The command aimed to push the North Koreans, who were backed by the Soviet Union and China, out of the south. Five additional countries provided military medical assistance. In response to the invasion, the United Nations founded a military command, led by the U.S., which included the forces of 15 other countries, including Canada. military and other forces to come to their aid.

South Korean forces then regrouped and built a defensive line south of the Han River, waiting for the U.S. Three days after crossing the 38th parallel – which divided the Korean Peninsula into two countries after the Second World War – the invading army seized control of the South Korean capital of Seoul. The war began after the North Korean army conducted a large-scale offensive operation to gain control of South Korea on the morning of June 25, 1950. Decades later, and after making two visits back to the country, he says he’s proud of how far South Korea has come. “We saw the orphans in the streets … I felt very sad.”īlack says he hoped the contribution of U.S.-led troops, including himself, could bring relief to the war-weary country. “It was appalling,” he says, recalling seeing “starving” residents and many whose lives had been completely upended by the conflict. The war – which is still technically ongoing – had devastated the country, he recalls. “We sort of slap ourselves on the back that we were there to contribute, to aid them.”Ĭanada lost 516 soldiers in the Korean War, according to figures from the federal government, making it the third deadliest conflict fought by the country.īlack was deployed to South Korea in 1954, about six months after the armistice was signed.

Korean war navy veteran hat