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on August 26, 2017
Needs better pictures of the major events such as the treadway bridge installation and the railroad trestle removal etc.
on January 14, 2014
This history of one of the finest campaigns for the USMC is an entertaining and accurate account of US Military history. Where Mr. Russ looses his perspective is in the constant degradation of the US Army's effort during the battle. Russ does minutely examine the Army's tragic fighting; and he is correct in his observations, but he does not point that critical eye at the USMC, glossing over the Marine Corps problems during the Chosin Resevoir battle.
That being said, this novel does provide valuable insight into the overall battle. Definately worth the read!!
That being said, this novel does provide valuable insight into the overall battle. Definately worth the read!!
on May 12, 2017
Riveting account of one of the Korean wars dark moments. Most of the 54,000 soldiers killed occurred in the 1st year and a half. The Marines showed their good leadership and training. The Army were left to MacArthur, who had to do something to reverse the poor showing of his 8th Army, who had grown soft and had little training.
I'm glad Mr. Ross included the 31st RCT/7th ID. They were virtually wiped out by the Chinese, but it gave the Marines 4 days to get organized to attack south.
I served in Korea in 1968-69, found a friend that had died, got dosed with Agent Orange. But other than the ruthlessness of the NKPA and the weather, it wasn't as bad as these men had it. Their war was 3 years long and over 100,000 soldiers from 16 countries. It has never ended. It gave the DOD to set in place a rotation system=14 months and go home. It also saw the birth of the VA hospital system.
I'm glad Mr. Ross included the 31st RCT/7th ID. They were virtually wiped out by the Chinese, but it gave the Marines 4 days to get organized to attack south.
I served in Korea in 1968-69, found a friend that had died, got dosed with Agent Orange. But other than the ruthlessness of the NKPA and the weather, it wasn't as bad as these men had it. Their war was 3 years long and over 100,000 soldiers from 16 countries. It has never ended. It gave the DOD to set in place a rotation system=14 months and go home. It also saw the birth of the VA hospital system.
on April 13, 2013
If you ever wondered what this moment in history was like you HAVE TO read this book! The very fact that this group of men managed what they did under the conditions they did it in speaks volumes for them!! THIS is what a "real" war and the people that fought it is all about!
on August 22, 2009
"Gripping" is the only word I can find for this tale of the Chosin Resovoir campaign. To reduce it all to one line, the massively outnumbered U.S. Marines fought their way out of a Chinese trap that looked like a disaster. Russ puts us right in the midst of the freezing foxholes, bewildering terrain, terrible roads, and worse weather, all of which sometimes made it hard to tell friend from foe. He tells about the big picture while keeping the story on a human scale: men building barricades of bodies, men on both sides scrounging anything they could find from their own dead or the enemy's, wounded and frostbitten men who fought until they were killed or sometimes frozen to death at their posts.
It's been said Russ lionizes the Marines and disparages the Army too much. However, he tells the truth about the only-human Marines: some did give up, some did flee, some units did collapse. In the end, though, Russ convincingly argues the Marines' esprit de corps kept most of them together when almost any other force would have disintegrated. As to the Army, they really couldn't have been expected to perform as well on average, given that many units had large proportions of recent conscripts, American and Korean.
It's a cliche to say you can't put a book down, but I couldn't lay this one aside.
It's been said Russ lionizes the Marines and disparages the Army too much. However, he tells the truth about the only-human Marines: some did give up, some did flee, some units did collapse. In the end, though, Russ convincingly argues the Marines' esprit de corps kept most of them together when almost any other force would have disintegrated. As to the Army, they really couldn't have been expected to perform as well on average, given that many units had large proportions of recent conscripts, American and Korean.
It's a cliche to say you can't put a book down, but I couldn't lay this one aside.
