War: Glad to Have Them

The South Koreans, who had seemed on the verge of collapse early in the war, continued to fight in a way that made the Americans glad to have them on their side. At ruined Pohang, on the east coast, they sent a force inland to attack the enemy in his rear, while other South Koreans and a small armored U.S. force held him by the nose (as the late George Patton used to say) with a frontal attack. The U.S. Air Force moved its planes back to Pohang airfield. The Communists were pushed back toward Yongdok. Jubilant South Korean commanders called it a rout.

During the week the South Koreans also made three amphibious landings. Two were on the islands of Tokchok and Yonghung, off the western coast, 35 and 17 miles respectively southwest of Inchon, Seoul's port. Presumably the purpose was to establish bases for U.S. air attacks on the enemy's coastwise shipping, and for a possible future seaborne attack on the mainland. On the southern coast, the South Koreans captured the town of Tong-yong, 25 miles southwest of Masan, across a narrow strait from Koje Island.