The Forgotten War: Arkansas and the Korean War
To many the conflict in Korea remains a “forgotten war”, overshadowed
by World War II and Vietnam. Yet Korea marked a turning point in the
political and military history of the postwar world. For the first time,
two global powers--one backed by the United Nations and equipped with a
nuclear arsenal--came into armed confrontation over the political
allegiance of a third country. Four short years after the United States
participated in one of the greatest wars of its generation, the US was
once again entrenched in a war halfway around the world. On June 25, 1951,
the North Korean Army invaded South Korea. The fighting--all of which took
place inside Korea--began as a local war in a small far-Eastern country of
which few Westerners had ever heard. By its end on July 27, 1953, the war
had directly or indirectly involved forces from nearly half of the world
and brought a third world war closer than ever. Twenty-two nations fought
in the Korean War and over 3 million people lost their lives.
On July 27, 1951, the United Nations Security Council
voted to join the war and prevent the spread of Communism into South
Korea. The Korean War marks the beginning of the Cold War. On July
1, 1951, Harry Truman sent American troops in to Korea invading at Pusan.
Then on July 10, the United Nations Security Council named General Douglas
MacArthur supreme commander of all security forces.
The Korean conflict was the first war in which US forces were
integrated due to much-needed support. African-American and white soldiers
worked together for the first time. MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals)
units began being used during the Korean War. The MASH units saved
thousands of lives. Soldiers who made it to a MASH unit had a 97% chance
of survival. Of the eleven major wars fought by the United States between
1775 and 2007, the Korean War ranks fifth on total casualties with 36,940
Americans killed in the Korean Theater, including 461 Arkansans.
The Korean War defined new roles for the military establishment. The existing concept of absolute victory in the field achieved with deployment of all available weapons, was tempered by civilian demands to control and contain hostilities. While military commanders were primarily concerned with winning the war, politicians struggled to maintain the status quo of superpower relations. The Korean conflict stands as history’s first deliberately “limited war” and has since served as a model for peacekeeping in a dangerous world.
Approximately 6,300 Arkansans fought in the Korean War, each doing
their part to protect the world from the spread of Communism.
Unfortunately, 461 of those men lost their lives in the conflict. During
the Korean War,
161 men received the Medal of Honor for bravery above and
beyond the call of duty. Six of these Medal of Honor recipients were
Arkansans; three of whom received the medal posthumously. The Medal of
Honor was awarded to Arkansans Gilbert Collier, Lloyd “Scooter” Burke,
Charles Gilliland, Herbert Littleton, James L. Stone, and Travis E.
Watkins. To learn more about these great men, see also “By
the President in the Name of Congress: Arkansas Medal of Honor Recipients.”
As a part of the “The Forgotten War: Arkansas and the Korean War” exhibit, the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History collected pictures of Korean War veterans. These pictures are only a small representation of the many men who fought and died for our state and nation during this “The Forgotten War.”
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