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00:10The
00:10United States Army presents
00:12The Big Picture
00:16An official report
00:18produced for the armed forces
00:19and the American people
00:31Today our Big Picture camera
00:33takes us to our nation's capital
00:35for a visit with Sergeant Stewart Queen
00:37at the National Press Club
00:56Few things in American life
00:58have a longer tradition of service
01:00to the people than our newspapers
01:01Since long before the revolution
01:04they have covered the growth
01:05and, well, progress of our nation
01:09They have recorded our mistakes
01:10and our successes
01:11They have reflected our grief
01:13and our humor
01:15Our forefathers knew
01:17that only an informed people
01:18could remain free people
01:19It has been the task of newsmen
01:22to keep us informed
01:23In the course of gathering information
01:25reporters for generations
01:27have followed American wars
01:30moving with their armies
01:31at Gettysburg and the Marne
01:32at Normandy
01:33and the Pusan perimeter
01:35If their stories had a common hero
01:37it was the American soldier
01:41Today the Big Picture will turn back
01:43to what is now history
01:44the summer storm of 1950
01:47the harsh and bitter days
01:49of the early fighting in Korea
01:51With me here in the National Press Club
01:53To tell part of this story
01:55is one of America's
01:57most distinguished war correspondents
01:59Jim Lucas
02:00of Scripps Howard
02:01Newspaper Alliance
02:02Hello, Stu
02:03It's been a long time
02:04Yes, it has, Jim
02:06As I remember
02:07we met for the first time
02:08over in Korea
02:09at the 8th Army Press
02:12That's right
02:13That was the summer of 1950
02:15and that was a reporter's nightmare
02:18It was a nightmare for all of us
02:21Actually, no better
02:22and no worse than I'd expected
02:23Why?
02:25Well, I'd covered enough of the fighting
02:29in the Pacific and World War II
02:32to be prepared for just about anything
02:35Of course, in Korea
02:36there was this one very real difference
02:39in the Pacific War
02:41when I covered that one
02:42we were winning
02:43In Korea, we weren't
02:45not initially, at least
02:47and that was the hardest thing
02:49for the American soldier
02:51to accept and to believe
02:53and it was certainly
02:55the hardest thing for us to write about
02:58But you did write them
02:59and they did pay off
03:01Jim, as a reporter
03:04would you recount some of the events
03:06that led up to that nightmare?
03:09some of the things
03:10that kept stacking up
03:11against the American soldier
03:13making it just a little bit
03:14more difficult for him
03:17Well, to do that, Sergeant
03:18you've got to go back to
03:21World War II
03:22We came out of that war
03:24believing, as we did
03:25at the end of World War I
03:26that we'd fought the last
03:29great war
03:30that we'd restored
03:32democracy to the world
03:34and then suddenly
03:35to our consternation
03:36we discovered that
03:37that the Russians
03:38who had been our
03:40wartime allies
03:42were not our post-war friends
03:43in Eastern Europe
03:45country after country
03:47fell behind the Iron Curtain
03:51pre-Slovakia was
03:52overthrown
03:55China
03:56fell to the Communists
03:59in Indochina
04:00they started a hot war
04:02with considerable success
04:04and they tried to choke us
04:06out of Berlin
04:06and fortunately
04:07our airlift
04:09prevented that
04:10but
04:11aside from a
04:12few
04:13Cold War victories
04:14which certainly
04:15we don't underestimate
04:16like
04:17our foreign aid programs
04:18and
04:19the success of the
04:20Berlin airlift
04:21the Communists had things
04:23pretty much their own way
04:25I remember they started
04:26this Cold War
04:28and they were winning it
04:29and they had no reason
04:31to believe that they
04:32couldn't start
04:34a hot war
04:35and carry that off too
04:37looked like a pushover
04:39huh?
04:40yeah I did
04:41the North Koreans
04:42had a
04:43full field army
04:44with tanks
04:45and heavy equipment
04:46and the poor South Korean
04:47rocks
04:49they were a little more
04:50than a constabulary force
04:52just what did they expect?
