The Chaplain–Medic massacre took place in the Korean War on July 16, 1950, on a mountain above the village of Tuman, South Korea. Thirty unarmed, critically wounded United States Army soldiers and an unarmed chaplain were murdered by members of the Korean People’s Army during the Battle of Taejon. US forces were unprepared compared to the more disciplined North Korean units.
About Chaplain–Medic massacre in brief
The Chaplain–Medic massacre took place in the Korean War on July 16, 1950, on a mountain above the village of Tuman, South Korea. Thirty unarmed, critically wounded United States Army soldiers and an unarmed chaplain were murdered by members of the Korean People’s Army during the Battle of Taejon. The massacre was one of several incidents that led US commanders to establish a commission in July to look into war crimes during the war. Other than this change, the historiography of the incident in North Korean sources is largely unknown; as a result, sources detailing the incident are almost exclusively from the United States and other United Nations allies. The 24th Infantry Division was the first US unit sent into Korea to absorb the initialshock of KPA advances and to buy time for the deployment of additional forces. US forces were unprepared compared to the more disciplined North Korean units. These American soldiers, most of whom had experienced only occupation duty in Japan and no actual combat, were unprepared for the battle against the KPA. The U.N. committed troops to the conflict to prevent the collapse of South Korea, but the number of US forces in the Far East had been steadily decreasing since the end of World War II, five years earlier. On July 12, Major General William F. Dean, ordered the division’s 19th, 21st and 34th Infantry Regiments to cross the Kum River, destroying all bridges behind them, and to establish defensive positions around TaeJon.
On the morning of July 15, the K PA launched a massive barrage of tank, artillery and mortar fire on the 19th Infantry Regiment. The KPA forces gathered on the west bank of the river and assaulted the positions of the American troops on the east bank. There was a large build-up of forces on the side of the River, and KPA troops observed a large number of U.S. troops in the area. The American troops were forced to retreat to the north, where they were reinforced by troops from the Republic of Korea Army. The US troops were then forced to move through nearby mountains to evacuate their wounded. The wounded were discovered by a KPA patrol. Though the medic was able to escape, the unarmed Chaplain was executed as he prayed over the wounded, then killed the rest of them. The next day, the 24th Division was pushed south at and around Chochiwon, Chonan, Pyongtaek, Hadong, and Yechon. The division was eventually forced to withdraw to Nonsan, where it moved south to fill some of the gaps left by the retreating US troops. The 23rd Infantry Division, headquartered in Japan, was the closest US division to the Korean peninsula. It was the division that was sent into the Korean conflict to protect South Korea’s southern border.
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This page is based on the article Chaplain–Medic massacre published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 08, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
