Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950 [Paperback]

Martin Russ (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 1, 2000

On General Douglas MacArthur's orders, a force of 12,000 U.S. Marines were marching north to the Yalu river in late November 1950. These three regiments of the 1st Marine Division--strung out along eighty miles of a narrow mountain road--soon found themselves completely surrounded by 60,000 Chinese soldiers. Despite being given up for lost by the military brass, the 1st Marine Division fought its way out of the frozen mountains, miraculously taking thier dead and wounded with them as they ran the gauntlet of unceasing Chinese attacks. This is the gripping story that Martin Russ tells in his extraordinary book. Breakout is an unforgettable portrayal of the terror and courage of men as they face sudden death, making the bloody battles of the Korean hills and valleys come alive as they never have before.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Martin Russ's controversial book Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950 tells the riveting story of how 12,000 Army personnel and Marines fought their way out of an encirclement by more than 60,000 Chinese soldiers. A Marine wounded in combat during the Korean War, Russ writes with a passion for the men who endured freezing temperatures and scaled treacherous mountains while continuing to strike the enemy as they advanced toward safety.

While many accounts of modern war bog readers down in a morass of military and administrative details, Russ's history so clearly distinguishes the various units, locations, and personalities that shaped the campaign that it could easily be compared with the finest novels of battle, including Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels. Expertly moving between American, Chinese, and Korean points of view, Russ argues that the Marines were trapped at Chosin because of the arrogance of Douglas MacArthur, the incompetence of the U.S. Army, and the disciplined planning of the Chinese generals.

Celebrated for his brilliant war memoir, The Last Parallel, Russ has provoked criticism for his tendency in Breakout to disparage the U.S. Army. However, his quotations of numerous dispatches showing Marine commanders' concern about advancing into the Chosin area, as well as his consistent portrayal of Army officers' ineptitude, lend credence to his argument that it was the particular esprit de corps of the Marines that prevented the disintegration of American forces in the freezing wastes of North Korea. --James Highfill --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

In the annals of American heroic stands against long odds, Chosin Reservoir stands with the Alamo and BataanAwith the bonus of a happy ending. Russ (The Last Parallel) has written the definitive account of the 1st Marine Division's epic breakout from the Chosin Reservoir in the winter of 1950. Outnumbered, unsupported and isolated in the depths of winter, 12,000 Marines, surrounded by 60,000 Chinese soldiers, cut their way out of encirclement and fought a path to the sea, bringing out most of their wounded and many of their dead with them. Small wonder, then, that Chosin Reservoir is celebrated as a victory by the Corps. Russ weaves the Marines' stories into a compelling tapestry of understated heroism, showing how the 1st Marine Division owed much to officers and senior NCOs with combat experience in WWII and the force of character to lead teenage riflemen from the front. Cohesion, as well as courage and tactical skill, brought the Marines out of Chosin. Time and again, those whom Russ interviewed stress the overriding importance of not letting down other Marines, no matter the cost. Russ relies heavilyAand appropriatelyAon the accounts of Marines who fought at Chosin. The result is that there is a lot of detail, a lot of close-up recollections of localized battle, but Russ does an admirable job, when necessary, of panning back to give readers a picture of the whole campaign. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 452 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140292594
• ISBN-13: 978-0140292596
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > History > Military > Korean War > Campaigns
  • #35 in Books > History > Asia > Korea > North

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A positive review of Marines at War - Korea, 1950 April 27, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Breakout: The Chosin reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950 - Fromm InternationalIf you read only one book this year about men at war, let it be this oneYou will read of the men of the 1st Marine Division and their fight out of the trap set for them by 7 divisions of Chinese whose sole mission was the extermination of the Marines.You will read of the men of the 1st Marine Division and a small commando of British RoyalMarines fighting in incredibly difficult terrainand in flesh-killing cold, cold so deep and bitterthat weapons froze and exposed flesh turnedleper-white with frostbite.You will read how the Division fought, regiment by regiment, battalion by battalion, company by company, platoon by platoon and, finally, in smallgroups of 3 and 4 to repulse and win through attack after attack by a sea of tough, seasoned Chinese troops.You will read of individual acts of simple but great heroism and fidelity, for the men who fought in those frozen wastes remained faithful to one-another and their unit and their Corps.And throughout it all you will hear the voices of the men Russ interviewed and set down in their personal narratives, which he seamlessly wove together with his superb exposition. And always they speak simply of the extraordinary events in which they took part when they were young and slim and quick, events which remain fresh and immediate after almost 50 years. And they speak in the rhythms and accents of Americans from every region - from the barrios of Los Angeles to the privileged precincts of Westchester County.And, at the end, you will feel joy and pride as they stride out of the trap in step, marching and singing a paean of triumph, having destroyed 7 Chinese divisions and bringing out all their wounded and most of their dead. And you will weep for the dead. And you will weep for the survivors, not in pity but, perhaps, in envy for men who have lived out a personal fidelity to something larger than themselves, men who, in a paraphrase of Norman MacLeanąs words, went through, and not around the experience of combat. And you will thank Martin Russ for his craft and art in creating this superb book. - Reviewed by R.A. Clark -

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Well-Written Tale of True Heroism! June 7, 2000

By Barron Laycock HALL OF FAME

Format:Hardcover

Seldom does a reader get the opportunity to read a true account of modern battle that is so gripping, so detailed, and so unforgettable as is this story of the attempt by 12,000 American Marines to fight their way out of an encirclement by seven divisions of Chinese and Korean troops at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. Written by an ex-Marine who was himself a wounded veteran in Korea, its lines wring of the accuracy and poignancy only eyewitnesses could tell about the plight of the men caught in the snow, wind, and sub-zero cold to fight off the vastly superior number of Chinese and Koreans and escape from the trap that had been set for them. This is a riveting story well told.

