한국전에 참전했던 미군 병사들의 대부분은 18세-20세 젊은 남자들이었다. 1945년 

이차대전 직후는 전국이 온통 승전 분위기에 평화 무드였다. 징집제도였기 때문에 

모든 남자들이 18세가 되면 의무적으로 군대에 가야 했다. 그러나 군과 정부는 

훈련을 열심히 시키는 대신 스포츠를 즐기며 놀게 했다. 다른 나라가 추종을 불허 하는 

풍요로운 나라가 된 미국의 젊은 이 들은 호강스러운 생활을 했다. 

한국에 온 병사들은 세계에서 제일 열악한 환경을 견뎌야 했다. 그들의 적, 인민군은 여러해 동안 

중국내전에서 싸운 역전의 용사와 이들에 의해서 훈련된 군대였다. 그 뒤에 들어온 중공군도 

마찬가지였다. 

군사 훈련은 단순히 적과 싸우는 기술을 가르쳐 주는 것만이 아니었다. 자신의 생명을 보호하는 

기술이었다. 전쟁초기에 투입된 병력은 일본에 주둔 하고 있던 24사단 이었다. 이들은 어이 없이 

패퇴했다. 윗 에세이의 주인공 파커 일병은 Task Force Smith에 속했던것 같다. 오산에서 패퇴하여 

딘 소장 지휘하에 대전 방어에 참여 했던 것으로 보인다. 딘 소장은 인민군 포로가 되어 1953년레 

석방되었다. 

그는 대전을 2일 동안 방어하여 워커 장군으로 하여금 낙동강 방어선을 구축할 시간을 주었다. 

Seventy years ago, the Korean War broke out. 71 years ago Mao declared People's 

Republic of China. Sixty-nine years ago the entire U.S.force in South Korea left except 500 advisors.

 It was a fatal mistake not only for Koreans but also for the lives of American young men. It increased 

appetite of 김일성 who wanted to paint the peninsula in red. The U.S. should have known that

an imbalance in the military strength of opposing nations could easily induce the war. 
 

For 3 years, from 1950 to 1953, one million seven hundred nine thousand Americans served in 

Korea to fight against NK and PRC(China). Thirty-six thousand five hundred sixteen Americans 

died. One hundred thirty-seven thousand eight hundred ninety-nine SK soldiers died. 
 

Nation's peace comes from a superior power. Superior weapons and well-trained soldiers will 

keep them and civilians from being killed by the enemy. Economic prosperity and peace can 

make a nation blindsided to unwind disciplines of soldiers. It was certainly a dangerous play and cost 

many lives of young men who could have been saved otherwise.

US unpreparedness for war

In a postwar analysis of the unpreparedness of US Army forces deployed to Korea during the summer and fall of 1950, Army Major General Floyd L. Parks stated that "Many who never lived to tell the tale had to fight the full range of ground warfare from offensive to delaying action, unit by unit, man by man ... [T]hat we were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat ... does not relieve us from the blame of having placed our own flesh and blood in such a predicament."^[319]

By 1950, US Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson had established a policy of faithfully following President Truman's defense economization plans, and had aggressively attempted to implement it even in the face of steadily increasing external threats. He consequently received much of the blame for the initial setbacks in Korea and the widespread reports of ill-equipped and inadequately trained US military forces in the war's early stages.^[320]

As an initial response to the invasion, Truman called for a naval blockade of North Korea, and was shocked to learn that such a blockade could be imposed only "on paper", since the US Navy no longer had the warships with which to carry out his request.^[321][322] Army officials, desperate for weaponry, recovered Sherman tanks from World War II Pacific battlefields and reconditioned them for shipment to Korea.^[320] Army Ordnance officials at Fort Knox pulled down M26 Pershing tanks from display pedestals around Fort Knox in order to equip the third company of the Army's hastily formed 70th Tank Battalion.^[323] Without adequate numbers of tactical fighter-bomber aircraft, the Air Force took F-51 (P-51) propeller-driven aircraft out of storage or from existing Air National Guard squadrons, and rushed them into front-line service. A shortage of spare parts and qualified maintenance personnel resulted in improvised repairs and overhauls. A Navy helicopter pilot aboard an active duty warship recalled fixing damaged rotor blades with masking tape in the absence of spares.^[324]

US Army Reserve and Army National Guard infantry soldiers and new inductees (called to duty to fill out understrength infantry divisions) found themselves short of nearly everything needed to repel the North Korean forces: artillery, ammunition, heavy tanks, ground-support aircraft, even effective anti-tank weapons such as the M20 3.5-inch (89 mm) Super Bazooka.^[325] Some Army combat units sent to Korea were supplied with worn out, 'red-lined' M1 rifles or carbines in immediate need of ordnance depot overhaul or repair.^[326][327] Only the Marine Corps, whose commanders had stored and maintained their World War II surplus inventories of equipment and weapons, proved ready for deployment, though they still were woefully under-strength,^[328] as well as in need of suitable landing craft to practice amphibious operations (Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson had transferred most of the remaining craft to the Navy and reserved them for use in training Army units).^[329]

Due to public criticism of his handling of the Korean War, Truman decided to ask for Johnson's resignation. On 19 September 1950, Johnson resigned as Secretary of Defense, and the president quickly replaced him with General George C. Marshall.

(Wikipedia)