1950: North Korea Invades

Less than five years after the end of the slaughter of World War II, the United States found itself drawn into war again.

In the pre-dawn hours of June 25, 1950, 135,000 North Korea troops followed a massive artillery barrage into South Korea.

The post-war optimism of 1945 had faded when it met the harsh power-lust of Communism. Under Joseph Stalin's instigation and the USSR's insistence, Communist puppet governments had been set up all over two continents. The world had become divided, between the free and the Communist.

And on June 25, at Stalin's order, the post-war peace was shattered and the two nuclear powers found themselves in conflict.

The Korean War had begun.