04:55a 10 day victory sergeant
04:56and if we hadn't done
04:57what we did
04:57when we did it
04:58if we hadn't intervened
05:00even though we weren't
05:01prepared for intervention
05:02that is precisely
05:03what they would have had
05:04but they didn't count
05:06on the
05:07United Nations
05:08and they didn't count
05:09on the presence
05:10and the tenacity
05:11of the American soldier
05:13and remember these
05:14young men
05:15that we sent in there
05:16in the summer of 50
05:18were pretty green
05:20they'd had less than
05:21a year's training
05:22most of them
05:23very few of them
05:24were World War II veterans
05:27and we've got to face this
05:29they'd had it
05:29pretty soft
05:31on garrison duty
05:32in Japan
05:33Jim through the eyes
05:35of the combat cameramen
05:36who were there with you
05:38we're going to go back
05:39and re-examine
05:40some of the events
05:41that took place
05:41following the
05:42communist crossing
05:43of the 38th parallel
05:45you knew this war
05:47you wrote about it
05:48you were there
05:49let's go back
05:51back to that
05:52fateful summer
05:52of 1950
05:54Korea
05:58Korea
05:59a crowded little finger
06:01of land
06:01extending out of
06:03Asia's mainland
06:03pointing significantly
06:05toward Japan
06:06and the Pacific beyond
06:07a nation not much larger
06:10than our state of Minnesota
06:11but acre for acre
06:12one of the most violently
06:14mountainous areas
06:15on earth
06:19today the capital city's soul
06:21is largely restored
06:22rising from the rubble
06:24of almost total destruction
06:25to become at least somewhat
06:27like her old self
06:28the capital building
06:30wears a new dome
06:31but nothing short
06:32of complete rebuilding
06:33will ever erase
06:35the battle scars
06:36in these walls
06:40as Koreans today know it
06:42the peace
06:43is an uneasy armistice
06:44in a divided nation
06:46but with the dogged stoicism
06:48of a culture
06:49four thousand years old
06:50they go about the business
06:52of living
06:52knowing as they do
06:54that for the living
06:55there is no other course
07:00in the markets
07:01the scrap pile school
07:02of architecture prevails
07:04but business
07:05is as colorful
07:06noisy
07:06and aromatic
07:07as it ever was
07:11north of Seoul
07:12the mountains rise
07:13in sharp
07:14volcanic disorder
07:15green foliage
07:16has returned
07:17to slopes
07:18once blasted bare
07:19by TNT
07:20and napalm
07:21but at the summits
07:22eyes still keep watch
07:24to the north
07:28along the demilitarized zone
07:30or DMZ
07:30and trench forces
07:32face one another
07:33across no man's land
07:35here the armistice
07:36decreed
07:37the armies would
07:38pull back from one another
07:39forming a buffer zone
07:41among the mountains
07:45once again
07:46Korea
07:47the ancient mountain kingdom
07:49of Chosin
07:50is in fact
07:51the land of the morning Kong
07:54but no one forgets
07:56June 25th 1950
07:57it was still dark
07:59four o'clock
08:00on a Sunday morning
08:18South Korean villages
08:19awoke to a world
08:20suddenly filled with noise
08:22and plague
08:22the communists made full
08:24by months of small scale
08:26raiding across the 38th parallel
08:27had finally launched
08:29their undeclared
08:30all out war
08:31of conquest
08:36half a world away
08:37in Washington
08:37President Truman
08:39took immediate action
08:40saying
08:40in these circumstances
08:42I have ordered
08:43United States
08:44air and sea forces
08:45to give the Korean government
08:47troops cover
08:48and support
08:49next day
08:50at the United Nations
08:51in New York
08:52United States
08:53representative
08:54Warren Austin
08:55made our position
08:56clear beyond doubting
08:59the armed invasion
09:01of the Republic of Korea
09:02continues
09:04the Republic of Korea
09:06has appealed
09:07to the United Nations
