Combat· Korean War
Kimpo Airfield Seizure
Kimpo was the largest and best airfield in Korea, and seizing it intact was a key objective of the drive inland from Inchon.
Pushing northeast from the beachhead, the 5th Marines advanced rapidly on the airfield, brushing aside resistance and beating off a determined North Korean counterattack mounted against the field overnight, including infiltrators and armor probing the Marine positions in the dark. By the next morning the airfield was firmly in Marine hands and undamaged, and it was quickly put back into operation to receive Marine and other aircraft supporting the advance on Seoul. The Marines provided the assault infantry that took and held the field. Its capture gave the United Nations command a major forward air base within days of the landing and secured the left flank of the division's drive toward the Han River and the capital.
Record no. 883