The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, a formation of United States Marines hastily put together at the outset of the Korean War, fought with great distinction at the Pusan Perimeter, the most important early battle in that conflict. Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea United States United Kingdom Canada Australia The Netherlands France Philippines Turkey Ethiopia Communist states: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee Chung Il Kwon Douglas MacArthur Mark W. Clark Matthew Ridgway Kim Il-sung Choi... The Pusan Perimeter was the area in extreme southeast Korea that was held by US and South Korean troops during the furthest advance of the North Korean troops, in the summer and fall of 1950, during the Korean War. ...

Reduced in size after World War II, the small U.S. Marine Corps was suddenly ordered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in mid-summer 1950, to send a division-sized force (approximately 15,000 men), to help stem the communist North Korean invasion of South Korea. To create the unit in a hurry, the Marines were forced to sweep through the entire active-duty Corps, call up reservists, and bring in recruits who had not finished their training. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the second smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. ... Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States of America symbol The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is a grouping comprising the Chiefs of service of each major branch of the armed services in the United States armed forces. ...

The first large part of this force, dubbed the Provisional Marine Brigade (later redesignated 5th Marine Brigade), commanded by Brigadier General Edward Craig, was assembled by early July and was built around the 5th Marine Regiment and Marine Aircraft Group 33. Numbering approximately 6,000 men, it consisted of several infantry battalions, field artillery and support units. A Marine air group of fighter-bombers was attached to provide air support. Official force name 5th Marine Regiment Other names 5th Marines Motto No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy Branch United States Marine Corps Chain of Command 1st Marine Division I Marine Expeditionary Force Description Marine infantry regiment Readiness Capable of short notice world wide deployment. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, or other means. ... Symbol of the Austrian 14th Armoured Battalion in NATO military graphic symbols A battalion is a military unit usually consisting of between two and six companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel. ... Historically, artillery (from French artillerie) refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ...

On July 31, the brigade arrived in the southeast corner of the Korean peninsula, the only part of South Korea not overrun by communist forces. Here it joined the hard-pressed U.S. Eighth Army, which was desperately defending this area, also known as the Pusan Perimeter, against superior North Korean forces. Almost immediately, the brigade was thrown into battle by Lieutenant General Walton Walker, Eighth Army commander, in an attempt to stop several dangerous North Korean breakthroughs, which threatened to drive the Eighth Army into the sea. 8th Army Shoulder Patch The Eighth US Army is the commanding formation of all US Army troops in South Korea. ... Walton Harris Walker (December 3, 1889—December 23, 1950) was an American army officer and the first commander of the U.S. Eighth Army during the Korean War. ... A number of nations have an Eighth Army: 8th Route Army British Eighth Army US Eighth Army This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Despite its raw, untested condition, with many of its troops only partially trained and many strangers to one another, the Marines rose to the occasion. In savage fighting, they blunted a number of enemy attacks, successfully counterattacking and restoring the line, inflicting heavy casualties on the North Koreans, although suffering heavily themselves.

Impressed by the brigade's fighting spirit and effectiveness, for the next few weeks Walker employed it as a "fire-brigade," which, along with several Army units such as the 27th Infantry Regiment, he rushed from point to point, counterattacking and sealing off threatened enemy penetrations. In this role, the Marines again performed admirably.

In early September, the Pusan Perimeter was judged secure enough for the unit, now the 5th Marine Brigade, to be transferred to the 1st Marine Division, forming off Japan to spearhead General Douglas MacArthur's Inchon landing later that month. The 1st Marine Division is the oldest, largest (active duty), and most decorated division-sized unit in the United States Marine Corps representing a combat-ready force of more than 19,000 men and women. ... Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 – April 5, 1964) was an American general and Medal of Honor recipient, who was Supreme Commander of Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific Area during World War II. He lost the Philippines, but led the defense of Australia, and the recapture of New Guinea, the... Incheon Metropolitan City is a metropolitan city and major seaport on the west coast of South Korea, near Seoul. ...

References

United States Marine Corps Portal

• Blair, Clay, The Unknown War, New York:Times Books, 1987.
• Fehrenbach, T.R., This Kind of War, New York:Macmillan, 1963.