16. The Pusan Perimeter, Korea, August-September, 1950
Before the drive up the Korean Peninsula following the landings at Inchon, Americans fighting as United Nations forces had suffered severely at the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter. The Pusan Perimeter was a defense line around the tip of the Korean peninsula supported by the port of Pusan. American and South Korean troops had been pushed into the small area following a series of defeats at the hands of the North Koreans. Arriving American troops at Pusan and the forces which had retreated down the peninsula manned the defense line, a total of about 140,000 men, though much of their heavy equipment had been abandoned during the retreat. About 100,000 North Koreans opposed them as August began. For the next six weeks battles raged around the perimeter, with heavy casualties incurred by both sides.
The Pusan Perimeter became a last stand of the United Nations forces as they resisted assault after assault by the North Koreans. At the same time American combat aircraft from both the Air Force and the US Navy and Marines provided air cover, and the Navy used the port of Pusan to build up American forces and equipment ashore. The attacks continued day and night, sometimes in large scale assaults and sometimes in probing missions. Despite the frequency of the attacks the North Koreans were unable to penetrate the defense line for very long, and by the end of September the North Koreans were running low on supplies. When the United States cut their supply lines after landing at Inchon the North Koreans retreated and the UN troops broke out from Pusan. Almost 5,000 Americans gave their lives defending the Pusan Perimeter.