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Ordered into the fighting along with the Air Force were the light cruiser Juneau and four destroyers under Vice Admiral Charles T. Joy, commander of U.S. Far Eastern naval forces, who began bombardment of Communist amphibious forces which had landed on South Korea's east coast. Assigned to Joy's command, with the mission of protecting Formosa against possible Chinese Communist attack, was the Seventh (Asiatic) Fleet under Vice Admiral Arthur Struble. At Struble's disposal were the carrier Valley Forge, one heavy cruiser, six destroyers and four submarines.
More U.S. naval strength would soon be available. Forming on the Pacific Coast was Task Group "Yoke," to be made up of the carrier Philippine Sea, two heavy cruisers and eight destroyers. And already operating under MacArthur's command were ships of the British Far Eastern Fleet commanded by Sir Patrick Brind. Sir Patrick could offer for use in the rapidly imposed naval blockade of Korea one carrier, three cruisers and seven destroyers.
The Fighting Infantry. The air and sea forces available to MacArthur were more than adequate to deal with North Korea's obsolete air force and puny navy. But the general's trip to Korea had given him firsthand evidence that air and naval support alone would not save the situation. As the defenders fell back, President Truman on June 30 gave MacArthur permission to send in U.S. ground forces.
For the previous week MacArthur's ground commander, Lieut. General Walton Harris Walker, had been preparing for such an order, working out in advance the logistics of infantry transport. Walker's Eighth Army included four divisions ready for combat—the 7th, 24th and 25th Infantry Divisions and the 1st Cavalry Division. Of these 50-55,000 combat troops, some would have to be kept in Japan, unless MacArthur were willing to rely on service and headquarters troops to maintain order.
What the U.S. Forgot. In September 1945, when General MacArthur landed in Japan, he was smiling. Koreans were smiling then, too. After 35 years of Japanese tyranny, Korea was to be free again. In their long-suffering nation, Koreans told each other, there was beginning an era more splendid than any they had known before. Last week, after five years of division and bloody dissension in the Land of the Morning Calm, what remained of Korean freedom was staggering under the savage attack of a tyranny far more complete than that of the Japanese. Douglas MacArthur had said (and the U.S. people had forgotten): "There is no security on this earth. There is only opportunity."
In the deep valleys of Korea the people had a saying which meant much the same thing: "Over the mountains, still mountains, mountains."