Doug Bereuter: “50 years ago this month, without warning or provocation, hundreds of thousands of North Korean troops invaded South…”

“50 years ago this month, without warning or provocation, hundreds of thousands of North Korean troops invaded South Korea, pouring across the 38th parallel and precipitating the Korean War. Unprepared South Korean, or ROK, forces and the handful of Americans on the ground were incapable of halting this swift and brutal assault. In a matter of days, the badly battered U.S. and ROK units had been pushed back to a tiny toe-hold on the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. It was only with determination and unbelievable courage that American forces, together with South Korean and allied troops, were able to push back the attacking North Korean Army. The break-out of the Pusan perimeter, the Inchon landing, battles like Pork Chop Hill and Heartbreak Ridge, the terrible fight against overwhelming odds at the frozen Chosin Reservoir, on these and countless other unnamed battlefields we beat back the invaders. The Korean conflict reflected the absolute determination of the United States to halt the spread of tyranny and totalitarianism, but the cost was high. The war that North Korea started resulted in 39,000 U.S. deaths and over 100,000 wounded and severely undermined U.S. relations with Russia and China. It took decades for our South Korean ally to recover. In the so-called Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the DPRK, there is certainly a very different and distorted interpretation of the events that occurred 50 years ago.”