Customer Reviews

Outpost Kelly: A Tanker's Story

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Overall I thought this was a good book but it certainly will not appeal to everyone. Anyone looking for fast-paced action and drama will be disappointed, but Mr Siewert has produced a nice contribution to the history of tank warfare in Korea. The latter half of the Korean War has had little written about it but men fought, and died, during that period just the same.

The author covers the actions, in a well written fashion, of about a three week period during which he was a platoon leader of a M-46 tank platoon on the MLR (Main Line of Resistance) defending Hill 199. The action revolves around the combat for an adjacent hill (Outpost Kelly). What makes the book interesting is not any huge combat action so much as the detail Mr Siewert gives of the day-to-day life of a tanker, and a tank platoon leader, in Korea. He covers in detail the many minor activities that a lot of books ignore such as supply, maintenance, and even his own thoughts as platoon leader. When there is action he describes it in pretty good detail. There are a lot of little details that make this book interesting. In that the book succeeds well and for that it should be read by anyone interested in armor operations.

If you enjoy this book I highly recommend 'Tank Sergeant' by Ralph Zumbro. It is the story of a tanker in Vietnam. There is also 'USMC Tanker's Korea: The War in Photos, Sketches, and Letters Home' by Roger G. Baker.

I was disapointed by this one. I thought it was well written but the book pretty much went nowhere. The author sat on a hill in his tank, got rained on, and shot at another hill. Except for some motar attacks, the only involvement of the enemy is second hand reports. If you want to read about sitting in a tank for a few weeks, get this one. Do not look for a gripping war yarn.

Excellently written first-person account of the taking and attempted holding of a hill during the Korean War. This battle was no "Star Wars" conflict. The hands-on strategy involved makes the action - and the reading - intense and attention holding.