5th Regimental Combat Team Korea, photograph album.
1950s. Approximately 250 vernacular snap shots of American military life in Korea, mostly infantry divisions, during the Cold War period in which the Soviet trained North Korean army invaded South Korea.
There are many snap shot portraits of individual soldiers (including one of Korean troops), a few with a caption on verso, as well as daily life on the base, military material (tanks, airplanes), artillery practice, and local landscapes and towns.
Specific sites pictured include the Camp Walker post exchange, Second Infantry Division NCO Academy, and a sign post in town showing the way to the Taegu Military post. The album closes with shots of the troops on their way home from Korea, stopping in Japan.
With a newspaper article tipped in at rear, "5th Regimental Combat Team, Taegu Korea", on the departure of the 5th RCT from Pusan to the US.
The 5th RCT deployed to Korea on 25 July 1950 to reinforce the Eighth Army in the shrinking area of United Nations control called the Pusan Perimeter. It reinforced the 25th Infantry Division, then the 1st Cavalry Division on the Naktong River line. Later it was attached to the 24th Infantry Division, replacing the 34th Infantry Regiment. It remained with the 24th Infantry Division until January 1952 when it officially became a separate RCT once more.
The 5th RCT notably fought in the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, one of the first major battles in the Korean War, between United Nations and North Korean forces, which brought the southern advance of North Korean troops to a halt. The 5th RCT had 269 killed, 574 wounded and four captured during the battle
Most snap shots measure 4 1/4 x 3 1/4"; some slightly smaller . Approximately 250 in total housed loose in a modern photo album with 3 or 4 plates to a page, all in very good condition. Housed in a brown gilt faux leather album, 13x10x1.5" Item #23463
Price: $400.00