the massacre of civilian refugees by US troops was known by the high command in Korea and in the Pentagon by the fall of 1950, but no action was taken or acknowledged made.
In 1999 an Associated Press story based on interviews with survivors and with some US Army participants in the massacre was released. By 2000 the Pentagon was conducting an official investigation. In 2001, the Pentagon’s official report admitted the attack on refugees was conducted using small arms, mortars, and airstrikes, but denied that the troops had been under orders from anyone other than the officers at the scene. Since the massacre, South Korea has been able to identify 163 of the dead by name, and the general agreement of those who participated is that about 400 of the refugees were killed by American troops and air forces.