The Battle of Heartbreak Ridge was a month long battle in the Korean War. It was fought between September 13 and October 15, 1951, in the hills of North Korea a few miles north of the 38th parallel (the prewar boundary between North and South Korea), near Chorwon. The name of Heartbreak Ridge was named by Guy Bishop of Centerburg, Ohio. Combatants Western Allied/UN combatants: South Korea, United States Communist combatants: North Korea, Peoples Republic of China Strength Note: All figures may vary according to source. ... 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. ... Combatants UN forces: United States; United Kingdom; South Korea; Canada; Australia; Netherlands; France North Korea Commanders Douglas MacArthur Arthur Dewey Struble Jeong Il-Gwon Kim Il-sung Choi Yong-Kun Strength 70,000 44,000 Casualties 566 killed 2,713 wounded 14,000 casualties[1] 7,000 captured[1] The... Combatants Peoples Republic of China United Nations forces; including United States Commanders Song Shi-Lun Oliver Smith Strength 120,000 40,000 Casualties 25,000 killed, 12,500 wounded, 30,000 frost-bite casualties 2,500 dead, 192 missing, 5,000 wounded, 7,500 cold related injuries The Battle... The Battle of the Imjin took place between April 22 – April 25, 1951 during the Korean War. ... The hill designated Hill 235 during the Korean War is remembered as Gloster Hill because of the actions of the Gloucestershire Regiment (the Glorious Glosters) in following their orders to Hold on where you are during the Battle of the Imjin River 1951. ... The Battle of Kapyong was waged during the Korean War. ... The Hook During the 1951-1953 Korean War, elements of the United Nations Forces were engaged in fierce fighting to prevent Chinese forces from gaining ground, prior to a possible cease fire. ... The Battle of Pork Chop Hill refers to a pair of related Korean War engagements during the spring and summer of 1953. ... The Battle of Bloody Ridge took place during the Korean War from August 18th to September 5th, 1951. ... Combatants Western Allied/UN combatants: South Korea, United States Communist combatants: North Korea, Peoples Republic of China Strength Note: All figures may vary according to source. ... September 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years). ... October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years). ...

This battle marked a continuation of the Battle of Bloody Ridge, as U.N. and communist forces jockeyed for position along a line running roughly east-west across the middle of the Korean peninsula after the war became stalemated in the summer of 1951. The Battle of Bloody Ridge took place during the Korean War from August 18th to September 5th, 1951. ...

Following within days after Bloody Ridge, it began when the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division (U.S. Army) attacked a series of hilltops forming another ridgeline just north of the previous fighting, which were defended mainly by Korean People's Army (KPA-the North Korean Army) forces from fortified bunkers atop the ridge. Patch of the United States Army 2nd Infantry Division. ...

All three of the 2nd Division's infantry regiments participated, with the brunt of the combat borne by the 23rd and 9th Infantry, along with the attached French Battalion. The fighting was savage - no quarter was given or asked by either side - and the ridgeline (now called Heartbreak by the American G.I.'s) changed hands many times in an exhausting series of attacks and counterattacks. Several units up to company size (100-200 men) were wiped out. The Americans employed massive artillery barrages, airstrikes and tanks in attempts to drive the North Koreans off the ridge, but the KPA proved extremely hard to dislodge.

After 30 days of combat, the Americans and French eventually gained the upper hand and secured Heartbreak Ridge. Both sides suffered high casualties: over 3,700 American and French and an estimated 25,000 North Korean and Chinese. These losses made a deep impression on the U.N. and U.S. command, which decided that battles like Heartbreak Ridge were not worth the high cost in blood for the relatively small amount of terrain captured. For this reason, Heartbreak Ridge was the last major offensive conducted by U.N. forces in the war.

Sporadic battles along the line of contact between U.N. and communist forces would continue to be fought until the armistice was signed in July, 1953, but from this point on, they would usually be initiated by the North Koreans or Chinese.

References in popular culture

Heartbreak Ridge was used as the title and backstory of a 1986 movie directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. Heartbreak Ridge is a 1986 film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood about the 1983 U.S. invasion of Grenada, West Indies. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood, Jr. ...

References

• Blair, Clay, THE FORGOTTEN WAR, Times Books, NY(1987)

• Fehrenbach, T.R., THIS KIND OF WAR, Macmillan, NY(1964)

• Encyclopedia of the Korean War, ed., Spencer Tucker, Checkmark, NY(2002)