Douglas MacArthur
Forced Chromite through, then overreached north. Relieved 11 April 1951 for a later argument.
Op
3
Ceremony
3
Relieved
3
MacArthur in the jeep is the English/US icon. Doyle's tide book should sit beside it. Rhee in the Capitol ruin is the Korean political icon.
Almond vs Smith is the US intramural that still spices Marine memoirs.
People
Arthur Dewey Struble
The naval joint commander of the landing -- under-photographed.
Role
3
Domain
3
Op
3
James H. Doyle
The tide-table admiral of the Marine story.
Role
3
Tool
3
Service
3
Edward Almond
MacArthur's chief of staff given a corps -- a controversial soldier in Marine memory.
Corps
3
Style
3
After
3
Oliver P. Smith
The careful Marine who fought Almond's tempo -- later the Chosin commander.
Division
3
Later
3
Style
3
Paik Sun-yup
Already a major ROK face of 1950; the recapture of Seoul is a Korean officers' story too.
Army
3
Year
3
Later
3
Syngman Rhee
Re-entered a ruined capital as a political act. His war is not only MacArthur's.
Ceremony
3
State
3
War
3
Kim Il-sung
The invasion he launched in June met a rear landing in September -- the first collapse of his war plan.
June
3
Sep
3
After
3
Debate
Was Inchon uniquely MacArthur?
He forced it; Doyle and the Marines executed a hydrographic plan. Cults of one man hide a staff.
Did success make the Yalu inevitable?
Not inevitable, but it made the northward political choice easy -- and that choice was the disaster.
Do not let a corncob pipe erase ROK infantry in Seoul.
The Yalu is the anti-icon -- the picture Chromite toasts skip.