The situation was bleak; it was mid-winter, and the Marines were cut off from supply lines and exposed to the extremes of weather, surrounded by seven divisions of better equipped and better situated Chinese and Korean troops who were most fanatical in their pursuit of them, ready to move in and annihilate the whole Marine force. The Marines, meanwhile, had little or no air support due to the terrible weather conditions, were relatively low on ammunition and other supplies, and the terrain was so formidable that they were quite effectively cut off and isolated and on their own. There could be little or no help from outside to save them.

Yet through all these obstacles and with the numbers so much against them, the Marines slowly but methodically fought their way out, hill by hill, bluff by bluff, regiment to regiment, battalion to battalion, company to company, whatever it took to inflict such terrible casualties on the Chinese and Koreans as they went, as they fought, from Division level all the way down to small groups of 3 or 4 men fighting with unvarnished tenacity to kick ............... out of the opposing force through sheer guts, grit, and courage.

This is a tale that will long be told in beer halls and at all Marine functions with pride and enthusiasm, for it is truly one of the finest moments for the Marines in modern combat, detailed here with such verve in the words and recollections of many who fought there. The reader feels like a member of the force as he reads through stirring accounts of men who just would not surrender, retreat, or desert their friends and buddies, who instead fought back with sustained vitality and surprising tenacity under the worst conditions imaginable. This was a fighting force that single-handedly destroyed seven opposing Divisions of enemy forces to walk out of the Chosin Reservoir under their own power, through the crucible of combat, and out the other side to a victory so memorable it will love forever wherever Marines gather. Read it and understand. Enjoy!

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Marines prevail in Korea against overwhelming odds April 6, 2000

By Raymond W. Russell

Format:Hardcover

In October, l950, in one of the greatest blunders in military history, MacArthur ordered the l6,000 men of the lst Marine Division into north Korea near its border with China. MacArthur made matters worse by separating the Marines into 4 units approximately 10 miles from each other. Martin Russ in "Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950" tells how MacArthur's misjudgment almost resulted in the entire lst Marine division being annihilated. (Final count of Marine casualties: 2,400 dead, 3,500 wounded, 200 missing, 6,200 nonbattle casualties, mostly frostbite.) (Full disclosure: I'm an ex-Marine.) In November l950 the Marines met the Chinese communist forces in battle for the first time. A pamphlet told the Chinese troops what to do: "Kill these Marines as you would snakes in your home." (30,000 Chinese died in the campaign.) "Breakout" tells the amazing story of how the Marines fought their way from north Korea to the sea against daunting odds. Sixty thousand Chinese had surrounded the Marines. The cold -- 20 to 30 degrees below zero -- was causing frostbite and weapons to freeze up. The terrain was icy and mountainous. There was little food and little time to rest at night, since the Chinese attacked at night. Unless totally disabled, the wounded could not be evacuated to the rear since there was no rear and they were needed on the firing line. But through it all morale and optimism remained high.

The stories of unbelievable courage and perserverance are moving and uplifting. For instance Lt. John Yancey was ordered to hold a crucial hill which controlled a roadway between two large Marine units. Yancey's 176 men, outnumbered over 20 to 1, held off wave after wave of assaults. Yancey was wounded twice in the head, 120 of his men were killed or wounded, but they held, and this defense is generally recognized as keeping the 8,500 Marines up the road from being wiped out. Once down to 6 men in his immediate vicinity, Yancey yelled "Stand fast and die like Marines." (Years later Yancey received a bill from the Marines for $146.70 for throwing away a nonworking carbine during a firefight.)

In another incident a captain, a company commander, was brought into the medical tent. Upon seeing a doctor the captain said: "Let's go, doc, patch me up pronto, will ya? I gotta get back to the company." When the doctor looked down he saw one of the captain's legs flopped over at a 90 degree angle, with white phosphorous inexorably burning itself into the captain's leg. The captain kept saying, "Can't you hurry it up, doc? I gotta get back to the company." Past exposure to every kind of human trauma did not keep tears from forming in the doctor's eyes.

Fourteen Marines were awarded the Medal of Honor. Sgt. Robert Kennemore lost both legs when he put his knees on a hand grenade to save those around him. (Years later Kennemore had to be institutionalized in a VA hospital after he was hit with a pipe and robbed after cashing his disability check in his wheelchair.) Private Hector Caffereta, the platoon screwup, suddenly became the rock of the platoon. His fighting fury was probably responsible for saving 2 platoons. At one point while Caffereta was throwing back live Chinese hand grenades, a Marine beside him was blinded by a grenade explosion but stayed on the line handing Caffereta rifle clips. At Hagaru-ri, using 5 bulldozers and working 24 hours a day, the Marines built a landing strip while under enemy fire. The ground was frozen l8 inches deep and steel teeth had to be welded onto the bulldozer blades. Ground broken off by the steel blades froze onto the scoops and had to be jackhammered off. When the Air Force began to evacuate the wounded, they suggested evacuating all the Marines by plane. The Marines refused since an airlift evacuation would have meant sacrificing their rear guard. Instead, 500 Marine volunteers flew in help in a situation many considered hopeless.

One of the most incredible feats was how the Marines spanned a 29 foot opening over a chasm where a bridge had been dynamited. Steel treadways weighing 2500 pounds were dropped in by parachute, something that had never been tried before. Read the book to find out how this was accomplished. With dead and wounded strapped all over every vehicle, the Marines successfully fought their way to the sea. While this book could have used more and better maps to help the reader, the story told by the author through the participants' own words completely engages the reader's attention. Out of the horror of being trapped and isolated in one of the coldest places on earth, comes this tale of individual and group courage that ranks with any in American history.