August 25 – October 15, 1951 · Central Korea Theater
August 25 – October 15, 1951
During the grinding stalemate phase of the war, UN forces were ordered to seize a complex of ridges near Mundung-ni known as Heartbreak Ridge. What commanders expected would take a few days stretched into 52 days of savage fighting. Hill 851 changed hands five times. American and French soldiers attacked up steep slopes into withering fire, captured peaks, were counterattacked, fell back, and attacked again. Casualties mounted horrifically for terrain of limited strategic value as armistice talks stalled.
Commanders