The Battle of Osan was the first engagement between United States and North Korean forces during the Korean War, on July 5, 1950. A U.S. task force of 400 infantry supported by an artillery battery was moved to Osan, south of the South Korean capital Seoul, and ordered to fight as a rearguard to delay advancing North Korean forces while additional U.S. forces arrived in-country to form a defensive line. The Task Force lacked both antitank guns and effective infantry anti-tank weapons. Aside from a limited number of HEAT shells for the unit's 105-mm howitzers, crew-served weapons capable of defeating the T-34 had not been distributed to U.S. Army forces in Korea at the time. In the first encounter, a North Korean tank column overran the task force and continued its advance south. After the column had successfully breached American lines, the Task Force opened fire on a force of some 5,000 North Korean infantry approaching its position, temporarily holding up the North Korean advance. Eventually, North Korean troops overwhelmed American positions, and the remnants of the Task Force retreated in disorder. (more...)

The 766th Independent Infantry Regiment was a light infantry regiment of the North Korean People's Army that existed briefly during the Korean War. Trained extensively in amphibious warfare and unconventional warfare, the 766th Regiment was considered a special forces commando unit. Activated in 1949, the regiment trained for more than a year before the outbreak of the war on June 25, 1950. On that day, half of the regiment led North Korean forces against South Korean troops by land and sea, pushing them back after several days of fighting. Over the next six weeks the regiment advanced slowly down the Korean Peninsula, acting as a forward unit of the North Korean army. Suffering lack of supplies and mounting casualties, the regiment was committed to the Battle of Pusan Perimeter as part of a push to force United Nations troops out of Korea. The regiment saw its final action at the Battle of P'ohang-dong, fighting unsuccessfully to take the town from UN troops. (more...)

Jesse L. Brown (1926–1950) was the first African-American naval aviator in the United States Navy, and the first naval officer killed in the Korean War. Born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to an impoverished family, Brown had an avid interest in aircraft from a young age. After graduating as salutatorian of his high school, he enlisted in the US Navy in 1946 and became a midshipman one year later. He earned his pilot wings on 21 October 1948 amid a flurry of press coverage. He was subsequently assigned to Fighter Squadron 32 aboard the USS Leyte. At the outset of the Korean War, the Leyte was ordered to the Korean Peninsula, arriving in October 1950. Brown flew 20 combat missions before his F4U Corsair aircraft came under fire and crashed on a remote mountaintop on 4 December 1950 during a mission supporting ground troops at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Brown died of his wounds in spite of efforts by wingman Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., who intentionally crashed his aircraft attempting a rescue and was later awarded the Medal of Honor. Brown's successes in the segregated US military were memorialized in several books, and the frigate USS Jesse L. Brown (FF-1089) was named in his honor. (Full article...)

The Battle of Taejon (14–21 July 1950) was an early battle between United States and North Korean forces during the Korean War. U.S. Army forces, attempting to defend the headquarters of the 24th Infantry Division, were overwhelmed by numerically superior forces of the Korean People's Army (KPA) at the major city and transportation hub of Taejon. The Americans were already exhausted after two weeks of attempting to stem the KPA's advance. The entire 24th Division gathered to make a final stand around Taejon, holding a line along the Kum River to the east of the city. The American forces, outnumbered, ill-equipped and untrained, were pushed back from the river bank after several days, before fighting an intense urban battle to defend the city. After a fierce three-day struggle, they withdrew. Although they could not hold the city, the 24th Infantry Division achieved a strategic victory by delaying the North Koreans, providing time for other American divisions to establish a defensive perimeter around Pusan further south. The KPA captured Major General William F. Dean, the commander of the 24th Infantry Division, and the highest-ranking American prisoner during the Korean War. (Full article...)