Combat· Korean War
Pusan Perimeter
When North Korea's surprise invasion drove the shattered American and South Korean forces into a shrinking pocket around the southeastern port of Pusan, the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade arrived to help hold the line.
Brigadier General Edward Craig's brigade, built around the 5th Marines and a Marine air group, became Eighth Army's "Fire Brigade," rushed from crisis to crisis wherever the North Korean People's Army threatened to break through. Over a single intense month the Marines mounted three counterattacks, driving toward Sachon, blunting the enemy at the Naktong Bulge, and crushing a renewed crossing at the Second Naktong. Each time they stopped and reversed a previously victorious enemy holding numerical superiority. Their combination of disciplined infantry, organic armor, and close air support proved decisive at the perimeter's weakest points, restoring confidence along the front and buying the time the United Nations command needed before going over to the offensive.
Engagements in this conflict (2)
Record no. 43