Battle of Pork Chop Hill

Battle of Pork Chop Hill
Part of the Korean War
45th Infantry Division at Pork Chop Hill in 1952
Date March – July 1953 Location north of Yeoncheon, Korea Coordinates: 38°14′29″N 127°1′10″E / 38.24139°N 127.01944°E / 38.24139; 127.01944 Result UN victory in April action Chinese victory in July action
Belligerents
United Nations  South Korea  United States  Ethiopian Empire  Colombia  Thailand	China North Korea
Commanders and leaders
Arthur G. Trudeau	Peng Dehuai
Strength
1 division (19,000)	2 divisions (20,000)
Casualties and losses
258 killed 1,036 wounded	1,500 killed 4,000 wounded

 United Nations

The Battle of Pork Chop Hill comprises a pair of related Korean War infantry battles during the spring and summer of 1953. These were fought while the U.S. and the Communist Chinese and Koreans negotiated an armistice. In the U.S., they were controversial because of the many soldiers killed for terrain of no strategic or tactical value, although the Chinese lost many times the number of US soldiers killed and wounded. The first battle was described in the eponymous history Pork Chop Hill: The American Fighting Man in Action, Korea, Spring 1953, by S.L.A. Marshall, from which the film Pork Chop Hill was drawn.

The United Nations, primarily supported by the United States, won the first battle when the Chinese broke contact and withdrew after two days of fighting. The second battle involved many more troops on both sides and was bitterly contested for five days before United Nations Command conceded the hill to the Chinese forces by withdrawing behind the main battle line.

The 300 meters (980 ft)-high hill, which was so-named because its topographic shape vaguely resembled a pork chop, was first was seized by the U.S. 8th Cavalry Regiment in October 1951. It was taken again in May 1952 by Item Company of the U.S. 180th Infantry Regiment. The 1st Battalion of the 21st Thai Regiment of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division defended the position in November 1952. From December 29, 1952, it became part of the U.S. 7th Infantry Division's defensive sector. Pork Chop Hill was among several exposed hill outposts along the Main Line of Resistance (MLR) that were defended by a single company or platoon positioned in sand-bagged bunkers connected with trenches.

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Wikipedia