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General Douglas MacArthur's amphibious landing at Inchon is an unqualified success. The 1st Marine Division advances, intending to recapture the capital city of Seoul.
Image:
Brigadier General Courtney Whitney; General
Douglas MacArthur, Commander in Chief of U.N. Forces; and Major General
Edward Almond, observe the shelling of Inchon from the U.S.S. Mt.
McKinley, September 15, 1950. Photo: U.S. Signal Corps. Source: National
Archives
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To the office and at 9:30
in the President’s office for the briefing on
the Korean situation by General [J. Lawton] Collins, army chief of staff.
Collins gave some data on the amphibious landings made by Marines and infantry . . . yesterday. He said some 17,000 troops have been landed on the west coast in the vicinity of Inchon, near Seoul, far behind the present lines of the battlefront. Also tanks and mortars have been landed. . . . He said General [Douglas] MacArthur had reported it might take a month, because of rugged terrain, before these forces can connect with the forces in the south.
Assistant Press Secretary to the President Eben Ayers
Diary entry, September 16, 1950
Papers of Eben A. Ayers
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If the amphibious operations now in progress in Korea are successful, it
is likely that in the very near future there will be either (1) Soviet or
Chinese Communist direct intervention or (2) a suit for peace or an
armistice by the North Koreans.
NSC 81/1 clearly sets forth the action to
be taken in the event of Chinese Communist or Soviet intervention.
However, it does not as clearly set forth the immediate action to be taken
in the event the North Koreans sue for peace or armistice. It is,
therefore, considered a matter of urgency that a decision be made as to
the immediate reply to be made by the Commanding General of the Unified
[United Nations] Command [Douglas MacArthur] to any suit for peace or
offer of cease fire which may be received prior to the conclusion of the
discussions provided for in paragraph 23 of NSC 81/1.
Deputy Under Secretary of State H. Freeman Matthews
Memorandum, September 16, 1950
Foreign Relations of the United States VII, Korea, 1950
Image: The President's representative in Korea, General Frank Lowe, Lt. Colonel Harold Roise, Commanding Officer Second Battalion, Fifth Marines, and others of the Fifth Marines talk over the taking of Kimpo Air Base, Korea,
September 18, 1950. Source: Truman Library.
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In the last 36 hours [at Inchon], I have witnessed a miracle, no less; all calculated to the end we discussed in Washington and as a first objective, i.e., that no American troops shall be required to fight in the cold, the mud, and the filth of a Korean winter.
General [Douglas] MacArthur has accomplished again that which many considered impossible. I need not tell you of the doubts in many minds concerning the success of this mission. It has been a most brilliant victory so far and I have no doubts as to the future. You know the situation up to the minute and I can add nothing to that. I am keeping accurate and complete notes plus photographs and will prepare a report when I return to Tokyo. It appeals to me that my mission is calculated to future record.
I go ashore tomorrow at noon and shall continue some time with the 1st Marine Division.
Military Aide to the President General Frank Lowe
Frank Lowe to Harry Truman, September 16, 1950
Papers of Harry S. Truman: President’s Secretary’s Files
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I guess you'd call it an end run, to use a football term. Inchon lies on the west coast of Korea, very close to Seoul and the 38th parallel which divides North Korea and South Korea. By making this landing in great force, the American forces got in behind the Communist North Koreans, who were further down this long and relatively narrow peninsula that makes up Korea. This meant that they had to back up and get out or they would be surrounded and annihilated. Pressure, of course, was being put upon them at the same time, by American forces further down the peninsula. The net result of the Inchon landing was that the North Korean Communist forces were pushed back to the 38th parallel. Things were going so well that it appeared back in Washington that the conflict was won. [General Douglas] MacArthur again was a great hero.
International News Service White House Correspondent Robert G. Nixon
Oral History Interview, November 4, 1970
It [the Inchon landing] was a brilliant concept and magnificently executed, attended with a great deal of luck, which is essential to any successful campaign.
