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The United States Eighth Army was first activated on 10 June, 1944 in the United States, being commanded by Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger. The Eighth Army took part in many of the great amphibious assaults in the Pacific during World War II.
Eighth Army was to have participated in Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan during World War II. It would have taken part in Operation Coronet, the second phase of the invasion, which would have seen the occupation of the Tokyo Plain on Honshu. However, instead of invading Japan, Eighth Army found itself in charge of occupying Japan peacefully. Occupation forces landed on 30 August 1945, and Eighth Army assumed responsibility for the occupation of the whole of Japan at the beginning of 1946.
The peace of occupied Japan was shattered in June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. American naval and air forces quickly became involved in combat operations, and it was soon clear that American ground forces would have to be committed. The occupation forces in Japan were thus shipped off to South Korea as fast as possible to stem the North Korean advance.
In the aftermath of the Korean War, Eighth Army remained in Korea, but the forces under its control were steadily reduced as the Cold War demands of first Europe and then Vietnam increased.
By the 1960s, only I Corps, controlling the 7th and 2nd Infantry Divisions remained under Eighth Army in South Korea. In 1971 further reductions occurred. 7th Division was withdrawn, along with I Corps, leaving only 2nd Division to watch the frontier.
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