World War II had ended just five years before. Peace had been brief when Communist North Korea, a client state of the aggressive Soviet Union, invaded U.S.-supported South Korea on June 25, 1950.
President Harry Truman responded immediately, ordering American military forces to defend South Korea, thrusting the United States into the Korean War.
The North Korean Communists were surprised. U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson previously had unwisely declared that South Korea was not within the U.S. Pacific defense perimeter, emboldening the Korean Communists.
The U.S. defense was nominally a U.N. action, but Americans bore the brunt of the conflict as Communist forces were quickly successful in seizing nearly all of South Korea. American forces were able to stabilize a small foothold at the extreme southern end of the Korean Peninsula.
The tide turned only when U.S. commander Gen. Douglas MacArthur ordered a brilliant invasion of Communist-held territory far to the north, at Inchon, forcing a rapid Communist retreat.
But Chinese Communist forces intervened, stabilizing the Communist forces near the 38th parallel border of North Korea and South Korea. The Korean War stalemated from 1951 until an armistice was agreed in 1953.
Today, Korea remains divided, with Communist North Korea still threatening — and believed to have developed nuclear weapons.
Real peace has not come — 60 years later.