Lieutenant General Mathew Ridgeway
Truman Library Institute conference comment, May 1975
The Korean War: A 25-year Perspective (The Regents Press of Kansas, 1976)
At our staff meeting at 11 o’clock [Press Secretary to the President] Charlie Ross said he had a telephone call from Senator [Millard] Tydings of Maryland, who is a candidate in the Maryland primaries today, suggesting that General [Douglas] MacArthur send a message from Tokyo on the appointment of General [George C.] Marshall as secretary of defense [replacing the recently resigned Louis Johnson]. The President commented that MacArthur would never do that.
Assistant Press Secretary to the President Eben Ayers
Diary entry, September 18, 1950
Papers of Eben A. Ayers
Image: President Harry S. Truman. Photo: U.S. Navy. Source: Truman Library.
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He [George C.
Marshall] had a head on him, my goodness alive, and was the kindliest man you ever met but he could be mean as Hell to Major Generals. . . . Marshall was not only a great military leader, he was a great Secretary of State, he was a great Secretary of Defense, and the reason for that was he could analyze a fella by sittin’ and talkin’ to him. And I’ve heard him analyze certain commanders and he gave me the best analysis of [General Douglas] MacArthur that’s ever been had. He did it voluntarily. I didn’t ask him for it.
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President Harry S. Truman
Undated Talent Associates interview fragment, c. 1961-62
Papers of Merle Miller
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Go to September 9-14, 1950
Back to How Far to Go
Go to September 19-25, 1950
Document
links
September 14-September 18, 1950
See
the record from which the decisions
were made |
The
President's news conference, September 14, 1950. Public Papers of
the President, 1950.
Message from Commander in Chief United Nations Commander General Douglas MacArthur to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dated 15 September 1950, pertaining to the landing at Inchon. Papers of Harry S. Truman: Naval Aide Files (1
page)
Message from Commander in Chief United Nations Commander General Douglas MacArthur to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dated 15 September 1950, regarding the situation at Inchon. Papers of Harry S. Truman: Naval Aide Files (1 page)
Message from Commander in Chief United Nations Commander General Douglas MacArthur to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dated 16 September 1950, pertaining to the situation at Inchon. Papers of Harry S. Truman: Naval Aide Files (1
page)
Message from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Commander in Chief Far East General Douglas MacArthur, dated 16 September 1950, regarding the situation at Inchon. Papers of Harry S. Truman: Naval Aide Files. (2 pages)
Memorandum from Louis Johnson to the Joint Chiefs, dated 16 September 1950, pertaining to the United States courses of action with respect to Korea. Papers of Harry S. Truman: President's Secretary's Files. (1 page)
Report to the President by the National
Security Council, dated September 9, 1950, "United States Courses of
Action with Respect to Korea" (NSC 81/1). Papers of Harry S. Truman:
President's Secretary's Files.
(12 pages)
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Image:
Major General Oliver P. Smith, Commander of the 1st Marine Division.
Photo: Frank Lowe Report. Source: Truman Library.
Although an opponent of the Inchon operation, Smith headed the Marine assault
force. Following a mammoth bombardment by Navy ships and
aircraft, on the morning of September 15 the 3rd Battalion of the 5th
Marines seized Wolmi-do, an island connected by causeway to the city of
Inchon. The operation waited until Inchon's drastic tides were again
favorable and at 3:30 in the afternoon the remainder of the 5th Marines
landed on Red Beach, north of the causeway near the heart of Inchon.
Shortly thereafter, the 1st Marines landed on Blue Beach, just south of
the city. With the U.S. Marines encircling the city, South Korean Marines
addressed the last of Inchon's 2,000 defenders the following morning. The
1st Marines advanced east down the highway to the Seoul suburb of
Yongdungpo, while the 5th took a more northerly route to Kimpo airport
and the Han River beyond. Kimpo airport was recaptured by
September 18 and that afternoon Corsairs of the First Marine Aircraft Wing landed and began operations.
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