Customer Reviews

The Marines of Autumn: A Novel of the Korean War

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I found the book to be factual, but then Brady takes either great liberties or did not do his homework before writing the book.

Examples: Puller was not promoted to Brig. General until a couple of months after Chosin. In fact, he portrays Puller as still being the CO of the 1st Marines during that period. To my knowledge no Marine General ever commanded a Regiment. That is a slot for full Colonel. Except in the case of Lt. Colonel Murray who commanded the 5th. The only one star General serving with us was Brig. General Craig and he was sent home during that period to attend the death of his father.

Marines that fought with the 5th Marines are going to be quite upset to read that Puller and the 1st Marines were rear guard during the withdrawal to Koto-ri.

Pullers conversation with Maggie Higgins did not take place at Hagaru-ri.

He refers to Lt. Colonel Davis as Colonel Davis. Davis was battalion Co of the 1/7, a slot for Lt. Colonel.

There is mention of Tanks at Yudam-ni. I don't think that the plural applies since they only had one tank at Yudam-ni.

There are many more breakdowns to historical fact in the novel. I realize that this is a novel, but since it was mostly written as historical fact I found it quite distressing to read the inaccuracies in the novel.

I served at Hagaru-ri and made the fight and walk out and have read extensively about the battle.

A Chosin Vet

Who knew James Brady, puff piece-er to the stars, had this great book in him? I was a kid when the Korean "conflict" took place, and remember more of the politics than the warfare, so, altho the Chosin Reservoir retreat was in my memory bank, I could not have explained why. Now I know, and memorably. Brady's prose is so vivid, you can almost feel your own toes becoming frostbitten as you read; the icy roads and the snow, the cold, the Chinese troops relentlessly attacking or sniping at our troops as they retreat down a narrow mountain road at the rate of a couple of miles a day. Brady lets MacArthur have it, for putting our troops in this untenable position in the first place. The main character, incidentally, is loosely based on the late Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island. I've read a few other war books, but this is perhaps the most vividly done. It leaves me wanting to be sure to pay homage to all our soldiers in some way this Memorial Day. A powerful book. Don't miss it.

I'm not a lover of war stories, perhaps because I fought in one and I find realism lacking in most writers. Brady has proved to be an exception. His depiction of the misery suffered by the Marines at the disaster that was the Chosen Reservior made me grateful that I spent a year in the infantry in the virtual paradise (by comparison) of Vietnam. You feel the cold as the Marines retreat from an untenable position, fighting a numerically superior Chinese army and becoming victims of Douglas MacArthur's meglamoniacal career plans. Brady gives MacArthur a justified raking over the coals and mixes his fictional characters with real ones; Chesty Puller is here as is Bob Hope and others. All in all a fantastic read.

James Brady borrows heavily from his memoire "The Coldest War" in this novel about a recalled reservist officer, Tom Verity, a professor of Chinese at Georgetown, who finds himself thrown into the campaign to push the North Korean forces all the way north to the Chinese/North Korea border in the fall of 1950. General MacArthur thought this campaign would be a walk in the park, refusing to believe, despite many indications to the contrary, that the Chinese Communist Forces would become involved. Brady has done much research on the campaign, and I found some of his asides, personal opinions and commentary which combine his personal knowledge of the war as a reservist rifle platoon commander with his study, to be most compelling. I recommend that no one read both Brady's personal memoire of his experiences in Korea and this novel back-to-back, as I did, because Brady lifts some descriptive sections or small incidenc es almost word for word from the memoire. The troop ship which carries the Marines north to the mustering area for the march to Chosin has the name of the troop ship which transported Brady home from his duty in 1952. This doesn't in any way detract from the novel, but a little distance between the two books would erase some of the familiarity. I also found the repetition of the fact that "three marines traveling alone in a jeep towards the north made for a good target" was somewhat disconcerting. Bardy writes in fairly short chapters, and perhaps felt that most would read his novel a little bit at a time, not in one sitting as I did, and therefore the fact bore repeating. But I fault Brady's editor, not the writer, who should catch such things. But if that's my only criticism (and it is), then it is a trivial matter about a book which, for both its ease of reading, its marvelous insight into a war about which not enough has been written, and the incredible density of senior commanders, an entire country removed from the battle (MacArthur and his staff were in Japan, the general himself making one flight to "see" the objective terrain for himself in a transport plane, seeing nothing because the Chinese were dug in and camouflaged, receiving a Distinguished Flying Cross for his flight after returning to his cushy headquarters in Japan, nicknamed "The Palace") is a marvelous story. I recommend this book highly. War isn't pretty when told in stark reality, without overly dramatised violence thrown in for shock value. Brady doesn't do that. He doesn't need to.

