New book argues the Korean War had two separate conflicts

Colonel Thomas Dale Smith (USA) (Ret.) has released a new book that reexamines the Korean War as two distinct conflicts and argues that U.S. miscalculations helped trigger the fight with China. The book draws on official reports, memoirs and declassified material to revisit how General Matthew Ridgway helped stabilize the Eighth U.S. Army.

Why it matters: - The book reframes the Korean War as two separate wars, including a second conflict with China that changed the course of the fighting. - The author argues that missed warnings and leadership decisions helped turn a peninsula war into a broader U.S.-China military confrontation. - The release adds a new historical interpretation aimed at readers of military history and Korean War scholarship.

What happened: - Colonel Thomas Dale Smith (USA) (Ret.) released America’s Only War with China 1950-1953 on July 17, 2026. - The book examines the period from June 25, 1950, through July 27, 1953. - The book is available on Amazon as a paperback with ISBN 9798995104841 and as an eBook from AHA Publishers. - Smith says the book explores how General Matthew Ridgway saved the Eighth U.S. Army from disaster after arriving in Korea.

The details: - Smith says the first Korean War began when North Korean President Kim Il Sun invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. - The release says the first war cost 8,000 American casualties and ended 92 days later on September 29, 1950, after General Douglas MacArthur’s Inch’on Landing destroyed the North Korean People’s Army. - After that victory, President Harry S. Truman directed MacArthur to push north of the 38th parallel to the Yalu River to unify the peninsula. - The book says that move threatened Mao Zedong’s People’s Republic of China and helped trigger the second war on October 7, 1950. - Smith writes that a Top Secret CIA Intelligence Weekly dated June 27, 1950, warned about the risks of crossing north of the 38th parallel, but the warning was ignored and did not become public until a 2007 FOIA request. - Truman appointed Lieutenant General Matthew B. Ridgway to command the EUSA on Dec. 25, 1950. - Ridgway arrived in Korea on Dec. 26, 1950, and, over the next 52 days, his forces defeated the Chinese Army in three battles that ended Feb. 15, 1951. - Truman replaced MacArthur with Ridgway as Commander of the Far East Command in April 1951. - The release says the 33-month war ended with an armistice signed by Truman on July 27, 1953. - The book says 28,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops were killed in action during the conflict. - The 424-page book includes more than 448 resource endnotes. - The author says the book draws on official reports, personal memoirs and deeply researched documents, including material associated with Ridgway, General Peng Dehuai and journalist Edgar Snow.

Between the lines: - Smith is presenting a revisionist reading of the Korean War that centers American decision-making rather than only battlefield events. - The emphasis on ignored CIA warnings suggests the book is also a critique of civil-military judgment at the start of the conflict. - Ridgway’s role is cast as the turning point, which positions the book around leadership as much as strategy.

What's next: - The book’s publication gives Smith a platform to push his interpretation to general readers and military-history audiences. - More discussion may follow around the disputed framing of the Korean War as two wars and around the role of U.S. leaders in escalating the conflict. - Media contact for more information or interviews: Gina Snow, Gina Snow & Associates.