In Earnest

The first U.S. amphibious invasion force of the Korean war went ashore last week at the east coast port of Pohang, moved out swiftly to reinforce U.S. positions south of Taejon and (more importantly) to anchor the right flank of the U.S.-South Korean line. The men who landed at Pohang were members of the famed 1st Cavalry Division, the third U.S. division to be sent into battle in Korea. They were commanded by Major General Hobart R. Gay, a veteran armored force officer who served as chief of staff to General George S. Pattern's Third Army in World War II. At the front, Gay carried a military swagger stick given him by Patton. Earlier, the U.S. 25th Division, commanded by Major General William B. Kean, had landed at the southeastern port of Pusan, the main U.S. supply port for the Korean war.

The 1st Cavalry Division's voyage to war began with all the festivity of a luxury liner's departure for a 30-day pleasure cruise of the Mediterranean. When the convoy weighed anchor in Japan, wives & children waved goodbye from the shore and a brass band cheerily blared Anchors' Aweigh. On the fantail of the fleet's flagship, an impromptu clay pigeon shoot was organized.

In broad daylight, the fleet steamed through the Shimonoseki Straits and cut into the Japan Sea, quite obviously bound for Korea. By sunset of the first day out, the festivities were on the wane. Rear Admiral James H. Doyle ordered blackout conditions set on all ships. Below decks,

General Gay's cavalrymen smoked and gossiped in the steamy heat.

On the second day out, an Australian destroyer escort recorded a loud "ping" on its sonar, confirmed what Admiral Doyle had suspected: Russian submarines were keeping close tabs on U.S. naval movements. But this sub apparently was interested only in observation. Said an Australian destroyer officer later: "We held her for three minutes, but she cut through the convoy and we lost contact."

Three days after the fleet left Japan, it dropped anchor off Pohang, a dusty, smelly little town with a mirror-calm harbor. Not a shot was fired. Most of the green-clad G.I. invaders came ashore without even getting their feet wet.

Ashore, the G.I.s snapped to their task, moved out through Pohang to the front. "Our job," said General Gay crisply, "is to kill North Korean troops until the United Nations has won a victory in Korea." The U.S. buildup was on in earnest.

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