After the failure of the promise of Korean independence by the Allied nations, on June 25, 1950, communist North Korean troops invaded South Korea. Poorly armed, the South Koreans were no match for the North. The United Nations ordered North Korea to withdraw its troops. General MacArthur was appointed to command all UN troops in Korea. After three years of fighting a stalemate, more than 54,000 American troops perished.

In Their Own Words

"I was in the foxhole, then I remembered being taken on a stretcher to a jeep and then a M.A.S.H. Unit. A doc came by and asked me questions about what I was feeling. I said my lower back had no feeling. I moved my legs up and almost passed out. The medic shot me up with morphine, labeled me and I was sent to an air base in Japan.

The Private's back muscles had been torn, plus he suffered contusions to his back. It was later learned that the injury was from shrapnel and rocks expelled from an explosion. Montanari had been lucky. He was thrown into the air and landed on his back. Two fellow soldiers were killed. "I have no understanding as to why I'm still here."

— Antonio A. Montanari Jr.

Casualties of War in 1950, twin brothers went off to fight in Korea. One would return a hero; the other never came home. Almost 50 years later, the survivor is still doing battle with the demons of uncertainty and loss.

"The one thing that sticks in my mind forever," Vince says now, "is that I don't have my brother anymore. That's something I'll never be able to shake." It's mid-afternoon and the sun streams brightly through the windows of the big, immaculately kept townhouse in Towson, Maryland when Vincent Krepps finds himself trembling. "My nerves aren't good," he says softly, and you notice the coffee cup shakes as he raises it to his lips. "Haven't been since the war. Thinking about it now..."

By: Kevin Cowherd, Baltimore Sun
(reprint permission of Baltimore Sun)
March 22, 1998

Source: Department of Defense Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War

In partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee is unifying the United States Government's support to Korean War Veterans and their families. Departments and Agencies of our government along with the Uniformed Services of all components (including the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine) are joining together to properly thank and honor Korean War Veterans and their families, especially those that lost loved ones. The 50 th Anniversary of the Korean War Armistice July 27, 2003

Click photos to enlarge.

Date: July 18, 1950
Title: Men of the 24th Infantry Regiment move up to the firing line in Korea.
Source: National Archives and Records Administration

Date: October 1951
Title: 1st Lt. Walter H. Burke, Stockton, California, recently became in good standing of the "Century Flight Club" of the U.S. Air Force's 18th Fighter Bomber Wing. He poses with the lucky white horseshoe, official emblem of the club, at the completion of his 100th F-51 "Mustang" combat mission over Communist targets in North Korea.
Source: National Archives and Records Administration

Date: December 1950
Title: WAITING, WAITING. These frostbite casualties of the embattled First Marine Division and Seventh Infantry Division who linked up in the Chosin Reservoir area in a desperate attempt to break out of Communist encirclement wait with set expressions on their faces for pickup by planes of the U.S. Air Force Far East Combat Cargo Command.
Source: National Archives and Records Administration

Date: December 1950
Title: BITTER COLD, BITTER FIGHT.
Source: National Archives and Records Administration