Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir (Now Hear This Audiobooks) [Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Joseph R. Owen (Author), Richard Rohan (Narrator)

Book Description

Series: Now Hear This Audiobooks | Publication Date: November 1998

Joe Owen tells it like it was in this evocative, page-turning story of a Marine rifle company in the early days of the Korean War. His powerful descriptions of close combat in the blizzard-blown mountains of the Chosin Reservoir and of the survival spirit of his Marines provide a gritty real-life view of frontline warfare.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The morning of December 8, 1950, found Marine lieutenant Owen, along with the rifle company he led, fighting his way through "blood-splotched snow" with the temperature at 25 degrees below zero?the beginning of another day in North Korea. Owen's dramatic account of that morning begins this close-focus combat memoir. Rifle company Baker-One-Seven, Owen tells us, "functioned at a primal level: they ate, slept, and fought, and they tried to get warm." What Owen presents here is an extraordinarily detailed and realistic account of combat at the level of individual soldiers and small units, covering the role of infantrymen in war, the dangers they are exposed to, the relations that form among them, what keeps them going, their ingenuity and their daring. Only occasionally and in passing does the author put the action of his rifle company into broader perspective, or refer to nonmartial matters such as his wife and two young daughters back in the States. Owen's journal-like account can be repetitive, but it's never monotonous. By offering an extended look at deadly combat taking place on snow-covered mountainous terrain in bone-jarring cold, Owen highlights the hardships and tactics characteristic of the war in Korea. Photos; maps.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

An enlisted marine who was eventually commissioned, Owen survived three years of World War II in the Pacific and six months in Korea in 1950 as a mortar officer. His Korean sojourn and his marine career ended with the First Marine Division's legendary march out from the Chosin Reservoir, during which he was severely wounded. His is a thoroughly gripping account of how a mixture of reservists and regulars were flung in the general direction of Korea, molded into an infantry rifle company, and compelled to fight their way to the sea. They faced not only the Chinese, but savage weather, short supplies, army units "bugging out," the problems of a newly integrated Marine Corps (whose African American members performed at a very high level, by the way), and gruesome terrain. The Chosin action is justly called epical; Lieutenant Owen tells the tale of the men who made it so. Roland Green --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Naval Institute Press; Unabridged edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557506620
• ISBN-13: 978-1557506627
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.8 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,420,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SEMPER FI ! Good job., August 9, 2000

By 

Mcgivern Owen L (NY, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir (Mass Market Paperback)

"Colder Than Hell" tells the story of a Marine Corps platoon from its formation at Camp Pendleton, NC at the outset of the Korean War to the famous breakout from the ("frozen") Chosin Reservoir in the winter of 1950-1951. The author puts the reader right there with the men. One can almost taste the frozen chow, the cold seeping through your parka and the onset of frostbite through the snopaks. "Personalities" are included and we cringe when one of them is wounded or killed. There are two minor drawbacks: 1) We get little taste of a wider war, but this is understadable. Why should the men care about any other war but theirs? 2) As with so many similar stories, there is a dearth of MAPS!!. Where were these guys? Every editor should be forced to include usable MAPS in military stories. Other than these, the lieutenant does a fine job of writing. I was impressed by the leval of leadership and courage displayed by the Marines under terribly difficult circumstances- all the more so because so many were not "regulars" but activated reservists. "Colder Than Hell" was first written in 1996. I wonder why Lt. Owen waited so long to tell his story, but I'm glad he did. Former or current Marines should jump on this book, as should serious students of the Korean conflict.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent personal narrative on the Korean War., January 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir (Mass Market Paperback)

Colder than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir. By Joseph R. Owen. Reviewed by Mike Davino

Army Korean War expert Lieutenant Colonel Roy Appleman has called the 1st Marine Division of the Chosin Reservoir campaign "one of the most magnificent fighting organizations that ever served in the United States Armed Forces." The remarkable and inspiring story of the division at the Chosin Reservoir has been the subject of numerous books and several films. During their fighting withdrawal, the Marines decimated several divisions of the Chinese People's Liberation Army while at the same time fighting an exceptionally harsh winter environment.

Joseph Owen's new book on the subject tells the story from the cutting edge perspective of a rifle company. The author served as a mortar section leader and rifle platoon commander in Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines from its activation in August 1950 through the Inchon-Seoul and Chosin fighting where he was severely wounded.

There are many reasons given for the outstanding performance of the Marines in northeast Korea during the winter of 1950. It is clear from this book that a large measure of the credit goes to the Marines and their leaders at the small unit and rifle company level.

Owen's narrative covers the hasty activation and training of the company, its brief participation in the fighting north of Seoul after the amphibious assault at Inchon and the details of its intense fighting at Chosin. He candidly discusses the mistakes made by the leaders and Marines of Baker Company, to include his own. More importantly, Owen covers what they learned from these mistakes and how they used that knowledge to defeat the Chinese in a series of intense actions.

Although focused at the company level, the author frames his story with the overall conduct of the campaign. Refreshingly, unlike many books about the Chosin campaign, it is free of partisan sniping about the contributions made by the various services involved. Owen gives credit to the Army units that fought at Chosin as well as the contributions of naval and air forces and our British allies.

This book is rich in lessons about small unit leadership, training and combat operations. It is an excellent addition to the personal narratives on the Korea War.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chosin Up Close And Personal, May 1, 2004

By 

S. Annand (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir (Mass Market Paperback)

There are essentially two ways to approach an historical review of a compaign, either as an historian who was never there (reviewing documents, etc.) and the personal viewpoint. The latter gives you a good overview of the whole campaing, whereas the former provides a very focused view.

Naturally, it is best to view all options, but I prefer to read the first-person accounts for some real perspective. This is what you get--the unvarnished look at how one company dealt with the catastrophe of Chosin, turning it into a victory (no matter what the Chinese reviewer has to say). That one division, the 1st Marine Division, was able to survive against ten Chinese division, and survive intact as a fighting force, speaks volumes of the men in that division.

When you read how Owen and his men coped, you can appreciate the fighting capabilities of the American soldiers--particulary when they are put in unprepared situations by idiots like MacArthur and his so-called intelligence officers in Tokyo fighting by remote-control. Owen showed how the men in the field could see the train-wreck coming, but were never listened to. This is where the first-person account deviates from the outside approach with the old "we told you so" and can prove it.

I would also like to mention that I have met Owen and Chew Enn Lee, when they gave a talk on the book. You could not imagine two more opposites in personality. Lee, who goes by "Karl," is still to this day highly respected by his men. They have petitioned the Department of Defense for Karl to receive the Medal of Honor for leading part of the breakout. No matter how much they petition on his behalf, it just falls on deaf ears. I think this is just the continuation of the we-know-better-than-you that permeates the rarified air breathed by higher ups. When you see what Bob Kerrey did for his Medal of Honor--and not taking anything away from him--you wonder why Karl Lee walked away with less.