Two fur-capped South Korean Army officers observing activities in Communist territory just across the 38th Parallel (line dividing North and South Korea) from a mountain outpost. This picture was made just at the outbreak of the Korean War. National Air & Space Museum photo During the South Korean evacuation of Suwon Airfield in 1950, a 57mm anti-tank gun is hauled out of the area for repairs by a weapons carrier. The 57 mm didn't prove to be very effective against North Korea's Russian-made T-34/85 tanks, and in the early days of the war, retreat was the only choice in the face of overwhelming odds. DoD photo An American mortar crew fires on the North Korean invaders, July 11, 1950 near Chochiwan, Korea. U.S. Army photo U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 24th Infantry Regiment move up to the firing line in Korea, July 18, 1950. The 24th was part of the occupation of Japan until it deployed to Korea in June 1950. U.S. Army photo A casualty arrives in Japan aboard a C-47, July 1950. Japan was the staging point for virtually all American attack and supply by air early in the conflict.U.S. Air Force photo A Douglas B-26 of the 3rd Bomb Group makes an attack run on the marshaling yard at Iri, near the strategic port of Kunsan, on Korea's west coast. The United Nations forces had to respond to the North Korean attack initially with long range bombing missions, carrier air strikes, and naval gunfire, since there were few airfields still in friendly hands. National Air & Space Museum photo Men of Battery A, 159th Field Artillery Battalion, fire a 105 mm howitzer in an indirect firing mission on the Korean battle line near Uirson, Korea, Aug. 24, 1950. U.S. Army photo A .50-caliber machine gun squad of Co. E, 2nd Battalion, 7th Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, fires on North Korean patrols along the north bank of the Naktong River, Korea, Aug. 26, 1950. U.S. Army photo A young U.S. Army officer and his wife sit in their car at the dock and stare quietly at the waiting ship that will take him to Korea. U.S. Army photo A grief-stricken American infantryman whose buddy has been killed in action is comforted by another soldier. In the background a corpsman methodically fills out casualty tags, Haktong-ni area, Korea. Aug. 28, 1950. U.S. Army photo A U.S. Army artillery crew fires a 105 mm howitzer against North Korean positions during a battle in the Republic of Korea. DoD photo The USS Helena (CA 75) fires her guns at targets in Korea, August 1950. Naval gunfire support was a significant aspect of Korean War operations.U.S. Navy photo U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 9th Infantry Regiment ride an M-26 tank as it moves forward to await an enemy attempt to cross the Naktong River, Sept. 3, 1950. U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Thomas Marotta U.S. Navy Skyraiders from the USS Valley Forge fire 5-inch rockets at North Korean positions, Oct. 24, 1950. The aircraft carrier, said by critics to be obsolete in the atomic age, proved a vital asset during the Korean War. U.S. Navy photo A company of the 9th Engineer Battalion, X Corps, constructs a pontoon bridge over the Han River at the crossing point, seven miles south of Chungju, South Korea. The rough terrain of the Korean Peninsula made engineers invaluable. DoD photo