war and its men. war and its machines. together they form the big picture. welcome to the big picture. i'm captain carl zimmerman. the big picture is a report to you from your army, and army committed by you, the people of the united states, to stop communist aggression wherever it might strike. pictured covers events in the campaign from first-time reports of our combat veterans and their film taken by combat cameramen in the army signal corps. these are the men that daily record until the big picture as it happens, where it happens. today a big picture brings into focus the turning of the tide, you will see our fight to hold on to the pusan perimeter. you will see air support from our carriers, the invasion and the merchants all and you will hear first-time report from the lieutenant, latu leader with the army's 24th infantry division. now, let's go back to august of 1970. >> on 10 august after 47 days of fighting in korea, the battle is heavy and playing both sides. united nations are dug in on the 120 mile perimeter and communist troops are still outnumbering hours or than 2 to 1 and thus far have failed in their objective to drive u.n. forces into the sea or destroy them before we can take the advantage. at the southern end of our beach, the task force consisting of units of the 25th infantry division, fifth regimental combat team and the first marine brigade are driving toward our first offensive of the war. this counteroffensive throws back the threat that we are about to launch a major attack only 35 miles from pusan, the key fort of the entire beachhead. southwest, they are reducing a communist bridgehead. and then they are containing another ridge had south of tyquan. in north they are pushing communists back across the river. along the northern perimeter communist compel south koreans to withdraw and write troops are broken through the perimeter, threatening that port city and the airfield, and to the north south koreans have recaptured yongdok. in the air air force, navy and marine planes are giving support to ground troops along the perimeter and also blessed medications and industrial targets from taegu to the north korean order. united nations ships also helped in the submission. the struggle to defend the beachhead is a curious one but we are holding. >> on 2 on 24 august on the central sector which is concerned with the defense of the river line, engineers have built a pontoon bridge across the tributary. it serves for use of minor vehicle and foot soldiers and with increasing supplies moving and there is need for heavy equipment bridge. south korean civilian labor is employed although in many sections native tools are still used and although u.s. engineers depend greatly on korean manpower, there is a change now since the early days of the war. heavy construction equipment is becoming effeminate a familiar sight. he necessarily seconded priority to arms and ammunition is an indication of a vast bulk of supply that is now being received. ♪ >> on 29 august, the british on 29 august the british aircraft carrier unicorn moves in and on deck the british troops battle and within a week they are rushed to help stop a breakthrough along the river. these are the first infantry of a foreign nation to join in the united nations police action. they are members of the article in southern, largely of scotsman and most of whom hailed from the london area. almost all of these british have served in hong kong while undergoing rigorous training very similar to that of career except for the 3.5 bazooka, the u.s. supplied rationed, these britishers will use their own weapons and their uniforms are jungle green with only the regimental papers wearing the kilt which won the scott the nickname, the ladies from . hell. ac 47 transport plane is loaded with leaflets that will be dropped over north korean territory. these drops are being made frequently to counter enemy propaganda. the c 47 transport carries heavy loads of leaflets for long trips into north korea. for shorter trips the t6 is used. safe conduct passes, if the leaflet is found on the north korean culture by his own officers the penalty is death. over enemy territory the packets are thrown out and the wind takes care of sorting and delivering. they report that these messages are often memorized to avoid the danger of having the leaflet found on the person. on 30 august the reds are gaining in the south and central sector but in the northeast that united states and south korean units are holding their ground against heavy opposition. in this fight near pohang, the 24th infantry division is moving forward to attacking her position called kill 148, average about one fourth of a mile west of pohang during the communist drive in this area is along the 10 mile front. at this time pohang is an allied hands. the enemy is infiltrating here. one group of unknown sides having set up a roadblock south of pohang, three miles behind the allied line. they coordinate activities as they approach the jumping off point. intelligence has revealed that the communist attack on the pohang is an attempt to fulfill orders given the recommender to take the city at all costs in the next 24 hours. and for the red it is a costly operation. an estimated 2000 north koreans have been killed in the last two days. the u.s. elements are here and some strength and the weight of the attack is against the south korean arteries and capital division and their 17th regiment. this is the 10th the week of the korean war and the fighting on all fronts has reached a peak of fury. although at this time military spokesman or mentioning early offensive moves in the situation does not appear optimistic. enemy fire is incoming. information goes back to the company commander. the orders come forward in the attack on gil 148 is about to begin. the attack gets underway, slowly at first and then with an increasing firefight. this is one small action in the big fight raging along the entire 150 mile front in korea. if you miles of territory changes hands again and again. if the allied line cracks at any point the whole pusan