Evening star., 1951-06-03
Battlefield Miracle
Kept U. N. Troops
Going Last FoII
By Don. Whitehead

Senators studying the custer OF
Gen. Douglas Macarthur should
also study "the miracle of Korea" !"
/ For in that great transforms
Ition of the United States 9Th
Army from the defeated to the
victor lies lesson that is perhaps
more important than the answers
to lot of questions now puzzling
the lawmakers.
This miracle has to do with q
victory over fear-and the dispute
over whether Gen. Macarthur or
the Joint Chiefs Of STAFF were the
first to become alarmed about a
possible evacuation Of United Ma
|tions forces from Korea last win
tier.
The argument has now taken on
overtones Of accusation which
imply some guilt for any one who
thought about quitting Korea in
those dark days.
Gloom in Korea
The truth is that neither Mac
Arthur nor the Joint Chiefs were
the first to become gloomy over
the imperiled United States 9th
Army.
The gloom sprang from the
Army itself-the Army which at
that time was in full retreat be-
fore charging hordes of Chinese
Reds. And the top brass merely
shared this gloom.
Here was the situation:
In late November and early
December the Chinese had bat
tered the 9th Army and 10th
Corps into retreat. Both these
forces had been hurt badly. Both
had suffered losses in manpower
and equipment-and they were
isolated from each other.
AS soon as the great retreat
began, Macarthur called his COM
Imanders-Lt. Gen. Walton H.
Walker (now sdead) and 1t. Gen.
Edward Almond of 10th Corps
to a conference in Tokyo. That
was on November %.
Evacuation Considered
No one yet has said what went
on in that conference. But six
days later, Army Chief of Staff j.
Lawton Collins reported to Wash
Iington that Macarthur believed
the best solution would be for the
u. N. to arrange an armistice on
|the best terms available as soon
Jas possible"
And Collins later reported that
Macarthur had been told by his
field commanders they could evac-
uate their forces from Hungnam
= and Pusan without too much diff
: flculty.
At the same time, Admiral For
) rest Sherman has disclosed, the
naval commander in the Far East
was quietly assembling his ships
for just such an emergency.
The testimony would indicate
that Walker and Almond had dis
cussed evacuation with Macarthur
at the November % meeting.
At that time it didn't seem pos
sible to a great many people
most Of them military experts
that the two battered U. N. forces
would pull themselves together.
1t seemed then that only a mir
acle could save the Army from
being driven from Korea. And in
this age there aren't many who
, put their faith in the supernat-
ural on the field of battle. The
odds ride with the bigger army.
> But then a miracle did occur.
Somehow, from some hidden
depths of courage and determina-
ton, the Army achieved the mir
acle of defense that turned back
: the Red push and wiped out the
fears of an evacuation.
It's one of the greatest stories
j., of any American Army in history
this story of an army that
fought its way back from defeat
through fog of gloom that crept
even into high places.
Looking back, it doesn't seem
!. very important who was first to
be gloomy" over the prospect of
! an army being destroyed.
But the important thing is that
the first United Nations Army
: battled its way from the depths
to win a victory over its own
fears.
distributed BY the Associated Press.)