Souvenir typescript of “Text of Eighth Army General Order, Assuming Command, 26 December 1950,” signed “M. B. Ridgway,” one page, 8.5 x 11, which reads: “I have with little notice, assumed heavy responsibilities before in battle, but never with greater opportunities for service to our loved ones and our nation in beating back a world menace which free men cannot tolerate. It is an honored privilege to share this service with you and with our comrades of the Navy and Air Force. You will have my utmost. I shall expect yours." In fine condition.
On October 19, 1950, U.S. forces captured North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, but heavy attacks by Chinese forces caused General Walton H. Walker, commander of the Eighth Army and the Army of the Republic of Korea, to abandon Pyongyang on December 5th. On December 23, 1950, General Walker was killed in a jeep accident on the road between Seoul and the front. Upon succeeding General Walker three days later, General Ridgway moved immediately to revitalize the seriously demoralized army and by late January 1951, the Eighth Army took the offensive again. General Ridgway saw action at Salerno, Normandy (parachuted on D-Day) and the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. He replaced General MacArthur as Allied Commander of the U.N. forces in the Far East after MacArthur was recalled by President Truman in April 1951. Under his leadership, the Korean armistice talks began in July 1951. Ridgway succeeded Eisenhower as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe in 1952 and was Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from 1953-1955.
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