Timeline of the Korean War

1950

June 25: War breaks out when North Korea invades South Korea

June 27: United Nations Security Council approves military aid to South Korea

June 30: U.S. troops enter war

July 8: Gen. Douglas MacArthur named U.N. commander in Korea

Mid-July: Father Kapaun and the 8th Cavalry Regiment are ordered to Korean from Japan

Sept. 15: MacArthur's forces land at Inchon and begin the liberation of South Korea

Oct. 1: MacArthur drives North Koreans out of South Korea; American troops pursue North Korean army across the 38th parallel north, the dividing line between the two Koreas

Oct. 24: American forces approach the Yalu River on the Chinese border

Nov. 1: People's Republic of China enters the Korean War on the side of North Korea

Nov. 2: Father Kapaun taken captive at battle of Unsan

Nov. 25: U.N. forces are forced to retreat from Yalu River under Chinese onslaught

1951

April 11: Truman relieves MacArthur of his command for openly criticizing the administration's foreign policy strategy

May 23: Father Kapaun dies in a POW camp in North Korea

June 21: U.N. troops push the communist forces out of South Korea

July 10: Truce talks start

Nov. 27: Cease-fire line established at 38th parallel north

1953

July 27: War ends with signing of armistice at Panmunjon calling for demilitarized zone and voluntary repatriation of prisoners. The 38th parallel north is established as boundary between North and South Korea.

Source: Harry S. Truman Library & Museum