In mid-1950, Truman made the decision to send US troops to South Korea to RE-WIN South Korea's freedom, since it had been overrun by the troops of North Korea's Communist dictator, Kim il-Sung.
Truman stepped down from office 30 months later.
Within those 30 months under Truman 30,000 Americans died in order to RE-WIN South Korea's freedom.
Will the Democrats repeat their mistake of abandoning a newly freed country too soon?
Truman didn’t pull all US troops out of South Korea. There remained the forces of KMAG (Korean Military Advisory Group), but they were only there for training and advisory roles. In an actual combat role, their use was next to nil.
He did, however, refuse to sell South Korea heavy weapons, armor, artillery, and combat aircraft. He claimed that it would provoke a “South Korean Invasion of the North”. Hence, why ROKA forces did so poorly during the early stages of the war. All the training in the world does little when one has no weapons to fight with.
To be fair, MacArthur is at least partially at fault for the heavy number of early US casualties. The Eighth Army was a parade-ground army, untrained and underequipped. (See TF Smith). But, then again, it was Truman who had cut the defense budget after the Second World War.
And, I hate to say it, but I agree. We should have learned after the Civil War.