, Commander of the 24th Infantry Division, 7 July 1950 At the end of World War II in 1945,
Korea was divided into
North Korea and
South Korea, with North Korea (assisted by the
Soviet Union) becoming a
communist state after 1946, known as the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, followed by South Korea becoming the
Republic of Korea (ROK). China became the communist People's Republic of China in 1949. In 1950, the Soviet Union backed North Korea while the United States backed South Korea, and China allied with the Soviet Union in what was to become the first military action of the
Cold War. Shortly after 75,000 North Korean troops with tanks invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950, The U.S. Eighth Army was ordered to intervene and drive the invaders back across the
38th parallel, the border between the two countries. With only four lightly equipped and poorly trained divisions, Walker began landing troops on the southeast side of the Korean peninsula in July. After his lead units, elements of the
24th Infantry Division (including the ill-fated
Task Force Smith), were virtually destroyed in a few days of furious fighting between
Osan and
Taejon, Walker realized his assigned mission was impossible and went on the defensive. Pushed steadily back towards the southeast by the North Korean advance, Walker's forces suffered heavy losses and for a time were unable to form a defensible front, even after bringing the
1st Cavalry Division and
25th Infantry Division into the fight. Walker's situation was not helped by MacArthur's unrealistic demands from Tokyo for him not to retreat an inch. Attempting to obey, Walker gave a bombastic "not a step back" speech to his staff and subordinate commanders which did not go over well. Nor did it stop the North Korean troops from pushing back American and South Korea troops, which had been badly mauled in the opening days of the invasion, even further. As American and South Korean forces retreated further east and south, they finally arrived at a defensible line on the
Nakdong River. They took advantage of shortened supply routes and a relatively good road network to exploit the advantages of
interior lines. Walker was able to quickly shift his units from point to point, stopping North Korean attacks before they could be reinforced. A critical advantage Walker had was
signals intelligence produced by the U.S.
Armed Forces Security Agency (now the National Security Agency). This data enabled Walker to gain an indication of
North Korean Army movements prior to attacks. Walker kept his main units deployed on the front lines, while retaining other U.S. Army and Marine Corps forces as a mobile reserve. His ability to better interpret North Korean intentions allowed him and his staff to better position his forces along the perimeter. It also allowed him to employ
artillery and
airpower more effectively. American military forces gradually solidified this defensive position on the southeast side of the Korean peninsula, dubbed the "
Pusan Perimeter". Walker received reinforcements, including the
Provisional Marine Brigade, which he used along with the Army's
27th Infantry Regiment as "fire brigades," reliable troops who specialized in counterattacking and wiping out enemy penetrations. As more reinforcements arrived, the combat advantage shifted toward the United Nations forces. North Korean forces had suffered terribly and their supply lines were under constant aerial bombardment. Almost all of their
Russian-made
T-34 tanks, which had spearheaded the invasion, had been destroyed. Walker ordered local counterattacks, while planning for a large-scale breakout in conjunction with MacArthur's
Inchon landing in September. With MacArthur's amphibious flanking move, the North Koreans seemed trapped, but Walker's rapid advance northwest towards
Inchon and
Seoul emphasized speed over maneuver and made no attempt to encircle and destroy the North Koreans after punching through their lines. Although thousands of prisoners were taken, many North Korean units successfully disengaged from the fighting, melting away into the interior of South Korea, where they would conduct a
guerrilla war for two years. Others escaped all the way back to North Korea. Walker was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism from 14 July to 28 September 1950. The medal's citation read: With the war apparently won, Walker's Eighth Army quickly moved north and, with the independent
X Corps on its right, crossed the 38th parallel to occupy North Korea. Fighting tapered off to sporadic, sharp clashes with remnants of North Korean forces. By late October 1950, the Eighth Army was nearing the
Yalu River, on the border between North Korea and
China. MacArthur's headquarters had assured Walker that the Chinese would not intervene, so Walker's troops did not maintain watchful security. A gap opened between Eighth Army and X Corps as they advanced close to the Chinese border due to a lack of coordination between Walker, General
Edward Almond, Commander of the X Corps, and MacArthur's headquarters in Tokyo. Eventually, the weather turned extremely cold, and most American units had no training and inadequate equipment for these bitter temperatures. Contrary to MacArthur's expectations, the Chinese intervened in force on November 25, first in a series of ambushes, then in sporadic night attacks, and finally in an all-out offensive in which three Chinese armies infiltrated the lines, taking advantage of the American failure to take basic security measures, and the large gaps between American and South Korean units and between the Eighth Army and the X Corps. From late October until the beginning of December in 1950, the Chinese killed or captured thousands of American and ROK soldiers, decimating the
2nd Infantry Division and forcing Walker into a desperate retreat. By early December, using his superior mobility, Walker successfully broke contact with the Chinese, withdrawing south to a position around
Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Without instructions from MacArthur's headquarters, Walker decided that the Eighth Army was too battered to defend Pyongyang and ordered the retreat to resume to below the 38th parallel, saving most of the Eighth Army. ==Death and burial==