09:08for protection
09:10I am proud to report
09:12that the United States
09:15is prepared
09:16to furnish assistance
09:18to the Republic of Korea
09:23spearheaded by tanks
09:24the red forces
09:25had moved swiftly
09:26in two days
09:28they were attacking
09:28the capital city itself
09:34Seoul fell
09:35the next day
09:36June 28th
09:40by June 30th
09:42the communists
09:43had crossed the Han River
09:44south of Seoul
09:45and fought through
09:46the rail city
09:47of Yong Dong Po
09:48with their heavy Russian-made tanks
09:50they thrust aside
09:51South Korean resistance
09:52racing down the corridor
09:54which led through
09:55Anyang
09:55towards Suwon
10:01here the helpless
10:02and homeless gathered
10:03only to be told
10:04they must flee
10:05still farther southward
10:06everywhere
10:07they saw their
10:08outnumbered countrymen
10:09rushing north
10:10to join the battle
10:11less than a dozen
10:12combat planes
10:13were available
10:14several of them
10:15piloted by Americans
10:17the Korean-American
10:19Volunteer Group
10:20the Korean-American
10:21what little you could do
10:22with only ten aircraft
10:23we did
10:38even as the red armor
10:40swept towards Suwon
10:41advanced elements
10:42of the 24th Infantry Division
10:44were being airlifted
10:45to Korea
10:46from Japan
10:55their coming was known
10:57to the people
10:57they were welcomed
10:58with cheering
11:03four days later
11:04they met the enemy
11:05south of Osan
11:06and the cheering
11:07was forgotten
11:23the enemy was a lot stronger
11:25and better trained
11:25than we'd heard
11:26some guys thought
11:27we'd have it easy
11:30it didn't work out that way
11:34retreat
11:35the few heavier weapons
11:37covered each withdrawal
11:38as best they could
11:42where they had divisions
11:43we had companies
11:44pull back
11:45fight
11:46pull back again
11:47four days and nights
11:48nobody slept
11:49we started with a good
11:50many green troops
11:51now anybody could still
11:53pack his gear
11:54he was a veteran
12:18help was on the way
12:19in Pusan to the south
12:21more 24th Division troops
12:23and equipment
12:24were arriving by ship
12:25not enough
12:26not nearly enough
12:28but it was a start
12:32Generals Walton H Walker
12:33and William Dean
12:35had a tough assignment
12:36undertake the work
12:37of several divisions
12:38with elements
12:40of only one
12:44one day I looked up
12:45and there they was
12:46man if I said
12:48those fresh troops
12:48looked good
12:49I'd be lying
12:49they were beautiful
12:51not only just troops
12:53but trucks
12:54more heavy stuff
12:55and tanks
13:05we met our first red armor
13:0725 miles north of Ted John
13:29July 13th
13:30Yokota Air Base
13:32Japan
13:32our first large-scale
13:34bombing attack
13:34is mounted
13:35as more than 50
13:36V-29s take off
13:37the target
13:38once odd
13:39key North Korean
13:40port city
13:43we wondered how much
13:44hack hack there'd be
13:45there wasn't any at all
14:01things were going to be a little slow
14:03around Wonsan tomorrow
14:06as the communists move south toward Ted John
14:08we pull back across the Coom River
14:13this natural barrier offered another chance
14:15to buy time
14:16from the enemy
14:17we took advantage of
14:25the air force was playing a leading role
14:28in our attempt to delay the communist advance
14:30lacking bases in Korea
14:32F-80 jets adapted oversized wing tanks
14:35for the long flight across the sea of Japan
14:41Angel 5 to Doefoot over
14:43Doefoot to Angel 5
14:44request fire on enemy column due north
14:46your position
14:47Angel 5 to Doefoot
14:49save your transmission
14:50we'll proceed over
14:55Doefoot to Angel 5
14:56good luck
15:07you
15:08doefoot
15:14The End
15:36July 18th, the Sea of Japan.
15:39A Navy task force approaches the east coast of Korea.
15:43Destination, Pohang.
