Korean War - Burial of American Dead
date: label: Date made
content: 1950
name: label: photographer
content: Mydans, Carl
notes: label: Description
content: Carl Mydans was coming to the end of his assignment as TIME-LIFE bureau chief in Tokyo when North Korea decided to invade South Korea. During the first few weeks of the Korean War, the fighting was referred to as nothing more than a "police action." Once casualties began to increase, the conflict became a war.
label: Description
content: Undermanned American forces were sent to quell the situation and the consequences can be seen in images such as this. On assignment for <i>LIFE</i>, Mydans followed a fresh battalion of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division in its mission to strengthen the American defense line near Yong Dong. The effort was futile because some of the units had been cut off or infiltrated by greater numbers of North Korean forces, leading to retreat.
label: Description
content: Back at the medical station, the wounded slowly began arriving. Eventually, the bodies of the dead were buried in an impersonal grave a few miles from where they died. In this photograph, Chaplain John G. Burkhalter reads a prayer while the shrouded bodies of 21 men are lowered and placed side by side in this grave near Kumch'on.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Korea
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Photographic History
label: See more items in
content: Photography
label: See more items in
content: Carl Mydans
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Life Magazine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Estate of Carl Mydans
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0228.130
label: accession number
content: 2005.0228
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0228.130
objectType: label: Object Name
content: photograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 1/2 in x 9 in; 34.29 cm x 22.86 cm