It was a Korean War history day today, as the first forty miles of my ride followed the advance of the north’s army as it sliced through American and ROK resistance from July 6th to the 12th, 1950. While I passed through the areas of two earlier delaying actions (Pyeongtaek and Ch’eonan) my target was the site of one of the more important battles of of the early war, the Battle at Ant Hill (also known as a part of the Battle at Jo-ch’iwon).
I’ve walked the fields of Gettysburg and was fascinated by imagining the history of the place. Today was much the same. As I approached the site along the path taken by MSR1, I could see how it would have served as a good place to take a stand. The valley funneled advancing forces toward a hill overlooking a bend to the left. Fighting was quite fierce, and the three-day’s time the Americans bought helped them set up a perimeter north of Daejon, the next major city to the south.
It was another American loss, but they were getting better. Task Force Smith lasted all of 4 hours. I’m seeing also that they are still recovering the remains of American soldiers in the area.
You can read about some of these battles in the links I provided above. As for me, another excellent day. I’ll probably return to the area with Micha in the future so can cover more of the battlefield and see if I can find other interesting sites in the area.
