The Eighth United States Army, commonly known as the Eighth Army or 8A, was formed in 1944 as a field army of the U.S. Army, commanding all U.S. army units stationed in South Korea, headquartered at Camp Humphrey in Pyeongtaek, Republic of Korea. After its formation, the US Eighth Army entered the Pacific Theater in response to the US counter-offensive against Japan, mainly participating in the battles of New Guinea and the Philippines. After World War II, it entered Japan as one of the Allied occupation forces. After the outbreak of the Korean War, the US Eighth Army participated in the operation as one of the main units of the United Nations Army and played an important role in the entire war. After the war, the US Eighth Army has been stationed in South Korea for a long time, and its units have been reorganized several times, and now mainly have two divisions and four independent brigades, in addition to a number of directly subordinate units. The current commander is Lieutenant General Willard M. Burleson III.
After the Chinese Volunteer Army crossed the Yalu River into Korea, the Eighth Army was defeated at the Battle of Cheongcheon River and was forced to withdraw all the way south to Korea, becoming the longest retreating force in the history of American warfare. On December 23, 1950, The commander of the Eighth Army, Walker, was seriously wounded and killed in a collision between the Uighur government and Seoul in a collision between a U.S. and South Korean military vehicle, and Lieutenant General Matthew Ridgway took over command. Although the United States had air superiority over Korea and the Eighth Army and other Uncom forces had retreated quickly to avoid being encircled, the Chinese volunteers struck hard at the Americans and invaded Seoul. The morale and team spirit of the Eighth Army have retreated sharply, and in the eyes of the outside world, it is a defeated army that has been severely defeated and scattered.
General Ridgway spent several months trying to turn the tide and forcefully promote the restoration of the eighth army's combat strength. The revitalized Eighth Army finally blocked the Chinese offensive at the Battles of Wonju and Tongpingli, and then counterattacked, retaking Seoul and driving the Combined Chinese and North Koreans back to the north of the 38th Parallel.
When Ridgway replaced the deposed five-star general Douglas McArthur as commander of the United Nations Army, the Eighth Army was handed over to Lieutenant General James VanVleet. The situation on the Korean Peninsula then evolved into a war of attrition, in which the two sides began negotiating a ceasefire at Panmunjom in the summer of 1951, but delayed it for two years. The military demarcation line was finally agreed upon in the Korean Armistice, and the Eighth Army was tasked with defending the Republic of Korea.
