Battle of Chosin Reservoir
December 13th, 2022
52 years ago on December 13th, 1950, the Battle of Chosin Reservoir ended. The battle was fought from November 26th to December 13th, 1950 and primarily was fought between the United Nations (UN) X Corps and the Chinese 9th Army. The UN X Corps was commanded by Major General Edward M. Almond, and the commander if the 1st Marines, who did most of the fighting, was Major General Oliver Smith. The Chinese 9th Army was commanded by General Song Shilun.
After 17 days of fighting, the 1st Marines had suffered 10,495 battle casualties (killed, wounded, or missing) and extreme weather (about -37º F) killed or wounded another 7,388 marines. It is believed that the Chinese 9th Army suffered 19,202 casualties and an additional 28,954 casualties due to the weather. The Battle of Chosin Reservoir also was the end of the of the UN advance from Inchon, South Korea which then went on to liberate Seoul, South Korea. After that, it captured Pyongyang, North Korea and finally ended at Chosin Reservoir.
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir was not only the beginning of the end of the Korean War, but also the end of the UN conquest of North Korea. By 1953 the borders had only changed by only several square miles added onto South Korea. The Battle of Chosin Reservoir produced 13 Medal of Honor recipients for their actions during the battle. Here is the list of those recipients:
- Private Hector Cafferata, U.S. Marines
- Staff Sergeant Robert Kennemore, U.S. Marines
- Corporal Lee Philips, U.S. Marines
- Captain William Barber, U.S. Marines
- Sergeant James Johnston, U.S. Marines
- First Lieutenant Frank Mitchell, U.S. Marines
- Lieutenant Colonel Ray Davis, U.S. Marines
- Staff Sergeant William Windrich, U.S. Marines
- Captain Carl Sitter, U.S. Marines
- Major Reginald Myers, U.S. Marines
- Lieutenant Colonel John Page, U.S. Army
- Lieutenant Colonel Don Faith, U.S. Army
- Lieutenant, JG Thomas Hudner, U.S. Navy
