On June 27, 1950, President Harry S. Truman (above) announced
he is ordering U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea to aid the democratic nation in repulsing an invasion by communist North
Korea. The United States was undertaking the major military
operation, he explained, to enforce a United Nations resolution
calling for an end to hostilities, and to stem the spread of
communism in Asia. In addition to ordering U.S. forces to Korea,
Truman also deployed the U.S. 7th Fleet to Formosa (Taiwan) to
guard against invasion by communist China and ordered an
acceleration of military aid to French forces fighting communist guerrillas in Vietnam.
