10. Hugh McKee and America’s first intervention in Korea
One of the lesser known events of American history was the military expedition to Korea in 1871. It was the first time American newspapers reported on events on Ganghwa Island and the nearby region known as Inchon, which would become familiar names to Americans eight decades later. The expedition was dispatched by the United States Navy and Marine Corps to discover what had happened to the merchant ship General Sherman, which had been attacked by the Koreans after it attempted to establish trade relations in 1866. Two visiting American warships were bombarded by Korean shore batteries five years later and the United States sent a punitive expedition in early June, 1971. What had originated as a diplomatic mission became America’s first military operation on the Korean Peninsula.
On June 10, an American force of about 650 sailors and marines landed on Ganghwa Island to capture Korean forts and batteries. One of them was Navy lieutenant Hugh McKee, an 1866 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. During the battle for one fortress, no less than fifteen sailors and marines took action, under McKee’s leadership, which led to them being awarded the Medal of Honor (often erroneously referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor). One of them, William Troy, was awarded the medal for his actions rescuing his severely wounded commander. McKee later died of his wounds aboard USS Monocacy. The hand to hand combat which saw more than a dozen men eventually awarded the Medal of Honor is all but forgotten in American history. They were the first Americans to receive the award for actions in a foreign conflict.