OSAN, South Korea — It was raining 70 years ago when American soldiers engaged in their first ground battle against North Korean forces, just over a week after the Korean War began.
That meant the Air Force couldn’t provide cover as the 540 members of Task Force Smith fought more than 5,000 North Koreans armed with Soviet-made tanks.
More than 150 Americans were killed or went missing in the fighting on July 5, 1950, known as the Battle of Osan. But the unit accomplished its mission to help delay the North Korean advance while U.S. reinforcements arrived on the divided peninsula.
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