The five-star general decided to make a push north of the 38th Parallel toward the Yalu River, capturing Pyongyang while prompting the Chinese to enter the war in late November as the Americans neared their doorstep.
“But the U.S. over-reached, then China gets involved,” he said. “They overwhelm us with sheer manpower, and they push us all the way back to south of Seoul.”
The murky end result also failed to capture the American public’s imagination since there was no clear victory. The Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., wasn’t finished until 1995. The military also censored much of the media coverage.