Let’s Remember the Two Great Generals, Douglas MacArthur and Walton H. Walker
Exactly 69 years ago, on this day of September 15, 1950, General of the United States Army Douglas MacArthur successfully achieved a decisive victory by conducting an amphibious invasion (code name: Operation Chromite) towards Incheon harbor where North Korean troops were strongly resisted and finally recaptured our capital city of Seoul on September 28, 1950, that had few parallels in military history.
In the meantime, just two months before the dramatic turnout was accomplished by General MacArthur, Lt. General Walton H. Walker, then the EUSA commander, was desperately depending a small corner of land in the southern tip of South Korea as known as the Busan Perimeter. General Walker’s strong defending along the Busan Perimeter had eventually enabled General MacArthur to make such a heroic decision despite various unfavorable terrain situations.
On July 29, 1950 the increasingly dire situation prompted General Walker to issue to his division commanders what has become known as his “Stand or Die” order:
“We are fighting a battle against time. There will be no more retreating, withdrawal or readjustment of the lines or any other term you choose. There is no line behind us to which we can retreat.…There will be no Dunkirk, there will be no Bataan. A retreat to Pusan would be one of the greatest butcheries in history. We must fight until the end.…We will fight as a team. If some of us must die, we will die fighting together.…I want everybody to understand we are going to hold this line. We are going to win.”
However, General Walker, the commander of the United States Eighth Army was killed miserably by a traffic accident colliding with a ROK military truck carrying supplies on December 23, 1950.
Upon hearing the sad news the president of South Korea, Syngman Rhee who was furious, ordered the South Korean military to execute the Korean truck driver, who had been seriously injured from the collision, but the American military officials protested against President Rhee’s order, saying that such an accident on an icy road wasn’t a human fault. It was known later that the ROK truck driver could avoid death penalty thanks to the US officers’ protest made against President Rhee’s judgment.
On the occasion of the 69th anniversary of General MacArthur’s
amphibious operation, as a South Korean citizen, I would like to cordially convey the deepest thanks to our everlasting alliance, the United States of America again.
May the two heroic Generals rest in peace!!