Having read Brady's earlier non-fiction account of his combat tour in Korea, "The Coldest War," I was eager to read his novel of the war. Within the first couple of pages, I knew there might be problems. The height of the Taebek mountains was listed as 25,000 meters! (Does no one ever check manuscripts for errors like that?)What followed that brief prologue to set the stage for the fighting withdrawal of the Marines from the Chosin was very disappointing. I should have gotten a hint when Brady said that he had not taken part in the Chosin campaign but had gotten to Korea afterward. To his credit, Brady does not actually have his protagonist handle troops; he is basically an intellectual observer who, when not reminiscing about his deceased wife, simply reports things. He drops in and out of staff meetings, rubbing shoulders with the real personalities of the campaign, much as Pug Henry did in Wouk's "Winds of War." This leaves the feeling that Captain Tom Verity is a part of things... but not really. The descriptions of war in the cold are indeed harrowing and it makes me gladder than ever that my war was one of Asian heat. I am sure that words never adequately convey what it was like to deal with the numbing cold and with combat as well. And that is a problem with this book -- it is dull. Character development is not extensive, but perhaps it doesn't need to be. The Chosin withdrawal is really the story and Verity and the others seem almost tangential to it. As for characters, that of the daughter is almost completely unbelivable, acting and speaking far above her stated age. In short, Brady's non-fiction book, recently re-issued, is what you should read. For better novels on the Chosin, Ernest Frankel's "Band of Brothers" written in the late '50's, or Simmons' recent "Dog Company Six" have the advantage of being penned by authors who actually took part in the campaign. The best thing about this novel was its title. The Chosin campaign was an epic of brave endurance for the Marines. This novel hardly deserves the label of "epic" in recounting it.

James Brady, author and well-known columnist, has brought to the public another fine example of why the Korean Conflict will become a remembered rather than a forgotten period in American History.

The book starts with the recall of Captain Verity, a WWII veteran of Guadalcanal, Okinawa and North China and moves easily with first-hand knowledge throughout. Captain Verity leads a radio intercept team charged with the mission to determine if and when the Chinese "volunteers" cross the Yalu in support of the North Korean Peoples Army. It continues with what seems a romp in the park such as in the opening pages of Brown's "Walk in the Sun". And on to the advance north to the Chosin, the intervention of the Chinese, and abrupt reversal of that advance and concludes with the long, coming out fighting, "march-to-the-sea".

The author does not pull his punches with the likes of Syngman Rhee, General MacArthur or the powers that recalled Captain Verity and many other Marines who had joined the reserves when told said joining would hasten their return to civilian life at the end of WWII.

The ending contains a shocker remindful of the collapse of the bridge on which Gandalf and a demon fought casting them into oblivion in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings".

"The Marines of Autumn" more importantly speaks of two points generally overlooked or purposely put aside by the general citizenship.

It is easy to teach "how-to-kill" but to maintain survival skills is extremely difficult. Survival requires a constant high state of preparedness. The pro-Marine/anti-army nature of the novel is brought out in many ways, at times in satirical comment, but mostly as statements of fact. Beyond the inter-service rivalry is the unspoken fact that the Marines had maintained a higher level of training and preparedness than their sister service. Those of the sister services stationed in the Far East were allowed to attune their duty to one merry camp of rest and relaxation rather than as a forward echelon of readiness. It was a wonderful relaxing tour of duty. This low level of readiness provided the North Koreans and the Chinese with many easy victories costly to the Army not only in materials lost but in extremely high killed, wounded and missing-in-action casualty numbers. The human form in different uniforms were pretty much the same. Mr. Brady asks that the United States government and its peoples insist on a first rate state-of-the-art level of training and preparedness of our armed forces and be willing to pay for it.

Mr. Brady speaks of the horrors of war as did Steven Speilberg in "Saving Private Ryan". War IS NOT a stroll in the park. In "The Marines of Autumn" Mr. Brady brings out many fine examples of courage, self-sacrifice, heroics and the closeness that only those who have experienced combat understand. He also puts the spotlight on the privation, terror, filth, man's inhumanity-to-man and other primal levels of existance that only war brings. There are examples in the novel where the dead become a matter of inconvenience and a burden but there are also many examples where the dead, dying and wounded are tended with great concern, compassion and care such as Colonel Puller's relentless pursuit to bury a large number of Marines rather than leave them to the animals of prey. Also the action of Verity's two men bending many regulations to get the Captain off the beach and into caring hands for his return to the States is another example of this personal concern.