beachhead could be lost. >> those were trying times for all of us. our troops jammed into a small area of the pusan border and at the same time building strikes for the offenses. tenant tom was there and he served as a platoon leader for the 24th division. >> tell us what the defense around the perimeter was like. >> it consisted mostly of a plugging action, in other words will be a division into the perimeter to fill up a gap penetrated by the enemy. we did not have enough men to completely fill up a complete rectangle or perimeter. therefore we had to plug up the gaps by moving the men around. >> and the trouble started to move them and write in there. what are these attacks like, tom? >> these are constituted mostly by a preparation of a mortar fire by the enemy. they were very good at this. and they outnumbered us i'd say approximately 5 to 1. they had a mess of men and also infiltrated in between our lines dressed as civilians and altogether harassed us by that type of movement. >> tell us about the breakout, over the preparations for it like? >> they consisted of getting ready, getting our ammunition ready, our men ready and the higher powers around there said they believe the north korean perimeter around our defense was made up of a thin crust and once we penetrated that and broke through we would be able to continue upward without too much trouble. >> that was the way it worked, too, didn't it? >> yes. >> what about the teamwork when you move north, the air support, was it good? did you have it when you needed it? >> the air support was very good. he would call for an airstrike and get it almost immediately. one time i was north with my platoon taking a village and we received firing rachel to our left friend. i called back and asked for an air attack and within five minutes we had planes coming over, giving us an attack without about 50 yards to our friend. which is certainly very close. to make it certainly is. that is really getting in there needed . what about the artillery quek >> the artillery was also very good read there were close, is very good, accurate fire and the north koreans were scared to death and it seemed to have a very bad effect on them and was good for us. the artillery was excellent. >> we hear a lot of talk about the adversary of the north koreans, can you give us any examples of that? >> i can. my to was taking the house one time that was several communist party. we surrendered the house and had an interpreter asked them to come out and surrender and he refused to do it. therefore we had to fire on the house and as many ran out they shot themselves in the others pulled pins on grenades and blow themselves up. they did not want to be captured at all. >> tell us about the weapons we used over there. our weapons compare with those used by the north koreans? thee our weapons were far superior, they were more dependable, our men knew better use of them and overall the gave were firepower read the automatic rifles, for instance, is my favorite and the north koreans were deathly afraid of it. it was a very good weapon and there was no comparison between it and the north korean weapon. >> had respect for those higher powers, didn't they? >> dated. >> when you are in the line with your men, moving for a long time, you get to know them pretty well, don't you? >> yes you do. eat with them and sleep with them and every once in a while when gets shot and you feel that. you get to know them very well. my old sergeant was one that really knew his business and i owe a lot of credit to him. we had younger man, i got to know them, too. squad leaders, freddie, smokey and those boys, he really get to know them very well. back around the pusan perimeter before we broke out, because of the fact that we were shifting around an awful lot it was hard to try to size up your men. regardless of this fact, i believe we did fairly good and i got a good chance to size up my men. we were moving around quite a bit at that time though. we make tom, it was men like you and the men of your platoon that held back the enemy of the pusan perimeter against her great aunts. you can then add me from throwing this back into the sea. let's watch now as some of our troops throw off a red attack. on to september the south- central sector the first marine brigade is rusted to the battle line to help throwback one of the main communist in their all- out offensive along the river. this is an attempt to achieve a major breakthrough in the second division southern plank and the northern plane. they've been rushed here after a brief rest during which they regrouped. >> the marines the marines move up the high ground they must retake to secure their sector of the counterattack. the enemy is holding fire momentarily. the marine counteroffensive has been coordinated with the second division. the entire action being five pronged. one has moved up the main road, west and while diagonally on the right and left other marines flank the enemy. farther to the right and left tanks supported second division troops in wide and circling movement. marines ran forward as the enemy opened fire. i wanted marine runs back for aid. other marines resumed the attack, moving slowly, waiting for the enemy to resume the flanks. despite the tanks and automatic weapons, the assault continues. this counterattack is almost a repeat of the assault from the same marines two weeks previously when they took the same hill. the high ground in this sector has changed hands at least five times in two weeks. >> the marif fire the drive the enemy o marif the marines form a base of fire to drive the enemy off. the line builds up and so does the firepower. >> meanwhilele, overhead, air forc and marine corps planes support the ground troops. ♪ >> carrier planes are readied for another strike on inland targets. carrier planes are ready for another strike on inland targets. rockets are of particular interest at this time. three different types are being used, one of the first super explosive types was the five inch holy moses. later the 11.75 inch tiny tim proved highly effective on bridges