KOREAN WAR TIMELINE 1953
Jan 25
Operation SMACK. Assault on Spud Hill by elements of the 31st Infantry Regiment (7th Infantry Division).March 17
Hill 355 (Little Gibraltar), held by the 9th Infantry Regiment (2nd Infantry Division), is assaulted by Chinese.March 23-24
Old Baldy/Pork Chop Complex. Held by 31st Infantry Regiment (7th Infantry Division). The 32nd Regiment (7th Infantry Division) relieves the 31st.March 26-30
Outposts at the Nevada cities (Vegas-Reno-Carson), held by the 5th Marine Regiment, come under heavy attack. A Chinese regiment is destroyed.April 16-18
Battle of Pork Chop Hill. The 17th and 31st Infantry Regiments (7th Infantry Division) hit hard and suffer heavy casualties.April 20-26
Operation Little Switch exchanges sick and wounded POWs, including 149 Americans.May 13
Raid on Toksan Dam. A dramatic strike by 58th Fighter-Bomber Wing F-84s destroys a major irrigation system. Five miles of valuable rice crops are scoured and miles of highways and railroad tracks are destroyed. Further attacks on irrigation dams follow over the next two weeks.June 10-18
Battle for Outpost Harry. This battle was fought by several units - 15th Infantry Regiment, 5th Regimental Combat Team, 10th Engineer Battalion, 39th Field Artillery Battalion, plus miscellaneous 3rd Division support units.June 15
USS Princeton launches 184 sorties, establishing a single-day Korean War record for offensive sorties flown from a carrier.June 15
Navy and Marine Corps aircraft fly 910 sorties----the highest combined number for a single day.June 30
FEAF Sabres destroy 16 MiGs, the largest number shot down in one day.July 6-10
Battle of Pork Chop Hill. The 7th Infantry Division is ordered to evacuate its defensive positions after five days of fighting.July 13-20
Battle of Kumsong River Salient. Last Communist offensive. CCF launches a six-division attack partly directed at the U.S. IX Corps (3rd, 40th, 45th Infantry Divisions). The 187th RCT is attached to 2nd Infantry Division during the fighting.July 24-26
Final U.S. ground combat. Heavy enemy (3,000 men) attack is launched in the Berlin Complex ("Boulder City") area held by the 7th and 1st Marine Regiments. Last Marine ground actions of the war are fought on Hills 111 and 119.July 27
Last air kill of the war. F-86 pilot downs an enemy transport near the Manchurian border.July 27
The United States, North Korea and China sign an armistice, which ends the war but fails to bring about a permanent peace. To date, the Republic of Korea (South) and Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (North) have not signed a peace treaty. North and South Korea did sign a non-aggression treaty in 1991.A total of 29,557 service members (all services) died in battle, or from battle-related injuries, during the Korean War. 4184 died from non-combat causes in the Korean theater. 92,934 were wounded in action seriously enough to be evacuated. (This number does not include those lightly wounded who were treated at battalion/regimental aid stations and returned to duty.) 7,245 service members became Prisoners-of-War. (DPMO stats as of 04/17/2001)