American Involvement In The Korean War

In June 1950, just a few years after WWII, America became involved in the Korean War. At the end of WWII the Korean peninsula was divided between North Korea supported by the Soviet Union north of the 38th parallel, and South Korea with the United States supporting everything south. The two separate governments held claim the entire county not recognizing the division. As tensions escalated, North Korea began invading the south. After a couple months the North Korean Army had pushed the few American forces and South Korean Army south to an area known as the Pusan perimeter. Eventually the South Korean military gained further support from American forces, and pushed the North Korean Army all the way back to the mountainous region of the Yalu
Air power became increased with better fighter jets and new capabilities of helicopters. This advancement gave the American military the ability to quickly insert soldiers into the battle field much faster, and transport heavy equipment such as artillery closer to fighting lines with greater ease. Air mobility soon became a signature trait of American forces in Vietnam. As the war efforts escalated, soldiers were being captured as POW’s; often many were aviators that had been shot down in air combat. Fighter jets were being brought down by Soviet made surface to air missiles; helicopters were being engaged and shot down, and ground troops were being trapped behind enemy lines. In 1964 the North Vietnamese Army began operating POW camps, the first of which was in Hanoi, this camp became known as the Hanoi Hilton (Defence Intelligence Agency). As more American soldiers were captured in combat operations, North Vietnam opened several other camps which were named by the POW’s in the camps such as Alcatraz, Briar patch, and Dogpatch. The North Vietnamese Army operating in these camps became synonymous with their brutal treatment of American POW’s who they considered war criminals committing crimes against the Republic of Vietnam (Defence Intelligence
Men were subjected to being hung from their wrist, in some cases with bones that had been broken either by the beatings of the Vietnamese during capture or from interrogations for information. Electroshock torture was not uncommon; the Vietnamese were creatively brutal using many different electronic devices that were attached to the POW’s to dispense the maximum amount of pain possible. The torture of POW’s were also done in areas where the screams of the men being tortured could echo throughout the camp, this produces psychological effects with other prisoners elevating levels of fear in order to manipulate behavior and in some cases confessions to war crimes. The North Vietnamese would often film prisoners to be used as war propaganda (Callahan)