Twentieth Air Force Bombardment Group, remaining at North Field, Guam as its only operational organization. In 1949, budget reductions forced the realignment and consolidation of Air Force units in the pacific, and the mission of Twentieth Air Force became the defense of the Ryukyu Islands and was reassigned to Kadena AB, Okinawa. It commanded the following units: On 27 June 1950, the United Nations Security Council voted to assist the South Koreans in resisting the invasion of their nation by North Korea. President Harry S. Truman authorized General Douglas MacArthur (commander of the US occupying forces in Japan) to commit units to the
Air Battle of South Korea north and south were battling across the peninsula. On June 27 the South Koreans were losing the First Battle of Seoul. Most of South Korea's forces retreated in the face of the invasion. The North Koreans would capture the city the next day forcing the South Korean government and its shattered army to retreat further south. In the meantime, US naval and air forces were evacuating US diplomats, military dependents, and civilians by ship and air transport, hoping to get American civilians out of the country "by any means." Civilians were being gathered at Suwon Airfield and Kimpo Airfield near