Celebration Of Those Who Fought For Our Freedom Part VI

Toward The End Of The Cold War

President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signing the INF Treaty in 1987

After WWII, America was doing well but lurking in the background was the "Cold War". The Cold War lasted from 1947-1991. The spread of communism and rogue nuclear weapons were a constant threat. There were periods of calm but during that time America entered into two more wars.

The first war stemming from the Cold War that I'm going to discuss is the Korean War. The Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1953.

The war was a result of the political division of Korea by agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War. In 1945 following the surrender of Japan, American administrators divided the peninsula of Korea along the 38th parallel with the U. S. troops occupying the southern part and Soviet troops occupying the northern part. The failure to hold free elections throughout the Korean Peninsula in 1948 deepened the division between the two sides, and the North established a Communist government. The 38th Parallel increasingly became a political border between the two Koreas. Although reunification negotiations continued in the months preceding the war, tension intensified. Cross-border skirmishes and raids at the 38th Parallel persisted. The situation escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War.

The United Nations, particularly the U. S., came to the aid of the South Koreans in repelling the invasion. The threat of nuclear world war eventually ceased with an armistice that restored the border between the Koreas at the 38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The Armistice was signed on July 27, 1953.

Our heroic American soldiers suffered 36,516 deaths in this war.