Seventh Infantry Division - Yearbook (South Korea)

Page 13 text:

GENERAL MARK CLARK I wish the sceptics could visit the un- happy peninsula of Korea. There are many nations contribut- ing blood and treasure to the measure of their capability. There are men of many races, creeds, colors, and nation- alities sharing the warm bond of mutual respect and confidence. No one can question the selflessness and brav- ery of these great soldiers. No one should question the sincerity of pur- pose that carries them through a battle they know they cannot, must not, and will not lose.

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GENERAL MATTHEW B. RIDGWAY We are in Korea because of the decisions of properly constituted authorities of our respective governments. It is not a question of this or that Korean town or village. Real estate is, here, inci- dental. It is not restricted to the issue of freedom for our South Korean Allies . . . though that freedom is a symbol of the wider issues, and included among them. The real issues are whether the power of western civilization . . . shall defy and defeat Communism, whether the rule 'of men who shoot their prisoners, enslave their citizens, and deride the dignity of man, shall displace the rule of those to whom the individual and his individual rights are sacred, whether we are to survive God's hand to guide and lead us, or to perish in the dead existence of a godless world. This has long ago ceased to be a fight for freedom of our South Korean,Allies alone and for their national survival. It has become a fight for our own freedom, for our own survival, in an honorable, independent national existence. In the final anal- ysis, the issue now joined right here in Korea is whether Commu- nism or individual freedom shall prevail, and, make no mistake, whether the next flight of fear-driven people we have just wit- nessed across the HAN, and continue to witness in other areas, shall be checked and defeated overseas or permitted, step by step, to close in on our own homeland and at some future time, how- ever distant, to engulf our own loved ones in all its misery and despair. These are the things for which we fight. Never have members of any military command had a greater challenge than we, or a finer opportunity to show ourselves and our people at their best-and thus be an honor to the profession of arms, and a credit to those who bred us? , . ,..-.- 1 . , . - sr

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Frafifie part of fensive. , It 8 was on 1 guard the Aleutian approaches, and from 11 May to 2 June 1943, combatj-teams of the 7th fought in the violent battle for Attu. Battling a Hrmly entrenched and fanatical foe under conclitionsiof dense fogs-and cold rains, troops of the 7th Division fought so successfully and heroically that eight Distinguished Unit Cita- tions wereitawarded to various units. After securing the Aleutians, the 7th Di- vision moved to Hawaii for more training and from there assaulted Kwajalein Atoll on 31 January 1944, returning to Hawaii on 14 February. The Mandate Islands Campaign and the subjugation of the Marianas was almost com- pleted When, on 20 October 1944, the Divi- sion as part of XXIV Corps, Sixth Army, and the were ta s Before was was responsible for the and tion of one, two within squad. By September 1 the ing of all Division troops and equipment was completed and the following morning the large convoy sailed from Yokohama, Japan. The Advance Division Command Post landed at Inchon, Korea on 17 September without opposition, and the units of the Divi- sion landed during the following eight days. On 24 September, the 32d Infantry Regi- ment prepared for an attack on Seoul by at- tacking and seizing the south bank of the Han River, the last natural obstacle in the spearheaded the first United States landings in the Philippines on the Island of Leyte. In this operation the 7th Division overcame the determined resistance of the enemy in swamps, tropical jungles and rugged moun- tains for sixty days of some of the bitterest fighting in the Pacific Theatre On 1 April 1945, the Okinawa and t proved its battle was Japan and assigned occupation duties. The 7th Division, commanded by Major General David G. Barr, was garrisoned on the islands of Honshu andI-Iokkaido at the out- break of hostilitiesi in -iia Kgorerapflan early A ' 'f W ' 1 11g, :mgySv-fffH,wff'f' ' jgg ,112 . Q, r .M ,J ,Q We ,,, ,i ' . V '-anis, 5 vw, ,1- path of South Korea's capital city. At da on 25 September, attack across the fire. It