South Korea’s 17 th regiment crossed behind them. With the airport and main highway now secure, the 32 nd infantry crossed the Han River on September 25 in amphibious landing craft. There too, the Americans eventually gained the upper hand, but the battles exacted a terrible toll. The Marines battled North Korean troops along the Han River in Yeongdeung-po.
Eventually, the Americans took the ridge and advanced, but casualties were heavy on both sides. Little did they know that beginning the next morning, they would battle North Korean troops tasked with defending the capital for four terrifying days. On September 21, they encountered a ridge of hills and set up camp for the night. The 5 th Marines lined up along the rail lines west of the city, paralleling the Han River. He was in the process of surrendering to enemy troops when one of them shot him in the heart. It was there where Richard Carey lost one of his squad leaders. Meanwhile, on September 18 and 19, the American 31 st and 32 nd infantry divisions landed at Incheon and quickly marched eastward to join their comrades near Yeongdeung-po. That soldier was posthumously awarded the medal of honor. He described how a fellow soldier, the number one gunner in his section, knocked out two North Korean tanks with a bazooka before being killed. William Beasley recalled what it was like at Gimpo. Thomas Cushman’s Marine Air Group 33 arrived safely at Gimpo from Japan. The Marines, shaken but victorious, counted their dead, treated their wounded and pressed onward toward Seoul.Īfter a chaotic day and night, American Marine units succeeded in securing the airport, allowing UN planes to bring in more troops, supplies and fuel. When all was said and done, 200 North Korean troops lay dead, their tanks in smoldering ruins. Meanwhile, all around them, bullets sprayed out as both sides fought to control the crucial road. The commander, stunned, surrendered his entire platoon. At first, he thought he had killed the commander. Instinctually, Carey took out his pistol. As he emerged from around a bend, he came face to face with a North Korean commander. Richard Carey took his squad around an enemy flank. The Americans, galvanized by their successful landing at Incheon, opened fire from their Pershing tanks and rocket launchers. In the early morning hours of September 17, 1950, as the left column approached Gimpo, they ran right into 250 North Korean troops commanding six T-34 tanks. Those in the left column headed toward Gimpo, the city’s main airport. The Marines in the right column marched toward Yeongdeung-po, a major factory district just across the Han River from Seoul.
As they marched down the highway toward Seoul, South Korea’s occupied capital, American planes dropped bombs and napalm on North Korean troops standing in the way.
Marines formed two columns and pushed eastward.
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