25. Hard Pressed Soldiers Request Ammunition, Get Candy Instead
In the darkest days of the Korean War (1950 – 1953), desperate American troops fighting for their lives requested more ammo, but instead got candy delivered to them. The war was a seesaw affair, that began with the North Koreans launching a surprise attack that routed their opponents. Within weeks, they overran most of the Korean Peninsula, and all that was left under the control of South Korean and US forces was a small corner around the port city of Pusan.
Then American war general Douglas MacArthur outflanked the North Koreans with a brilliant amphibious landing at Inchon, which led to the invasion’s collapse. MacArthur then chased the routed North Koreans up the Peninsula. Despite warnings that China would intervene if his forces reached the Chinese border, MacArthur insisted that they would not dare, and his forces pushed up to the Sino-Korean border. Unfortunately for MacArthur, the Chinese dared. In a sudden attack, they caught MacArthur off guard, routed his forces, and chased them down the Peninsula even faster than they had raced up it a few weeks earlier.
