Combat· Korean War
Task Force Kean / Sachon Offensive
Task Force Kean was the first sustained American counterattack of the Korean War, and the Marine brigade carried its main effort.
Attacking southwest from Masan alongside two Army regiments, the Marines drove toward Sachon to throw the North Korean 6th Division off balance and relieve the threat to Pusan's southwestern approaches. Pushing through Chindong-ni and Kosong against ambushes and dug-in resistance, the brigade advanced rapidly, its rifle battalions leapfrogging forward under heavy Marine close air support that savaged enemy columns caught in the open. The drive covered considerable ground in a few days and inflicted severe losses before the brigade was abruptly pulled out to meet a new crisis elsewhere on the perimeter. The operation proved that a determined, well-supported force could not only halt the North Koreans but push them back, a psychological turning point for a battered Eighth Army.
Record no. 605