Mr. Brady knows of what he writes. Though he was not in Korea at the time of "The Marines of Autumn", he was there as a platoon leader, a company executive officer and later as the battlaion S-2 (intelligence) officer. His arrival on the scene was early enough to speak with and be told many first hand stories by those who fought and lived "The Marines of Autumn". In his memoir, "The Coldest War",he relates his personal experiences and tells of combat at it's worst and occasionally best.

"The Marines of Autumn" is a moving and gripping novel that is a must read for all persons, in and out of uniform, who desire to dance with their children on the bridges of Paris in peace in our lifetime.

The Marines of Autumn moved me to tears.....noother book in my adult life has done this....Brady's depictions of the Korean campaign miseryreally hit home....his flashbacks to his all topefect wife are also not fanciful but realisticof a man in combat so recalls everything in his former life as being pefection....when in retrospect and the misery of presentcircumstances brought into play.Brady knows humans, be they chinese soldiers or Marines or just the suffering of people in that clime....the troops on both sides did not ask to be there but suffered and performed for the "leaders"....Kudos to Brady for his insight.former

This is a remarkable novel about a remarkable event. During October 1950 in North Korea near the Chosin Reservoirs, twelve Chinese divisions surrounded the U.S. First Marine Division. The Chinese launched a surprise attack aimed at cutting off the First Division and then annihilating it. To the West, the Second Division of the U.S. Army fell apart under pressure from the Chinese. There was every reason to believe the Marines would be surrounded and massacred. They had only one tiny road running through mountains and narrow passes to carry them back to the sea over 70 miles away.

The survival of the Marines and their march to the sea is an epic tale of courage, discipline, and the power of esprit de corps in horrible weather against almost overwhelming odds. It was captured brilliantly in Pat Frank's Hold Back the Night a generation ago and now almost poetically in a new novel by a veteran of the campaign.

This book is made even more poignant by the post script, "I've been asked by several people who read this novel in pre-publication if the fictional Thomas Verrity was inspired by my rifle company commander in the Taebaek Mountains of North Korea, Captain John H. Chaffee of Rhode Island, who would later become Governor of his state, Secretary of the Navy and a United States senator. Yes, he was."

There is a deep heart felt sense of truth in this novel and of the anguish of life when a free people have to lose their loved ones in combat because of grotesque failures of leadership. This is a Marine's novel. It is harsh and unrelenting in telling of MacArthur's overconfidence, isolation, and self-deception. It is painful for me as an Army brat to read some of its description of the breakdown of the Army that winter.

This book is also a sobering reminder that a weak, unprepared America pays in blood for its politicians' unwillingness to pursue strength as the only sure safeguard of peace and freedom. I highly recommend it.

James Brady's Korean War novel tells the story of the first autumn of the war from a U.S. Marine's perspective. Brady, a Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War, presents a compelling portrait of a typical Marine officer called into action at an inconvenient time.

The protagonist of the novel, Thomas Verity, is called from his teaching post at Georgetown University to serve as an observer of Chinese action in North Korea. A veteran of World War II, Verity is an officer in the Marine Corps Reserve. Upon the beginning of action he is recalled because the government "needs" him. Verity leaves his young daughter with a nanny and sets off for a "short" tour. Early in his service he frequently writes letters to his daughter telling her of Korea and promising to return to take her to Paris. As time passes, the weather grows bitterly colder, the situation in North Korea grows more desperate, the letters become less frequent--it is no longer possible for him to keep his letters cheery and optimistic. Verity becomes a pawn whose expertise in Chinese is no longer needed but who is used by the military to lead Marines in battle.

Brady presents a typical Marine view of the war which strained their sense of duty. The American troops are directed by "Dugout Doug" McArthur (a reference to McArthur's escape from Bataan peninsula in WWII) who never spends a night in Korea and oversees the war from a hotel in Japan. The force is divided, separated by a range of mountains, making it easier for the invading Chinese troops (whom McArthur never believed would attack) to reek havoc. As the Chinese move in, the Americans are forced to retreat quickly and, in the process, many dead and wounded are left behind--a violation of the Marine promise to leave no one behind.

Captain Tom Verity, Gunnery Sgt. Tate, and their driver Mouse Izzo maintain their commitments to one another and to the Marine Corps ideal, in spite of the situation, and each is honorable in his own distinct way.

