Tenacity, 1950: The Red Tide and Chochi’won

History is often regarded as the victorious tales of a nation’s forces against a ruthless enemy. There are times, however, when a defeat is overlooked as a point of inconvenience to the national narrative. The utter lack of attention given to the geopolitical situation leading up to the beginning of the Korean War in 1950, overconfidence in the intelligence assessments confirming the U.S. biases, and military lack of preparation for another conflict so close on the heels of the Second World War offers a reminder of the hazards of selective attention to the favorable stories rather than the precautionary tales best heeded.