This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Swenson, David H., Jr., LTJG.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Taylor
Casualty Date Sep 13, 1950
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Artillery, Rocket, Mortar
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict Korean War
Location of Interment Buried at Sea, Pacific Ocean
Korean War/UN Offensive (1950)/Inchon Landing/Operation Chromite
From Month/Year
September / 1950
To Month/Year
September / 1950
Description (September 15–26, 1950) in the Korean War, an amphibious landing by U.S. and South Korean forces at the port of Inchon, near the South Korean capital, Seoul. A daring operation planned and executed under extremely difficult conditions by U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the landing suddenly reversed the tide of the war, forcing the invading North Korean army to retreat in disorder up the Korean peninsula.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
September / 1950
To Month/Year
September / 1950
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories On 12 September the Lyman K. Swenson sailed as a ship of Task Element 90.62, the Destroyer Element of the Gunfire Support Group of the Inchon Attack Force. The following day at noon the six-ship Destroyer Element stood into Inchon harbor. On the way in they encountered a mine field. Because it was low tide the mines were visible, floating on the surface. Lyman K. Swenson destroyed one mine with 40-mm gunfire.
After anchoring in assigned positions, the destroyers conducted a one-hour bombardment against observed and suspected gun positions on the island of Wolmi-do and in the city of Inchon. This reconnaissance-in-force was intended to draw the fire of North Korean batteries. Thus their location would be revealed for neutralization by destroyer or cruiser gunfire, or by air strikes. The bombardment was highly successful. The press, and later on the historians, aptly dubbed the ships of the Destroyer Element as "Sitting Ducks". Upon retirement from the harbor, some enemy guns that had not been silenced opened up on the narrow channel through which the destroyers must pass. Shell fragments killed one officer and wounded another on board the Swenson during channel transit.