A good read, this is a true-to-life story about a time when Americans were sent into harm's way without proper planning or appropriate leadership. Yet, these soldiers still performed in a way that should make us proud of their service.

Background: As autumn approached in 1950, it appeared to Supreme Commander Douglas McArthur that a U.N. victory in South Korea's war against its northern neighbors was all but won. Beginning with a brilliant and daring assault at the western port of Inchon, allied forces had wrecked the war machine of the North Koreans, who were retreating on all fronts. Then, as the U.N. forces drove across the 38th parallel, MacArthur made a critical mistake. He split his forces into two elements, and ordered them north along either side of the bony spine of North Korea, the Taebaek Mountains, to press the communist troops all the way to the Yalu River - Korea's border with China. When China suddenly intervened, reinforcing the North Koreans with hundreds of thousands of battle-hardened infantry, the U.N. forces were isolated from one another and critically vulnerable. In the west, the U.N. 8th Army was routed with significant losses, and thrown all the way back beyond the South Korean capital, Seoul.

Unlike the 8th Army, the eastern U.N. force, called X Corps, did not run. X Corps was bolstered by 25,000 troops of the U.S. 1st Marine Division. The Marines, dug in at points around a kidney-shaped lake called the Chosin Reservoir, were engaged and quickly surrounded by about 120,000 CCF (Chinese Communist Forces) soldiers. In late November, they fought a nightmarishly bloody, desperate battle in arctic temperatures and snow - the Chinese trying to annihilate the Americans before they could escape the trap. By the time the 1st Marine Division managed to withdraw in good order with their wounded to the port city of Wonsang, they had lost about 6,000 killed, wounded, or missing - while killing at least 25,000 of their foes and wounding over 12,000. Although they had to relinquish the Chosin, Marines consider the fight one of the proudest engagements of their history.
The Marines of Autumn is a novel of the Chosin Reservoir battle. Its hero is Tom Verity, a captain in the Marine Reserves who at the outset of the war is teaching Chinese language and culture at Georgetown University. He is a recent widower; his young daughter Kate and the still-fresh memories of his dead wife are the centerpieces of his life. Activated by the Corps in October of 1950, Verity is ordered to travel with the Marine 1st Division and monitor Chinese radio traffic, to ascertain whether the Chinese have begun sending military forces into Korea. Along the way, Verity picks up two enlisted assistants, a laconic gunnery sergeant named Tate and a wiseguy PFC driver, Izzo. Finally catching up to the Marine field headquarters in Yudam-ni on the western shore of the Chosin, Verity and his crew are just in time to be caught up in the battle when the Chinese launch their offensive.

Author James Brady was a young Marine rifle platoon leader in the Korean War. Though he wasn't engaged at the Chosin, he fought the following year in the surrounding Taebaek Mountains. So it's no surprise that his writing on the subject feels entirely authentic, rivetingly first-person. What is a surprise is the grace and power of his prose. This man can flat write. One reviewer compared Brady's prose to Hemingway's, and it's an apt comparison: ruthlessly spare, haunting, colloquial and yet elegiac. In a market (military fiction) that is filled with ponderous ... tomes, Brady's books are remarkably lean.

Brady's protagonist, Verity, is an atypical combat fiction hero. He goes to war reluctantly, fearful of death not for his own sake but for that of his daughter. (He writes to her frequently from Korea, rendering the grim, snowy campaign as a benign Christmas fantasy to alleviate her fears.) His companions, on the other hand, are archetypes from any number of books and movies - the salty, competent gunny and the streetwise grunt. What saves them from being cliches is Brady's fine eye for detail and ear for nuance. We see the campaign mostly through Verity's eyes, but Brady maintains a layer of detachment from his main character, just as Verity himself regards his fellows and his situation from an objective distance. Interestingly, the restraint implicit in that finely maintained distance gives this tale of doom a kind of poignancy and gravity that no amount of overwrought drama could achieve. The protagonist's name is significant - Verity, honesty, in Webster's parlance "a fundamental and inevitably true value." It's a good choice; for Tom Verity is at once a completely authentic mid-century man, and a credible everyman representing "fundamental and inevitably true values" like reluctant courage and frightened resolve. A story of bitter war with a core of Truth, The Marines of Autumn can hardly be a happy story, and it isn't. It is, however, a very satisfying tale about a campaign - and a war - that in the annals of our history have been vastly underserved.