USS Iowa (BB-61) 1948, as part of the post World War II drawdown of the armed forces, "Iowa" was deactivated at San Francisco, and then formally decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets on 24 March 1949. In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, prompting the United Nations to authorize military intervention. President Harry S. Truman ordered US forces stationed in Japan to transfer to South Korea. Truman also sent US based troops, tanks, fighter and bomber aircraft, and a strong naval force to the area to support South Korea. As part of the naval mobilization, "Iowa" was reactivated on 14 July
United States Air Force In South Korea 80 miles north of the 38th parallel. Naval air power also attacked transportation choke points. The North Korean forces were already strung out over the peninsula, and the destruction caused by American bombers prevented needed supplies from reaching North Korean forces in the south. With control of the air obtained, General MacArthur's invasion of Inchon on 15 September 1950 suddenly reversed the fortunes of the UN forces in Korea. In the south, the Eighth U.S. Army, made up of U.S., ROK, and British forces, counterattacked the next day and United Nations forces in the Pusan Perimeter began to push north