Existing comment:
Withdrawal to the Pusan Perimeter:
The military situation faced the United Nations became desperate in July 1950. Lieutenant General Walton H. Walker, commander of the US 8th Army in Korea, selected Pusan for a final defensive line. The city remained the only major urban center still under UN control, and its port facilities made it vital for supply. US and South Korean troops fell back and regrouped around Pusan, established a defensive perimeter with newly arrived reinforcements. In addition to infantry units from the 5th Marines and the 25th and 2nd Infantry Divisions, the 89th Tank Battalion disembarked its M4 Sherman tanks on 31 July. The 5th Marines deployed a company of M26 Pershing medium tanks. Equipped with a 90mm gun and heavily armored, the Pershing proved more than a match for the T-34/85. On 1 August, LTG Walker issued the order for all troops to withdraw behind defensive positions on the east bank of the Naktong River. The perimeter formed a roughly rectangular area in the southeast corner of Korea. From north to south, the perimeter ran about 80 miles, and from east to west approximately 50 miles. |