The Legacy of Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry in Korea
Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Company, 1990. Limited Edition of 1000 copies. Hardcover. The format is approximately 8.5 inches by 11.25 inches. 128 pages. Sources Casualties, Medal of Honor, Three column format on most pages. No dust jacket present. Decorative front cover. Illustrated end papers (including map). Illustrations. Superior photos, maps, casualty list, military symbols, weapons glossary, and the roster of the 7th US Cavalry Association. Sources. This is the story of an ordeal sustained by the flesh and blood of United Nations soldiers, American Soldiers, Republic of Korea soldiers, and the innocent and defenseless refugees. , Edward Lee Daily was 17 when he met an Army recruiting sergeant with "medals plastered all over his chest," Mr. Daily wrote in a short memoir. Mr. Daily picked the cavalry. Mr. Daily wrote about becoming an expert marksman with the Seventh Cavalry Regiment. Military records show, Mr. Daily joined the Seventh Cavalry in 1951. Mr. Daily began focusing on Korea after a 1986 reunion of cavalry veterans. "If you guys will get me stories, I'll put them together and we'll put them in a book," Mr. Daily told attendees, Mr. Down said. At this and other reunions, the best stories emerged in the bar, and Mr. Daily had a knack for injecting himself into the conversation, veterans said. Mr. Daily was, without question, a linchpin in efforts to preserve and honor the memory of the Seventh Cavalry and served as its president in the early 1990's. In 1993, he attended a ceremony in South Dakota with members of the Lakota Sioux tribe to help make amends for the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee by the Cavalry. The 1st Cavalry Division, initially organized in September 1921 at Fort Bliss, Texas, was serving on occupation duty in Japan when the Korean War began in the summer of 1950. On 18 July 1950 elements of the division went ashore at P'ohang-dong, South Korea, moving quickly westward to block the enemy along the main Taejon-Taegu corridor, which led back to the ports on the Sea of Japan. With unrelenting pressure from the enemy, the division withdrew to Kumch'on and later east of the Naktong River, where it held part of the front near Taegu on the Pusan perimeter. During the month of August "The First Team" successfully countered five major North Korean attacks in that section. In early September the division launched an attack against the "Walled City," a series of high mountain ridges along the perimeter, which the enemy repelled. On 15 September, however, the United Nations began a new offensive with an amphibious landing at Inch'on, near Seoul; with the opening of the second front, the 1st Cavalry Division began a drive northwest of Taegu. Six days later the division broke out of the perimeter, and North Korean pressure in the south ended. Pursuit of the enemy followed, and on 27 September the division met the 7th Infantry Division at Osan. From there the 1st Cavalry Division shifted north to the Kaesong area near the 38th Parallel, the dividing line between North and South Korea. On 9 October the 1st Cavalry Division was ordered to take Kumch'on in North Korea, which fell on 14 October. Shortly thereafter the division reached P'yongyang, the North Korean capital. Elements of the division linked up with the 187th Airborne Infantry at Sunch'on, and other elements turned southwest to Chinnamp'o, the main port of North Korea. On 1 November a new, more savage conflict began. Waves of enemy forces swept over the 1st Cavalry Division area near Unsan, and the division fell back to a line between the coast and the Taedong River valley. By 12 December the division had withdrawn to only six miles north of Seoul, and in January 1951 it occupied positions south of Seoul in the Ch'ungju area. Seoul had been captured, but the enemy did not cross the Han River. When the enemy failed to follow up its recapture of Seoul, the 1st Cavalry Division undertook a reconnaissance in force, resulting in a limited offensive, north and west of the capital. By the end of February "The First Team" had reached the Hongch'on area in the central front, midway between Seoul and the Sea of Japan. In February the 1st Cavalry Division pushed to the Hwach'on Reservoir north of the 38th Parallel and then went into reserve. On 22 April the Chinese Communists began a new offensive to dislodge the UN forces, and the division was given the mission of defending Seoul and the area north of the city. The division pushed northward, and by the end of May it was again in North Korea. The 1st Cavalry Division's next assignment was to attack the "Iron Triangle," an area from P'yonggang southeast to Ch'orwon and southwest to Kumhwa, which served as a marshalling zone for the enemy. In December 1951 the 45th Infantry Division replaced the 1st Cavalry Division, which then began redeploying to Hokkaido, Japan. The last element of the 1st arrived in Japan in mid-January 1952. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Korean War, 7th Cavalry, Garry Owen, George Armstrong Custer, Naktong River, Yalu, Chongchon, Sindhang-Ni, Napalm, Hill 578, Hobart Gay, United Nations
ISBN: 0938021842
[Book #87563]
Price: $175.00