2nd Division DUI DI Crest Pins (post WW2)

The Korean War (1950 — 1954) With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea during the summer of 1950, the 2nd Infantry Division was quickly alerted for movement to the Far East Command. The Division arrived in Korea, via Pusan on 23 July, becoming the first unit to reach Korea directly from the United States. Initially employed piecemeal, the entire Division was committed as a unit on 24 August 1950, relieving the 24th Infantry Division at the Naktong River Line. The first big test came when the North Koreans struck in a desperate human wave attack on the night of 31 August. In the 16-day battle that followed, the Division’s clerks, bandsmen, technical and supply personnel, joined in the fight to defend against the attackers. Shortly thereafter, the 2nd Infantry Division was the first unit to break out of the Pusan perimeter, and they led the Eighth Army drive to the Manchurian border. It was at this time that the 2nd Infantry Division received a crucial new support element. In August of 1950, with American forces taking many casualties, the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army program was established when Korean President Syngman Rhee provided Korean soldiers to augment understrength United States Army units. These valiant new 2nd Infantry Division troops, known since simply as KATUSA, helped turn the tide of the war for American forces. Now within fifty miles of the Manchurian border when Chinese forces entered the fight, soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division were given the mission of protecting the rear and right flank of the Eighth Army as it retired to the South. Fighting around Kunu-ri cost the Division nearly one-third of its strength, but it cost the enemy many times more and the way was kept open. The 2nd Infantry Division finally blunted the Chinese winter offensive on 31 January 1951 at Wonju. Taking up the offensive in a two-prong attack in February 1951, the Division repulsed a powerful Chinese counter offensive in the epic battles of Chip-yong-ni and Wonju. The United Nations front was saved and the general offensive continued. Again in April and May 1951, the 2nd Infantry Division was instrumental in smashing the Communists’ spring offensive. For its part in these actions the 2nd Infantry Division was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. What followed were alternating periods of combat and rest, with the Division participating in the battles Bloody Ridge, Heartbreak Ridge, the outposts, and Old Baldy. On 9 April 1953, the Division was moved to a rear area for rest and training. During July, the Warriors returned to the Main Line of Resistance to relieve the 3rd Infantry Division in the Chorwon- Kumwha sector. They defended in sector until the Armistice was signed on 27 July 1953 after which the Division withdrew to positions south of the Demilitarized Zone. Finally, on 20 August 1954, four years after its last unit arrived in Korea, the 2nd Infantry Division was alerted for redeployment to the United States.