15:44Mission, to land the men and machines of the 1st Cavalry Division.
15:49The Korean battle line was moving rapidly on all fronts.
15:52Only on arrival were the troops informed that the landing would be unopposed.
15:57The division's 27,000 men started ashore.
16:03Psychology says how you're supposed to feel sort of disappointed.
16:07Expect to fight and then don't have to.
16:10Maybe so.
16:11I wasn't disappointed.
16:14On July 20th, the Reds reached Ted John.
16:1724th Division troops, led by General Dean, were to hold as long as possible.
16:23There was something fishy about Ted John.
16:26I mean, they threw in a little artillery and then we waited.
16:31Nothing.
16:34Nobody.
16:36Then wham!
16:38They were all over the place.
16:48We found out we were surrounded.
16:50It was a case of move out fast to stay foot for good.
16:53As it was, we were going to have to make a run down a corridor of fire a mile long.
16:57Which we did.
17:04We had bought more time, but Ted John was gone.
17:07And with her, General Dean.
17:11We traded time for space.
17:14Two weeks for the land between Ted John and the Nakhtong River.
17:19From behind the wide, deep waters of the Nakhtong, we could test our growing strength.
17:24We cut the bridges and poured our fire on the opposite banks.
17:44Daily communist attacks probed up and down the length of the line.
17:48Searching for an opening.
17:50Daily movement upon those attacks, all the firepower at our command.
17:54The line heads.
17:58In the north and eastern sectors, RLK troops had recovered from the first shattering blows they had taken.
18:04They would retreat no more.
18:10Where tanks are concerned, Korea is no place to have a war.
18:13There's only two directions.
18:15Up the hill and down the hill.
18:17And that perpendicular terrain puts armor in a straight jacket.
18:21Still, you do what you can.
18:23With a little added elevation, a tank's rifle can be darn good artillery.
18:26We found a way to get that extra elevation.
18:29It worked fine.
18:42Early in August, General William Keene received orders to carry out our first large-scale offensive action.
18:48The enemy was trying to punch through in the south and capture Pusan.
18:52Task Force Keene, composed of General Keene's 25th Division, the 5th RCT, and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, was to
19:00repel this attack.
19:06It was the 6th of August.
19:08I remember, of course, that's my birthday.
19:11Also, it's the first time I ever got shot at.
19:13I remember thinking to myself,
19:14Happy birthday, Charlie.
19:16Yeah.
19:22The word came down.
19:24Time to move again.
19:26We had to get the high ground instead of the base of fire.
19:33The armor took charge of the low ground.
19:35And from the ridgeline sparked by the Marine Brigade,
19:39which soldiers unleashed their fire?
19:41Methodical, concentrated, jetty.
19:53The Marines, equipped with a heavy bazooka,
19:56found it highly effective against Russian-made armor.
20:20In the valley beyond, Marines and soldiers faced a dirty, dangerous task.
20:25To clear the area of red snipers and stragglers.
20:29For veterans of the Pacific, the action was painfully familiar.
20:34Like the Japanese, a small-bodied North Korean soldier,
20:37had a talent for hiding behind a bush no larger than you might grow in a window box.
21:04Task Force Keene took its quota of prisoners.
21:07Many had shed their uniforms, hoping to escape in the white civilian clothes worn underneath.
21:13At close quarters, the enemy lost his fearsomeness.
21:17Usually, he was very young.
21:19Always, he was glad to be out of the fighting.
21:23Task Force Keene had earned a brief moment in which to catch its breath.
21:36The first non-American troops to join the U.N. forces in Korea arrived from Hong Kong.
21:41Two battalions from the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders and the Middlesex Regiment.
21:48To tell us the truth, we was happy to reach Korea.
21:51The past six months, we'd been sweltering in Hong Kong.
21:54And it's so blooming off, we were scared to dig a hole for fear we'd bust right through in the
21:59L.
22:00At least over here, we'd be cool enough so as a man could enjoy his blinking tea time.
22:08September 1st, an all-out red offensive across the Naktang tightens our circle of defense.
