Chaplain–Medic massacre

The Chaplain–Medic massacre took place in the Korean War on July 16, 1950, on a mountain above the village of Tuman (current Duman-ri, Geumnam-myeon, Sejong City). South Korean local natives claim that it took place on a mountain above the village of Yongdam-ri, which is next to Duman-ri. Thirty unarmed, critically wounded United States Army (US) soldiers and an unarmed chaplain were murdered by members of the Korean People's Army (KPA) during the Battle of the Kum River. Operating at the Kum River, troops of the US 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, were cut off from resupply by a roadblock established by KPA troops of the 3rd Division. The roadblock proved difficult to break, and forced US troops to move through nearby mountains to evacuate their wounded. Thirty critically wounded US troops were stranded at the top of a mountain. Attended to by only two non-combatants, a chaplain and a medic, the wounded were discovered by a KPA patrol. Though the medic was able to escape, the KPA executed the unarmed chaplain as he prayed over the wounded, then killed the rest of them. The massacre was one of several incidents that led US commanders to establish a commission in July to look into war crimes during the war. The same month, the KPA commanders, concerned about the way their soldiers were treating prisoners of war, laid out stricter guidelines for handling enemy captives. Other than this change, the historiography of the incident in North Korean sources is largely unknown; as a result, sources detailing the incident are almost exclusively from the United States and other United Nations allies.