
First To Fight – Episode 4: Inchon
With U.S. and U.N. forces locked in the struggle to break out from the Pusan Perimeter, General MacArthur put in place what was perhaps the most remembered aspect of the Korean War: The amphibious landing at Inchon – Operation Chromite -- on the west coast of Korea to get the U.S. forces back on the offensive, trap the North Korean forces further south and move inland to retake Seoul. The 5th Marine Regiment landed on Wolmi-do Island in Inchon Harbor on September 15, 1950 with the balance of the 1st Marine Division landing at Inchon and by late the next day the American forces had overwhelmed the North Koreans and secured the city allowing MacArthur to land the balance of the invasion force and to move on to retake Seoul the following March. At the same time as the Inchon landings, the American and U.N. forces broke out from the Pusan Perimeter and started rolling back the North Korean forces pushing them north all the way back into North Korea.