Why General Ridgway Wrote the Battle Letter in Korean War 리지웨이 장군의 필승을 위한 전투서신 배경

1950.12월 Walker 장군이 의정부에서 교통사고로 순직하면 서 Ridgway 장군이 후임으로 한국에 부임하였다.  이때 1951.1.4 후퇴가 시작되었고 중공군이 대대적으로  북에서 부터 대공세를 취하면 서 다시 서울을 함락하고 평택근처까지 도달하는 위기의 상황이었다..  

장군은 부임하자 곧 최전선을  직접 시찰하면 서 미군과 UN군을 독려하였고 패배주의에 젖어있는 병사와 지휘관의 전의상실의 근본원인은 전쟁에 대한 동기유발이 되지 않았다 판단 하였고 아래와 같이 전투서신을 작성 휘하의 전 미군에게 전달하고 교육을 하도록 명령하였다... 

그리고 다시 전선을 돌면 서 지휘관의 필승 의지를 점검 하였고  문제가 있는 지휘관은 발령을 통하여 보직을 변경하였다... 그는 중공군은 인해전술로 야간전투와 유격전에는 강하다 하여도 철저하게 후방 침투를 차단하고 항공, 기갑 및 포병의 화력을 활용하여 평지로 유인하면 승리할 수 있다는 자신감과 Vision을 제시하였다...

미합참은 미전사에서 장군처럼 최 단시간에  사기가 저하되고 군기가 빠져있는 병력을 최강의 전사로 전환시킨 능력은 처음이었다라고 극찬 한 바 있다.  실제로 현재 양평군 용문읍의 지평리 전투에서 중공군에 완전하게 포위된 미 제21전투대대로 하여금 후퇴하지 않게하고 항공 및 기갑등 화력을 지원하여 중공군을 대패시켜 승리할 수 있다는 자신감을 시범적으로 보여준바 있다...      

장군은 통솔방법이 명령하달 및 절대복종을 요구하는 MacArthur장군과 상이하였으며 지휘관에 대한 보고체계는 존중 하면서 동시에 전장에서 직접 병사들과 대화하고 소통 하였다...MacArthur 장군이 직접 명령을 하달하는데 반하여 장군은 지휘관의 의견을 듣고 그 들과 같이 意思결정을 하였다... 

아래 전투서신을 보면 긴박한 절대절명의 위기에서 장군의 필승에 대한 의지를 이해할 수 있다...  

  Why We Are Here?

In my brief period of command duty here I have heard from several sources, chiefly from the members of combat units, the questions, "Why are we here?" "What are we fighting for?"

What follows represents my answers to these questions.

The answer to the first question, "Why are we here?" is simple and conclusive. We are here because of the decisions of the properly constituted authorities of our respective governments. As the Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur said publicly yesterday: "This command intends to maintain a military position in Korea just as long as the Statesmen of the United Nations decide we should do so." The answer is simple because further comment is unnecessary. It is conclusive because the loyalty we give, and expect, precludes any slightest questioning of these orders.

The second question is of much greater significance, and every member of this command is entitled to a full and reasoned answer. Mine follows.

To me the issues are clear. It is not a question of this or that Korean town or village. Real estate is, here, incidental. It is not restricted to the issue of freedom for our South Korean Allies, whose fidelity and valor ^braveunder the severest stresses of battle we recognize; though that freedom is a symbol of the wider issues, and included among them.

The real issues are whether the power of Western civilization, as God has permitted it to flower in our beloved lands, shall defy and defeat Communism; whether the rule of men who shoot their prisoners, enslave their citizens, and deride the dignity of man, shall displace the rule of those to whom the individual and his individual rights are sacred; whether we are to survive with God's hand to guide and lead us, or to perish in the dead existence of a Godless world.

If these be true, and to me they are, beyond any possibility of challenge, then this has long ceased to be a fight for our Korean Allies alone and for their national survival. It has become, and it continues to be, a fight for our own freedom, for our own survival, in an honorable, independent national existence.

The sacrifices we have made, and those which we shall yet support, are not offered vicariously ^{on behalf of} for others, but in our own direct defense.

In the final analysis, the issue now joined right here in Korea is whether Communism or individual freedom shall prevail, and, make no mistake, whether the next flight of fear-driven people we have just witnessed across the HAN, and continue to witness in other areas, shall be checked and defeated overseas or permitted, step by step, to close in on our own homeland and at some future time, however distant, to engulf our own loved ones in all its misery and despair [sic].

These are the things for which we fight. Never have members of any military command had a greater challenge than we, or a finer opportunity to show ourselves and our people at their best -- and thus be an honor to the profession of arms, and a credit to those who bred us.

I would like each commander to whom this is addressed, in his own chosen ways of leadership, to convey the foregoing to every single member of his command at the earliest practicable moment.

M. B. Ridgway
Lieutenant General, United States Army
Commanding