22:14The siege of the Pusan perimeter is on.
22:20In the Sea of Japan, Task Force 77 carriers speed up their operations.
22:40It was my job to send them out.
22:42Every available aircraft, every usable minute of every day.
22:46Our enemy had long, vulnerable supply lines now.
22:49Without adequate stocks of ammunition and fuel, his strength would fail.
22:53With luck, we'd make sure.
23:39Our perimeter held, and within its circle at Pusan, our strength was mounting daily,
23:45even as the Red Armies were dissipating their own.
23:49Food, ammunition, supplies, all the tools of war were being stockpiled.
23:54Our days on the defensive were nearing an end.
23:59And they did come to an end, too, a few weeks later, with our landings at Incheon,
24:03and with those landings that we all felt a lot better in Korea.
24:09Before our men broke out of the Pusan perimeter, they'd learned plenty.
24:13And they were getting the support and the logistics that they needed to fight.
24:19Looking back, Jim, what do you consider our biggest lesson?
24:24Oh, Stu, there were many lessons, and it would be difficult even now to single out any one
24:30and say that this is the greatest lesson.
24:34But if I had to pick one, I would say that it was the realization
24:38that we could never let that happen to us again,
24:42that we could never be caught with our guard down.
24:45Take Lebanon, for example.
24:48When President Eisenhower ordered the intervention in Lebanon,
24:52we were able to send well-trained, well-equipped troops in sufficient numbers.
25:00They arrived in Lebanon before any trouble started.
25:03And arriving before the trouble started,
25:06they were able to prevent its happening.
25:09Whereas in Korea, as we have just seen,
25:11we sent troops who were ill-trained, ill-equipped, and outmanned.
25:21And he was forced to fight well-trained, well-armed communist soldiers.
25:25On their terms, the lesson, I think, is obvious.
25:29If we're able to deal with these brushfire wars before they start,
25:34then there's considerably less chance of their starting in the first place.
25:38Lebanon could have been another Korea.
25:40And much worse, because Korea was an isolated little peninsula,
25:46and we were able to contain the war within the confines of that peninsula.
25:50Whereas Lebanon, if it had ever gotten out of hand of the fighting,
25:54it actually started, might have spread throughout the whole of the Near East.
25:58Jim, I know you've marched and driven with just about every army unit,
26:02both at home and overseas.
26:06But has the individual soldier changed any since Korea?
26:12Well, Stu, he's still our secret weapon.
26:16I suppose there have been superficial changes.
26:20The weapons and the equipment that he handles and fires
26:23would have amazed and baffled his older brother who fought in Korea.
26:29He's certainly the best trained soldier we've ever had in our history.
26:35I understand his organization is more flexible and efficient
26:39and could be adapted to atomic warfare if we ever have to fight that kind of a war.
26:47There are many things that have changed, but there are many things that haven't.
26:51And these are the important things, I think.
26:55He's still the guy who must bear the burden of combat on his back.
27:00It's still the individual combat soldier who goes in and takes the ground,
27:06the ground for these missile sites and the more exotic weapons systems,
27:11to use a good Pentagon term, that we employ in 20th century warfare.
27:16He may be dropped from an airplane.
27:18He may use a snazzier rifle.
27:21He may use a bigger bazooka and wear warmer clothing.
27:25But his reason for fighting hasn't changed.
27:30And that's what still makes him the greatest soldier in the world.
27:33Jim Lucas, thanks for joining us and sharing some of your observations
27:37with the big-picture audience.
27:40We've been privileged to have as our guest Mr. Jim Lucas,
27:43member of the Washington Press Corps and correspondent
27:45whose coverings of the Korean War will long be remembered
27:48as a chronicle of the nation's fighting man.
27:51Now this is Sergeant Stuart Queen, your host for The Big Picture.
27:59The Big Picture is an official report for the Armed Forces
28:04and the American people.
28:07Produced by the Army Pictorial Center.
28:14Presented by the Department of the Army
28:16in cooperation with this station.
28:18You
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