Combat· Korean War
Operation RIPPER
Operation RIPPER followed hard on KILLER, extending the United Nations advance across the center of the peninsula with the aim of inflicting heavy losses, keeping the enemy off balance, and outflanking the recaptured capital.
Attacking as part of a corps-wide offensive, the Marines pressed forward through rough country against Chinese rear guards, advancing by constant pressure rather than set-piece battle. The operation chewed through successive enemy positions and contributed to the renewed United Nations line creeping back toward and beyond the 38th Parallel. For the Marines it was a campaign of long marches and intermittent sharp fights, the kind of methodical, grinding advance that characterized this phase of the war. RIPPER continued the rebuilding of United Nations momentum begun by KILLER, pushing the front steadily northward and setting the stage for the recrossing of the parallel and the drive to the new phase lines beyond.
Record no. 626