CHOSIN RESERVOIR, KOREA 1950 CHINESE VOLUNTEER VS. U.S. MARINES

The People's Republic of China (PRC), which was established in 1949, did not officially participate in the 1950-1953 Korean War. In contrast, the war was attended by hundreds of thousands of Chinese "volunteers" who intervened on the North Korean side since October 1950. Of course, the phrase "volunteers" is a euphemism that covered the interference of the Chinese communist dictator Mao Zedong in the conflict in the Korean, and who feared locating US troops in North Korea. Moreover, he saw the peninsula as a traditional Chinese sphere of influence and did not intend to allow the US to enter it. Officially, the Chinese troops fighting in Korea were called the Chinese People's Volunteers and initially numbered around 200,000. people, but with time this number grew significantly, perhaps exceeding 1 million soldiers. However, these are only estimates. It is worth adding, however, that the composition and combat value of Chinese troops was very different - some of them consisted of veterans of the war with Japan (1937-1945) and the civil war (1946-1949), and some of "volunteers" torn from factories or offices who have only undergone basic military training. Initially, the Chinese troops consisted mainly of infantry units, only later reinforced with more numerous artillery and tank units.The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is an independent branch of the US armed forces. The unit was established in November 1775, and the first branch of this unit was formed a year later. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, US Marines served primarily in the region of South and Central America, guarding American interests in this part of the world. It was also then that the principle was established that it was the USMC that was deployed to the area of operations as the first among other units of the US armed forces. Corps soldiers fought in World War I, but they gained special fame in the course of bloody and heavy fights in the Pacific in 1941-1945, taking part in such battles as Guadalcanal (1942-1943), Tarawa (1943), Iwo-Jima and Okinawa (both from 1945). Often in the face of the enemy, the soldiers of this formation showed a lot of courage, an example of which can be, for example, John Basilone was awarded the Medal of Honor for his accomplishment during the battles on the Gudalcanal. After 1945, the soldiers of the Corps fought, for example, in the Korean War (1950-1953) or especially in the Vietnam War (1964 / 1965-1975), suffering heavy losses in the latter war. After the end of the Cold War, USMC soldiers took part in, for example, both Gulf Wars (1990-1991 and 2003). Currently, there are 182,000 soldiers in the Corps, and about 38,500 in the reserve. The motto of the Corps is the Latin motto Semper Fidelis (Polish always faithful).