"Korea: Readings about the forgotten war"

[Mike Yared <mikeyared@yahoo.com>]

Korea: Readings about the forgotten war 
National Defense; 
Mar 2001; David L L Silbergeld; 
March 2001, Volume:85, Issue:568, Page:41 

Abstract:
Silbergeld reviews several books, including "The
Korean War, An Oral History: Pusan to Chosin" by
Donald Knox, "Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign"
by Martin Russ, "The Sea War in Korea" by Malcolm W.
Cagle and Frank A. Manson, and "The Korean War" by
Matthew B. Ridgeway.

With the arrival of the millennium, we remembered that
50 years ago this winter, the U.S. Marines-in the face
of massive intervention into the Korean War by Chinese
regular troops-- conducted their famed "advance to the
rear" from the Chosin Reservoir. 

During the next three years, those events will be
commemorated with ceremonies, memorials and specials
on the History Channel. These books may help our
readers put the times and the war in perspective. 

Start with a photographic history, "War in Korea:
1950-1953," by D.M. Giangreco, published by Presidio
Press, of Novato, Calif, with a sales price of $50. 

This 10-chapter, 330-page volume is an effective way
to begin the story of Korea, where the United States
lost 35,000 lives in three years, and where we have
more than 6,000 personnel missing in action to this
day. The book includes incredible detail, maps and a
narrative of the ebb and flow of the war. More than
500 black and white photographs tell their own story. 

Donald Knox's two-book series is next on our list. The
tale begins with "The Korean War, An Oral History:
Pusan to Chosin," published by Harvest Books
(Harcourt, Brace, in New York City) and selling for
$21 in soft cover. Covering events from June 25
through December 31 of 1950, the book includes
first-hand accounts of the rollercoaster events in the
opening months of what was termed a "police action." 

We are taken, in steps, from the attack by the North
Korean People's Army (NKPA), abundantly equipped with
modern arms by their Soviet sponsors, to the desperate
Eighth Army defense of Pusan, to the MacArthur's
landing at Inchon, to U.S. pursuit to the Yalu River
and the Chinese intervention. 

The second book in the series is "The Korean War
Uncertain Victory," also published by Harvest Books
for $14.95 in soft cover. This volume takes us from
January 1951 to the armistice in July 1953. We see the
inception of truce talks, action with allied units in
the UN operations, riots in prisoner-- of-war (POW)
camps, stories of our POWs and the battle of Pork Chop
Hill. 

"Chosin: Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War"-by Eric
Hammel, printed by Presidio Press, of Novato, Calif.,
and selling for $19.95 in soft cover-covers one of the
forgotten war's legendary events, which took place in
a freezing hell of winter. 

As U.S. forces made their way to the Yalu, the U.S.
military command made errors of intelligence,
overconfidence and miscalculation. It violated one of
the most important principles of military theory
(concentration of forces), ignored North Korean
geography and placed the Marines in harms way, out--
numbered 10-to-one by Chinese forces. 

Carry this story further with Martin Russ "Breakout:
The Chosin Reservoir Campaign," published by Penguin
Books (Putnam Penguin), in New York City and selling
for $14.95 in soft cover. 

A force of 12,000 Marines, comprising three regiments
of the Ist Marine Division, strung out over 80 miles
of a single, narrow mountain road, found themselves
attacked and surrounded by hordes of Chinese soldiers.
Given up for lost, they fought their way out, against
all odds, bringing out their wounded and their dead,
under constant attack. This feat has been written
forever into U.S. military history as a monument to
fortitude, esprit de corps and a determination not to
surrender to adversity but to rise above it and
survive. 

What would a reading of the Korean War be without
touching on the U.S. commanders? Take, for example,
"MacArthur's War: Korea and the Undoing of an American
Hero," by Stanley Weintraub, published by Free Press,
of New York City, costing $27.95 in hardcover. 

Under Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur's command, we rose
from unpreparedness and despair at Pusan, to the
brilliance of Inchon, the thrust to the Yalu and the
disaster at Chosin. Both credit and blame fall on
MacArthur's doorstep. His insubordination forced
President Truman to fire him, but despite his famous
speech before a joint session of Congress, he did not
just fade away. Korea will forever remain "MacArthur's
War." This is Weintraub at his best. 

Army Gen. Mathew B. Ridgeway's "The Korean War"-from
Da Capo Press, of New York City, priced at $16.50 in
soft cover-tells the Korean War story from his
perspective. 

Ridgeway, first, replaced Gen. Walton Walker as
commander of the Eighth Army, then succeeded MacArthur
as supreme commander both of UN Forces in Korea and
the U.S. Far Eastern Command. 

"The Sea War in Korea" is written by Malcolm W. Cagle
and Frank A. Manson, published by the Naval Institute
Press, in Annapolis, Md., and priced at $39.95.
Originally published in 1957, this book remains the
first and only full account of the U.S. Navy's role in
the Korean conflict. 

Without Navy and Air Force support throughout the war,
the tide of battle would have gone against U.S. ground
forces. The landings at Inchon, and the countless
insertions, extractions (Hungnam), naval
gunfire-support operations and naval aviation missions
were all critical to the U.S. effort. 

Wrapping up this reading list is "Battle For Korea:
Fiftieth Anniversary Edition," by Robert J. Dvorchak,
from Combined Publishing, in Conshohocken, Pa.,
costing $24.95 in soft cover. 

[Author note]
Dr David LL. Silbergeld is a member of the Special
Operations and Low -Intensity Conflict Division of the
National Defense Industrial Association. His E-- mail
address is dlsilber@epix.net. 

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