Above we see Colonel Lewis (Chesty) Puller, commander of the First Regiment, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Commander in Chief Far East, and Major General Oliver P. Smith, Commander of the First marine Division. On 25 June 1950 the North Korean People's Army attacked the Republic of Korea. MacArthur immediately recognized the need for a Marine Division. On July 10 he formally requested the Marines. Lieutenant General Lemuel C. Shepard, Jr., Commanding General of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, promised MacArthur on 2 July, that if Mac requested the First Marine Division could be available for an Inchon Invasion as early as 15 September. D-day was only 75 days away. At that date the Division had a strength of 3,386 officers and men. The needed war strength of the 1st Marine Division is 25,000 men. Total Marine forces amounted to 74,279 scattered all over the world. The Marine Reservists amounted to 128,959 men and women. A lot of work needed to be done in a short time.