and similar large targets. the most recent arrival is that a visa 6.5 inch rim. a constant activity on these carriers has not dampened the growing sense of humor. it is noteworthy that the red rocket set a speed record for production. from its conference room inception to its appearance in combat it took only 24 days. aerial missions of the navy and marines often strategic and tactical action in the same strike. in the relatively small area of korea targets of opportunity count heavily. [background sounds] one cameraas recorded targets o the carrier plane. [background sounds] ♪ ♪ >> a b-26 raid is in preparation during the week of in japan a.b. 26 rate is in preparation during the week of six september. the b 26 is armed 16 caliber machine guns. they are electrically operated and a single owner can bring many to the same target at once. he can carry a 5000 bomb load or five of these 1000 pounders. these bombs plus the heavy firepower of the machine gun, a b 26 flight is a formidable attacking unit. these planes have seen constant use in the korean war and their targets ranging from strategic industrial areas in the north to tactical areas along the battle lines in the south. the b 26 is classified as a light bomber with the speed of more than 350 miles an hour. after their final briefing crew members and for the field. this has become a familiar scene in united states airbases in japan from which b 26 are flown from around the clock on a schedule. these be 26 invaders were formally called a 26 bombers and they differ from the b 26 bombers used in world war ii. the present b 26 is a very adaptable plane which is often re-adapted for different uses. the plan can be adapted to carry a variety of explosives. the b 26 is designed primarily for low-level bombing. seldom used for the high- altitude work of the b 29. [background sounds] >> these targets are are in the area of seoul during the can these targets are in the area during the first week of september. little flashes of light on the ground are traces from the b 26 machine gun. occasionally enemy flak comes up at the plane. on seven september the u.s. air force flew 625 in 24 hours. on 15 september dawn breaks off of the island of wolmi. ships fire pointedly at the island. rockets during the process. general macarthur watches from the bridge in this lending is a calculated risk, general macarthur is using many reinforcements from the south. the first wave hits the beach. because of the 30 foot tadpole, they run a short within a period of high tide and two hours after. the troops will have to stick it out alone until the next tide, 11 hours later. a bulldozer smothers a red dugout. >> a fire fight begins. a firefight begins. all the reds haven't been driven off by the bombardment. captives are stripped to prevent concealment weapons. others are a little more formal. on 16 september the first marine division moves through. this city is recaptured against relatively light resistance. allied casualties are few as the men move through. ♪ >> there are two ally there are two allied moves, one on the south and another sweeping around from the north. they cross and their river village is taken and the marines move on toward seoul. but there is bitter fighting ahead, seoul is heavily defended . as the vehicles move on toward seoul the marines have a message for the reds. enjoy yourselves, it is later than you think. during the six weeks between 10 august and 20 september, the period covered by this combat bulletin, there were three main phases in the korean riding area on 10 august reinforced united nations forces were duncan to defend at all costs the beachhead perimeter and we could withdraw no farther or no longer trade space. if we were to hold our beachhead in the vital site of pusan. they were threatening pohang and we had launched our first counterattack to stop the most dangerous communist drive. on one september the communists launched their biggest drive of the war, all along the beachhead perimeter. it was an all-out effort to take pusan, eliminate our beachhead in korea and destroy united nations forces. we were being pushed back and taegu was in danger from the north and south and pohang was being taken and retaken. by 20 september the tide of the battle had changed completely. five days previously u.s. marines had made a landing 150 miles behind the enemy line. the enemy, still pressing the all-out drive for pusan was suddenly cut off from his supply. on 20 september u.s. marines were entering the kurtz of seoul as seven division infantrymen band southward to cut off retreating from the southern front. on our southern beachhead the united nation forces were crossing the river and moving ahead everywhere. they were advancing in pohang, west of changnyong and west of masan. we had held our beachhead and now we were on the offense and it was the beginning of the end for the communist invasion of south korea. all those were the events that comprise the big pitcher from september 20th 1950. our thanks to lieutenant tom for being with us today. asked week the big dramatic will show us with our united nation forces on the offensive see our recapture of the city of seoul, the fall of the north korean capital and the drop of the combat team and you will see the big mo in action giving support to our ground troops. with this again will be a combat veteran who saw as it happened a part of the big picture. this is captain carl zimmer in inviting you to be with us then. ♪ a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work, where citizens are truly informed in the public drives. getting informed straight from the spores. c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nations capital to wherever you are or you can see opinions that matter the most, this is what democracy looks like. would you like to capitol hill where antony blinken and defense secretary lloyd austin are testifying on the presidents emergency aid request for israel and ukraine. this is for the senate appropriations committee. live coverage here on c-span 3.
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