Reference Entry
FALL OF TAEJON
In the early weeks of the Korean War, United States forces rushed to slow a North Korean advance that threatened to overrun the entire peninsula. Around the city of Taejon, elements of the 24th Infantry Division fought a desperate delaying action, outnumbered and facing tanks and artillery in unfamiliar terrain. Over several days of close combat and street fighting, American troops inflicted significant losses but gradually found themselves cut off and forced to withdraw.
Dated Historical Context
A RECORDED MOMENT IN HISTORY
Fall of Taejon
In the early weeks of the Korean War, United States forces rushed to slow a North Korean advance that threatened to overrun the entire peninsula. Around the city of Taejon, elements of the 24th Infantry Division fought a desperate delaying action, outnumbered and facing tanks and artillery in unfamiliar terrain. Over several days of close combat and street fighting, American troops inflicted significant losses but gradually found themselves cut off and forced to withdraw. On July 20th, 1950, Taejon fell, and the division commander, Major General William Dean, was captured while trying to regroup his men. Despite the defeat, the stand at Taejon bought precious time for additional United States and United Nations units to assemble farther south. That breathing room helped make possible the defense of the Pusan Perimeter, a last-ditch line that would hold long enough for a successful counterstroke at Inchon later that year.
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