The Korean War, 70 Years Ago, The Evening Sentinel, Carlisle PA
Korean War Weekly Front Pages
5 July 1953 – 11 July 1953
The Evening Sentinel, Carlisle PA
On the eve of the truce, the war still rages.
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President Eisenhower’s personal troubleshooter and President Syngman Rhee were expected to confer again on Monday amid speculation the aged Rhee may be preparing his people for acceptance of United States true terms. It would be the tenth meeting between US Assistant Secretary of State Walter Robertson and Rhee in an attempt to break the deadlock in their “little armistice” talks. If the withdrawal plan was put into effect, the non-Korean troops would move back one and a quarter miles behind the battle line in accordance with the armistice awaiting signature at Panmunjom. This would leave South Korean troops alone against a reported 1 million North Koreans and Chinese Communists on the other side of the line which cut across the peninsula and dipped a few miles below the 38th parallel near the west coast.
The next day the conference had been postponed, possibly because the assistant secretary of state was awaiting word from Washington, so the Communists called a meeting of truce liaison officers for noon on Wednesday, presumably to answer General Mark Clark’s proposal for an immediate armistice with or without Syngman Rhee’s approval. The Communist high command agreed on Wednesday to put armistice machinery in motion again on Clark’s assurances he would keep South Korea under control. Now Rhee was demanding that the war be resumed if a political conference failed to unify Korea after three months of deliberation.
At the end of the week, President Syngman Rhee announced that he had reached a “friendly understanding” with the United States and a high Korean source said he had dropped his demand for a time limit on post-armistice political discussions. President Eisenhower’s truce expediter was packing his bags to return home. The South Korean source described Rhee as “pleased” with the agreement with United States and said it was generally “satisfactory” to him.
On Thursday flamethrowing Americans charged toward the crest of Pork Chop Hill but Chinese cannon blocked their advance with a wall of exploding steel. Chinese troops then poured from their muddy trenches on the western finger of Pork Chop west of Chorwon to pursue elements of the 17th infantry, US seventh division. The Americans jumped off for Pork Chop’s crest while South Koreans were counterattacking from an outpost fronting Arrowhead Ridge to the east. Both outposts guarded the invasion route to Seoul. The Americans crawled and fought their way almost to the crest of Pork Chop by blasting the Chinese from ten key bunkers. The Chinese resisted the first echelon of counterattacking Americans with random small arms and machine gun fire. Earlier in the day the Chinese had been sent on suicidal attacks against Allied strongholds on the eastern and western fronts. More than 1,500 Chinese threw themselves against “Kim Il Sung Ridge,” named for the North Korean premier and military commander. They never got closer to the trenches than hand grenade range. Back on Pork Chop Hill, the Americans regained it but then lost it again. Chinese infantrymen then smashed back counterattacking American troops from the crest of the hill and retained control. In the eastern bulge sector American artillery and South Korean troops killed 1,700 Chinese and smashed Red attacks against three outposts in the Kumsong area.
(Photo courtesy newspapers.com, Carlisle Evening Sentinel)