Sixty-Nine Years Ago: Operation Fortune Cookie

April 1951 was a bloody, seemingly intractable month on the Korean Peninsula.  The brilliant landings at Inchon the previous September, led by General Douglas MacArthur, had seemingly put victory within reach of the reinvigorated Americans and other military forces fighting under the banner of the United Nations.  By late March Seoul was back in their hands, but the entry of the Chinese into the war in October 1950 once again put the question of victory into doubt.  By April 11, President Harry Truman would recall Gen. MacArthur and dismiss him from his command.

Hampton Roads Naval Museum docent Hunt Lewis recently found evidence of a bold Navy-led plan that was hatched during these uncertain times.  He then composed an exhibit panel designed to shed light on what was unquestionably one of the strangest psychological warfare initiatives of the entire war.  Unfortunately, the museum is currently closed due to protective measures being taken in response to the COVID-19 outbreak sweeping over the nation, so his panel is being shown to the public here on our blog for the first time, exactly 69 years after the secret operation began.

The proposed museum panel. (Courtesy of J. Huntington Lewis)

Let's take a closer look at the message to the Chinese that, if properly translated, might have changed the course of the Korean War: