In June 1950, after years of territorial and political disputes between North and South Korea, North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel dividing them. American troops, fighting under a United Nations banner, soon joined the war on the side of the South Koreans.

Even with American troops involved, the North Koreans quickly pushed the allies into a relatively small area of South Korea. Gen. Douglas MacArthur led an amphibious invasion at Inchon near the North Korean border and the allies soon pushed North Korean forces back across their border and nearly to the Yalu River border with China.

Chinese troops then entered the war and quickly pushed the Americans and South Koreans back across the 38th parallel before the war settled into a stalemate near the pre-war boundaries. By the time a cease-fire was signed in July 1953, more than 33,000 American troops had been killed. That included 67 from St. Louis, Lake, Cook and Carlton counties.

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