EXCELLENT New Book - USMC Korean War

[Parallax]

I just finished reading a new book on the 234 man Fox Company, 2nd Batallion, 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division. The book is titled The Last Stand of Fox Company They held off a 10,000 man Division of Chinese to secure the escape route from Chosin Reservoir by taking and holding a hill, named coincidently Fox Hill, overlooking the Toktong Pass and MSR (NK72) escape route. They were told failure was not an option and they must hold "at all costs". And they did...

It's simply the finest book about the Korean War and small unit tactics there that I have read. No sweeping moral lessons from the author, just a gut wrenching tale of bravery and hardship told by the men themselves. Amazing... the book is so descriptive I still feel the cold -30 degree weather. This is REALLY worth picking up... You hear less about Korea then Vietnam... we should be embarrased as a Nation for not acknowledging these guys more.

I was struck by the contrast of the WW2 veteran NCO's and Officers and their interaction with the younger Marines... simply outstanding leadership. If there was one poor NCO or Officer none of these guys would have survived. Their company commander, William Barber, was to Fox Company what Dick Winters was to the "Band of Brothers" of Company E, 101 Abn during WW2.

I was also struck by the fact that when the Regiment was formed before heading to Korea it was reactivated with many Marine Reserve men... many if not most of the Reserve Privates had never attended Boot Camp or any other advanced infantry training yet they leared from the Veterans in battle. Amazing...

 

[Arch]

Re: EXCELLENT New Book - USMC Korean War

You would enjoy James Brady's "The Coldest War" as well then.

 

[Parallax]

Re: EXCELLENT New Book - USMC Korean War

I have not read that one yet. Thanks for the referral....

 

[w1423]

Re: EXCELLENT New Book - USMC Korean War

You might also look for "ISLANDS OF THE DAMNED" by R.V. Burgin. Burgin was E.B. Sledges (With the Old Breed book) squad leader. It is an interesting contrast read between the two mens views of the same battles. The difference being Burgin a Sgt -a poor Texas kid who grew up in the depression and Sledge-a wealthy kid from Alabama different view of smae pacific war battles.
Also a good pre-read for the book "The Pacific" by Hugh Ambrose which I just finished.
Thanks for the info on Fox Company book, I will look for it to read.

 

[Parallax]

Re: EXCELLENT New Book - USMC Korean War

I read "Islands of The Damned" a couple of months ago. It wasn't bad... but EB Sledge's book and Bob Leckie's book are still the ones all others are compared to. Burgin's book mainly verified stuff Sledge talked about in his... which was it'a major value. It wasn't that well written, even with a ghost writer. I'm not so sure their opinions on the major events of the War were far apart at all... I justy think Sledge had the education and gift to be able to set it to paper himself in a better way.

I learned long ago that no two people witnessing an incident will ever exactly agree on all the details.

If you've ever read Army LTC John George's "Shots Fired in Anger" published in about 1948 about his experiences in the Pacific, you'd wonder if the USMC even existed <grin>... and get a load of his opinions, right or wrong, about nearly everything in the conduct of the War. It is, however, still a very important book for research purposes...

IMHO "The Last Stand of Fox Company" is nearly as good as Sledge's book and way better then Burgin's.... and would make one hell of a great movie project.

 

[Arch]

Re: EXCELLENT New Book - USMC Korean War

In a review in Military History magazine last year, respected military historians agreed that "With The Old Breed," by E.B. Sledge ranked in the Top 10 of military history books of all time. Although I did not agree with all of their choices, I wholeheartedly agree with that one. And with U.S. Grant's autobiography, which ranks up there with my top 10 books of all time.

Every American should read these two books.

Read the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant here.

 

[Lindy]

Re: EXCELLENT New Book - USMC Korean War

+1 on Sledge.

The best book I have read on Korea was <span style="font-style: italic">This Kind of War</span> by T.R. Fehrenbach.

Some quotes:

"Americans in 1950 rediscovered something that since Hiroshima they had forgotten: you may fly over a land forever; you may bomb it, atomize it, pulverize it and wipe it clean of life -- but if you desire to defend it, protect it, and keep it for civilization, you must do this on the ground, the way the Roman legions did, by putting your young men into the mud."
T.R. Fehrenbach, _This Kind of War_.

"There is much to military training that seems childish, stultifying, and even brutal. But one essential part of breaking men into military life is the removal of misfits -- and in the service a man is a misfit who cannot obey orders, any orders, and who cannot stand immense and searing mental and physical pressure.

For his own sake and for that of those around him, a man must be prepared for the awful, shrieking moment of truth when he realizes he is all alone on a hill ten thousand miles from home, and that he may be killed in the next second."
p. 433

 

[Parallax]

Re: EXCELLENT New Book - USMC Korean War

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Forty-One</div><div class="ubbcode-body">...And with U.S. Grant's autobiography, which ranks up there with my top 10 books of all time.</div></div>

Grant's book is great... and the poor guy was so sick while dying of throat cancer when he was writing it's a miracle he ever finished it. IIRC he died just 5 days after completing it. Someone once said Grant considered the completion of his book, to make a nest egg for his wife and bury him, was his last great campaign. He was a most complex man... a study himself.

His close friendship with W.T. Sherman was the subject of a recent book I read... it was pretty good too.

 

[Arch]

Re: EXCELLENT New Book - USMC Korean War

True. Brady's book is a class, Fehrenbach's a semester.