Fighting Communism - Korea and the Cold War
We Answered the Call
June 25, 1950, Communist North Korea invades South Korea and the Korean War begins. The United Nations asks member nations to aid South Korea. President Truman sends U.S. air and naval forces to South Korean defense. Regular Army troops move from Germany and Japan to Korea and many Veterans of WWII continue to serve. The fighting is over in 1953 when the U.N. and North Korea sign a truce.
It was clear from the Korean conflict that the United States had become the leader of the free world, the only nation strong enough to contain Communism. After 1953, use of armed forces to support our foreign affairs became standard.
Homeland defense became necessary as escalating development of nuclear weapons by both the Soviet Union and the United States created tension. Defense systems included building anti-aircraft missile bases throughout the country and cooperating with Canada to set up the Distant Early Warning (DEW) radar network to guard against Soviet missiles.
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This was one of the bloodiest wars in history; over a million South Korean civilians were killed. More than 37,000 Americans were killed or missing and 103,000 wounded. A permanent peace treaty has never been signed between North and South Korea.
Weather extremes, ranging from over 100 degrees in summer to 40 degrees below zero in winter, made fighting challenging for U.S. troops.
During the 1960's, the 551st Strategic Missile Squadron maintained 12 missile sites in Southeast Nebraska. This photo, taken in 1960, shows an Atlas missile on display in Lincoln.
The Ground Observation Corp[s] lookout tower at 9th and Dorsey was put into use January 23, 1956 as part of homeland security.
Courtesy hmdb.org
